Health Myth Buster: An Interview with Dr. Mark Hyman

Dr. Hyman: Not the way it is now. In the last 50 years, the quality has changed; gluten content is higher and serving sizes are larger giving you even more of it. The gluten in food today is hybridized to create denser, fluffier breads and super-sized bagels. The increase in gluten hybridization and the genetics of it create different proteins that are much more allergenic than in the past. In Europe, there are heirloom varieties of grains to which even gluten-sensitive people have less or no reaction to common gluten-containing foods. *

Karen: What are simple ways to determine if you need a gluten free diet?

Dr. Hyman: Not everyone needs a gluten-free diet. Only 30% of the population has the gene that sets them up for gluten sensitivity. An even smaller percent of the population has a reaction to gluten and by one estimate, only one percent is actually diagnosed. Gluten-sensitivity, or celiac disease, causes a number of problems beyond the digestive system and is associated with increased health care costs.

The easiest way to find out if you have gluten sensitivity is to eliminate gluten from the diet for six-weeks, as I advocate in The UltraMind Solution. After that, slowly add it back to the diet. Record how you feel mentally and physically with and without it your diet. If re-introducing gluten containing foods into your diet makes you feel sick, then don’t eat it.