DoctorOz: The Truth About Gluten: Is it Right for You?

Now, one in four people are eating gluten-free. But what if that's not really your problem? Could you have an intolerance to something else? There's a lot of confusing info on foods, especially gluten, so I asked one of the most important voices in nutrition to weigh in. Today on the show, we got the truth about gluten-free foods, what's healthy, and what's just good marketing. Plus, you got an issue about memory, because a lot of folks think women have better memories than men. You guys think that's true? Yeah! We're gonna find out for sure on the show. And finally, one of my favorite guests, Wendy Williams, is in the house. I love her too, and she reveals a diet that turned her health around, and she helps me pull off one heck of a big surprise, you're gonna love this. Let's get started with gluten. It is confusing and it is controversial, and you have so many questions about it. So for everyone that may have a food allergy or sensitivity and not know it, and that's a lot of people, we're taking a deep dive into what it is and what it does to your body, and if it's really to blame for your fatigue, your weight gain, digestive issues, a whole slew of health problems. Over the years, gluten has become public enemy number one. Gluten is on the run. At the top of the hit list of many Americans' diets, this dietary defendant has been cooking up controversy. That's gone viral. Gluten's rap sheet is long and getting longer. It's been linked to no less than 55 diseases, including anemia, arthritis, and anxiety. Reviled, even dreaded, it's now being driven out of your kitchens, grocery stores, and all the foods you love. But some doctors say gluten is nothing but a scapegoat, with far too many people diagnosing themselves, leaving a lack of hard evidence against gluten. In the meantime, by 2016, Americans will spend $15 billion yearly just to banish gluten from their diets. But is gluten really responsible for your fatigue, weight gain, and digestive downfalls? A new suspect has surfaced, and may actually be to blame. Is the culprit for your stomach pain and bloating actually a wheat allergy? And could you be pitting many of your health problems on the wrong person? One of the leading doctors on food allergies, Dr. Mark Heim, is here, and there's a lot of confusion out there, and perhaps far too many people are diagnosing themselves incorrectly. Does it, any food allergy or sensitivity can be difficult to pin down? But Mark, why is gluten so controversial? It is controversial, man, but everybody's saying, should I be on a gluten-free diet, should I not, it's the latest fad, what's the deal, right? Well, the truth is, there's a spectrum of problems, from mild sensitivity all the way to full-bone celiac disease. And most doctors just think it's on or off, you have it or you don't. If you don't have an abnormal biopsy on your intestine, then you don't have celiac and you can eat wheat. But the truth is, many people suffer from gluten problems, and it's so common because we've done so many things to damage our guts. We take antibiotics, we take acid blockers, we take all kinds of things, anti-inflammatories that damage our gut lining and cause a leaky gut. And we eat a crappy diet, no fiber, too much sugar, processed foods, all those things are gut-busting diets and drugs that create a leaky gut, and then we become more sensitive. Which is why we've actually seen about a 400% increase in celiac, and probably an equal increase in gluten sensitivity over the last 50 years. 400%? 400%, it's crazy, yeah. So before we get to the algae part, help everyone understand the difference between gluten and wheat, because they're not exactly the same. Yeah, they're not the same. So gluten is in wheat, right? But gluten can also be in barley and rye and other grains. So gluten is a little protein, it's sticky. It's like what you make glue out of, actually what's on envelopes and makes them stick. It's in the bread when you knead bread, it's like sticky and gluey. Think about glue, Ken. It's like gluey, right, gluey, right, it's gluey. And so that's actually. This is how you get through medical school, by the way. It's literally what we do. It's true, it's bad. If you only knew, right? If you only knew, man. All right, so let me bring Angela into the show. She suspects something in her diet is affecting her health. How are you? Welcome to the show. Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. Angela, what was your tip off? What was bothering you, made you think something was wrong? Well, first I have to say, Dr. Oz, I try to eat very healthy because I follow you. But the bread. So I make like a sandwich of my meal, per se. I have bread when I start, a little bread in the middle, and a lot of bread at the end. And when I began to. That's a bread sandwich. Like a bread sandwich, right. So what I began to notice was a lot of bloating immediately. So I'll go to the bathroom and I'm like, oh, I can't fit my pants. And in addition to that, on occasion I have cramps, and it's usually after I've taken in gluten. So I have like a lot of brain fog occasionally. And you know, I just don't know what it is. You read everything and it's hard to determine. Right, so what we're gonna do right now is walk you through the difference between a wheat allergy and a gluten sensitivity. Okay. And I wanna see if you can find yourself in there. By the way, what you're describing, Angela, is all over America. Four times more of a problem than two generations ago. Brain fog and gut problems, it affects a lot of people. So we're gonna break that down, come on over. So Dr. Hyman, I made you two high-tech models here. Very beautiful. Yes, this is the best, the absolute best. So they're chicly-dressed mannequins. Let's start off with wheat allergies. Explain what it is. And then, Angela, you take notes to yourself. I went home, do the same thing. Is this what you've got? So wheat allergy is a very unique problem. It's like getting a bee sting or a peanut allergy. And you know right away, it's immediate. And it's pretty rare. And you get things like hives, like terrible rashes, hives, itchiness. That's a classic sign. And you can also get trouble with your immune system activating and becoming inflamed. And you can get trouble breathing. Wheezing, asthma symptoms, classic allergic allergy symptoms that people get. Congestion in eyes, runny nose, and also digestive symptoms. You can get diarrhea acutely. All these things can happen with a wheat allergy. But that's an acute problem. It's pretty rare. And you know if you have it. So some of these things overlap with what you were saying, Angela. And I pointed that out, because before you decide what you got, we wanna go over gluten sensitivity. But remember this a little bit, right? Especially I think the itchy hives is a big warning sign. People get rashes and just, yeah. Okay, now let's go over gluten sensitivity. Which is pretty common. Very common. And it's often something that is just not diagnosed. And it can create a whole list of symptoms, right? Including? Including joint pain. Notice this prop, joint pain. And this is the worst one, brain fog. And it can cause inflammation, and actually inflammation affects every area of your body. It makes you just feel lousy. It's what I call FLC syndrome, when you feel like crap. And this also can cause weight gain. You know, we used to think that actually gluten issues cause weight loss, but we know now it can cause weight gain because of the inflammation. It creates a whole list of problems. This may be the one that's most awkward. Gas, bloating, and diarrhea, irritable bowel, constipation, all those things can happen. But you mentioned bloating, and I don't know if you get. Yeah, a little flatulence. I mean, it makes your brain fog up. Right, right. Now the problem is, this actually is so common and mimics so many other problems. People don't know it. So I always say it causes a whole list of problems, and I take care of people with a whole list of problems, which is why I call myself a holistic doctor. Boom, boom, boom. He'll be here all week. So we got a quiz, by the way, for everybody at home, so if you can help to find yourself in these symptoms. But I want you, Angela, to do this with us right now. And be very thoughtful about this. Which of these seems more like your issue? I would have to say gluten. Now, there's one more extreme version of gluten sensitivity. It's ugly cousin. It's celiac disease. So that's a bit more extreme. I do think this is what most people actually have. Not to scare you all, but this is actually something we can deal with. So, what do you think's going on, Mark? And also, let's walk in, if you don't mind, what should people be doing right now at home if they think this is what they got? Yeah, so how do you know? You're suffering, you have these symptoms, you know, you don't feel good, you have this FLC problem going on, right? So what do you do about it? We have to figure it out. And there's really two ways. One way is testing. And you can go to your doctor and you can get blood tests that help you identify if you have antibodies against gluten. But the best way for people to tell is just get rid of it for a couple of weeks. It's called an elimination diet. Just stop that triple bread sandwich you got going on. No bread. No bread, no gluten of any kind, crackers. All the things that we like to eat are, and often are very addictive, actually. You get rid of them for two weeks and you see how you feel. Do your symptoms go away? Do you lose weight? Do you have more energy? Is your brain fog lift? Does your stomach get better? Because you know what the best doctor in the house is? Is your own body. It's your own body. It knows exactly what's going on and it'll tell you if you listen. Most people just don't listen. Right. So Angela, the reason I wanted to take you through this exercise is if you actually had a wheat allergy you could have barley, you could have rye. Gas is gone already. Gas is disappearing as we speak. But you could have things. With gluten sensitivity, you can actually get away with a little bit of those things, just not enough to push you over the edge. So I like that it gives you the flexibility, but it gives you control because knowledge is power. That's right. That's what this is all about. Yeah, and the key is you may be able to add a little bit of gluten eventually, but if you stop it for two weeks, cold turkey, then you'll know and you can see how much you. Here's your brain back. Okay. I want you to enjoy it. Enjoy it with your child. Okay, I will. Thank you very much. All right, up next, the truth about gluten-free foods, what you need to know before you buy another gluten-free product.