Another day, another dismal and under-researched article on #coeliac and #glutenfree, this time from Glamour Magazine. I'll itemise some of my problems with it. Feel free to add your own.
1. Description of coeliac disease as 'gluten aversion'. Food aversion is a psychological response to food. Coeliac disease is not psychological.
2. "There is no cure ... except for a GFD". The GFD is not a cure, but the way to manage the disease.
3. "Not everyone suffers from coeliac disease. Or is sensitive to it." - Not everyone is sensitive to coeliac disease? What?
4. Recommendation of an IgG testing kit which cannot test for coeliac disease (and has been discredited as a method for testing food intolerance).
5. 1 in 100, not 1 in 300, have CD (and perhaps more, if the most recent, Australian study is to go by).
6. Spelt is not GF – how many more times?
7. No clear acknowledgement that oats are usually contaminated with wheat flour and hence not safely gluten-free / or advice to choose gluten-free oats.
8. Despite a quote from an expert stating that "There's nothing magical about a gluten-free diet that's going to help you lose weight”, the writer feels it appropriate to conclude, for no justifiable reason, “give it a crack and see if it works for you”. My reasons for not giving it a crack, written with Glamour’s target reader in mind, are here.
Edited to add: Julia Marriott, a dietitian with a special interest in food sensitivities, has blogged on the problems with the article's food swaps here. (Saturday 21st September.)
Edited to add II: Pts 2, 4 and 6 have been corrected today (Sunday 22nd September). There has been no acknowledgment of their previous errors, as far as I can tell.
Edited to add III: Further improvements have been made, I noticed today (Tuesday 2nd October), including input from Sarah Sleet of Coeliac UK, and removal of description of coeliac as 'aversion'.
Labels: gluten free diet, spelt, women's magazines