Gluten Free Diet

Submission 22,994

About

Gluten Free Diet is a diet that avoids any foods containing the protein composite gluten found in wheat, barley and rye grains. Traditionally, the diet has been adopted by people suffering from the autoimmune disorder celiac disease,^[2] which can be aggravated by consuming foods containing gluten. Online, the diet has been criticized and mocked for being trendy and lacking tangible health benefits.

Origin

Traditionally, the diet was adopted by people who suffer from a sensitivity to gluten resulting from celiac disease, which is estimated to affect only 1% of adults worldwide.^[1] In 2011, cardiologist William R. Davis released the book Wheat Belly, which claims that modern wheat is toxic and urges readers to avoid consuming food with the grain. Within one month, the book became a New York Times bestseller, which has been credited with popularizing gluten free diets among those without celiac disease.^[3] Various claims in the book have since been refuted by critics who argue Davis' conclusions are not supported by scientific evidence.

Paleo Diet

The paleo diet is a type gluten free diet which attempts to eliminate foods that were not consumed by humans prior to the Neolithic agricultural revolution, including dairy, legumes, processed oils, refined sugars and all grains.

Spread

On December 30th, 2011, the /r/glutenfreecooking^[5] subreddit was launched for recipes and pictures of gluten free meals. On October 11th, 2013, YouTuber coachbombaymusic uploaded a parody version of the song "Royals" by Lorde, expressing the frustrations of intestinal distress caused by celiac disease (shown below).

On January 9th, 2014, Redditor gracekirk submitted a first world problems image macro lamenting the gluten free diet trend to /r/AdviceAnimals,^[4] where it garnered more than 3,000 votes (93% upvoted) and 590 comments prior to being archived (shown below).

On May 6th, Jimmy Kimmel Live aired a segment in which they ask random pedestrians to explain what gluten is (shown below, left). In one year, the YouTube upload of the segment garnered upwards of 3.5 million views and 2,500 comments. On May 15th, the AsapSCIENCE YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "What the Heck is Gluten?", which refuted claims that gluten was harmful to those who do not have sensitivities to the protein composite (shown below, right).

On October 1st, Comedy Central broadcast Season 18 Episode 2 "Gluten Free Ebola" of the television show South Park, in which men's penises detach from their bodies after consuming gluten (shown below, left). On March 16th, 2015, YouTuber AwakenWithJP uploaded a video titled "How to Become Gluten Intolerant" as part of the satirical web series "Ultra Spiritual Life" (shown below, right). Within two months, the video gained over 2.3 million views and 2,100 comments.

Gluten Free Museum

On February 6th, 2015, the "Gluten Free Museum" Tumblr^[6] blog was launched, which highlights works of art juxtaposed with photoshopped versions that have replaced or removed all foods containing gluten.