Reply #11: I think some of it is that some people have health problems for which they grasp at 'gluten-free' as

[LeftishBrit]

a straw; and may interpret this as not only taking away their straw, but implying that their health problems are not genuine. And having just had a big row with someone in a certain forum who thinks that ALL health problems are essentially just a matter of your personal choice, I can see how people can get upset if they think that someone's implying that they've invented or chosen their medical problems.

I had all sorts of health problems as a child which were not diagnosed, and sometimes considered as imaginary, and at one point the *doctor* suggested that I might be sensitive to gluten. I wasn't, and going gluten-free didn't work. What I did have was Crohn's, which was eventually diagnosed after I'd had it for about 10 years (in those days doctors thought kids couldn't get it, so hadn't tested for it).

Also, I think there's a tendency for some people to assume that if a certain diet or medication is helpful to people with a particular condition, it must be good for *everyone* - e.g. if vitamin C supplements are beneficial to those with a deficiency of this vitamin, then they must be a cure-all.

That being said, some people do find that reducing gluten in their diet helps them. Never helped me, as I said.