“South Beach Diet” Doctor on Gluten Sensitivity

Dr. Arthur Agatston, the developer of the “South Beach Diet”, has noticed that many patients in phase 1 of the diet start feeling better – and he thinks he knows one reason why.  Less gluten.

In phase 1 of the diet, you cut out most carbohydrates.  This means cutting out breads, for example, which are high in gluten.  Although these are reintroduced to some extent later in the diet, Dr. Agatston noticed that some patients started feeling better in the first phase.

He suggests that many people would feel better on a diet with little or no gluten:

We find that a lot of people just feel better off gluten.  For some, it is life transforming. Because there is no specific test for it, it is hard to give hard statistics but it is real.  Anybody who has taken people off gluten and seen the results thinks it is real. … The only way to do it is to take yourself off gluten for a period of time and add it back.  That’s what the South Beach Gluten Solution is.  I feel that it’s the most under-diagnosed, under-recognized medical condition today.

Dr. Agatston doesn’t feel that genetically modified wheat is the culprit in this case, because the actual DNA of gluten has not changed.  However, breads are made differently, our bodies are different due to the things we’re exposed to in the modern age.  Sometimes extra gluten is added to foods as well, increasing the imbalance.

Not to mention the modern-fast-food-love-affair with gluten in buns and many processed foods.

What could gluten sensitivity cause or trigger?  Dr. Agatston suggests that it’s not only the common things – diarrhea, bloating, cramps, acid reflux and constipation, but also conditions like migraine.

Some patients have reported an initial increase in migraine attacks early in the diet.  But migraine is notoriously sensitive to changes in diet.  Those who stick with the gluten free diet for longer often find a major decrease in attacks over time.

Read more about what Dr. Agatston has to say about gluten sensitivity here:  ‘South Beach Diet’ doc focuses on going ‘gluten-aware’