To the editor:
“Watch for signs of gluten intolerance” (The Examiner, Aug. 25) was one of the best newspaper articles I have read on wheat allergies and gluten intolerance, but it lacked some vital information. Celiac Sprue, left ignored, can cause intestine villi to dissolve to an extent that a person can starve to death while eating heartily.
Many foods can contain gluten, including fried foods, most restaurant french fries, soy sauce, root beer, hot dogs, baking power, canned soups, brown sugar, chili powder mix, fried rice, oats, some alcohol, imported MSG, peanut butter, coffee flavoring, meatballs, many types of vinegar (which are in salad dressings), mustard, ketchup and pickles.
Although one in 140 people in the U.S. have some form of Celiac Sprue, few have been diagnosed, often because of their embarrassment to talk to a doctor about their excessive alternating fits of gas and constipation. That was my case before I was diagnosed seven years ago.
After being diagnosed I called two restaurants in the 39th Street corridor and the people on the phone knew nothing about gluten-free menus, so I wrote to every restaurant in that area, and not a single one had the courtesy to answer my letter. I suppose they did not think losing one customer would be significant, but people generally eat in groups of two to eight and losing that number of regular guests can be significant. A few restaurants now offer limited gluten free menus and my family visits those restaurants often.
If you or an acquaintance suffers from excessive gas and constipation, I encourage you to visit a gastroenterologist to learn if a change in your diet can change your life. It changed mine.
