COVID, GLUTEN & MSG Linked By Medicine Or Myth?

The medical community’s struggle with responding to the COVID-19 outbreak & the triggering of some myths has overshadowed other important health debates. Take the Gluten-free mania. Do a Google search & peruse articles in medical journals suggesting the common food manufacturing additive “might” be an inflammatory agent & “maybe” should be avoided by arthritis sufferers…especially if they have something called celiac disease or a “gluten sensitivity”. But, in 2019, Harvard Medical School published an article by Dr. Robert Shmerling concluding: “There is no compelling evidence a gluten-free diet will improve health or prevent disease.” And, yet he noted, thanks to marketing & celeb endorsements, over a third of America is buying into what he suggested was a “myth.” Buyer beware: Buying gluten-free, he said, might not only be more costly but could contain fewer nutrients…

Natch, medical research continues on this & other modern health risks. The Arthritis Foundation now suggests its sufferers avoid gluten but not to take on a gluten-free diet. Huh? The doc’s implied point was this: The best doctor is often the patient who uses common sense in listening to their own bodies, at least, until the science is solid.

I still recall the now-ancient controversy over the wanton use of MSG & nitrates as a food preservative additive. During the 60’s & 70’s, the twin terrors seemed to be in everything in the grocery store freezer & shelves as millions (including myself) got "buzzes" if not debilitating migraines. Yet, no one could figure out why, until a “possible” link was found. Still recall a 60 Minutes segment & an industry spokesman finally conceding the connection but insisted only “a small percentage of people were affected,” meaning, 3% equals 30 million. Some myth.

Davd Soul