I’d like to start this post by saying to Elissa that this not personal. From what I’ve read, you’ve gone through some tough times and shown real resilience so kudos to you for that. Ok…moving on.
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! You have celiac disease and you just told hundreds of thousands of people, many of which I’m sure have celiac, that it’s ok to eat gluten. Before I go any further, here’s the video. It’s from a podcast/interview she did yesterday with Maria Menounos (we’ll get to her later). Ok…watch it and weep.
Ok…before I delve into the video itself, let me introduce you to the cast of characters:
- Interviewer: Maria Menounos. Maria is a media personality who has acted, hosted entertainment shows, etc. She has over 1 million followers on Instagram. She is now into…well I’m not really sure. I’ll let her explain:
“One of the great privileges of my career is having access to the world’s best experts, healers, thought leaders, and celebs. Through my time with the Today Show, Nightly News, E!, and other global stages. Now, I’m sharing those incredible contacts with YOU, so that you too can have access to transform your life with PRACTICAL, accessible, daily takeaways that will start you on the ever-evolving journey to discovering your best self.”
Ok I still don’t know what she does. Seems like she swallowed an influencer dictionary and threw it up. Anyway…that’s who Maria is. Welcome to the Gluten Dude blog. Nice to have you.
- Interviewee: Elissa Goodman. Elissa is a holistic practitioner whose mission is to “educate and encourage healthy, mindful living and to help others embrace the concept that we are a product of what we eat and how we treat ourselves.” I actually like that mission. I just wish she wasn’t so full of shit. Elissa has celiac disease. Well according to her, she HAD celiac disease. But not anymore. Cause plants and enzymes or something like that.
- Podcast: Better Together with Maria. It says the podcast is YOUR Daily Life Improvement Show, where you can transform w/ renowned healers, experts & celebs. Oh…and she wants you to join her #HealSquad. Don’t ask.
Ok now let’s dissect the video with a Dude breakdown:
Maria asks: When you are in remission with celiac disease, can you eat bread again?
Dude note: The answer is no. It always has been no. And it always will be no. Why are you even asking this? Do you even know what “remission” means when it comes to celiac disease. Let me explain. When celiac is in remission, it simply means you are on a 100% gluten-free diet and the immune system is not responding abnormally because there’s no gluten in the system to trigger it. It does not mean you are cured of celiac disease. Let me repeat that. YOU ARE NOT CURED OF CELIAC DISEASE BECAUSE THERE IS NO CURE FOR CELIAC DISEASE. If you are in remission and you eat gluten, the autoimmune response kicks in and whether you feel immediate symptoms or not, your body is still attacking itself, you are doing damage to your intestines and eventually you better believe you’ll start feeling symptoms again. If you are alive.
Ellisa responds: Yes. Yes you can.
Dude note: No. No you can’t.
Maria says: Wait…hold the phone…you’re able to go eat pasta and things like that?
Dude note: Maria…you knew the answer she would give. That’s why you asked the question. Can the fake shocked act.
Elissa says: I’m able to eat pasta. I’m able to eat pizza. I could not live without being able to do that.
Dude note: That’s funny. I still eat pasta and pizza and yet I’m 100% gluten free. Stop acting like a slice is pizza is so frigging important when it’s your health at stake.
Ellisa says: There is also an enzyme that breaks down the gluten. It’s call GlutenEase.
Dude note: Really? Let me check what the science says. Oh…here you go. “The names of [products like thise] make implicit claims that appear to be supported by the claims on the labels and websites for which there is no scientific basis.” Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5424869/
I’ll stop there but she goes on to say it took her 10 years to get to “remission” and be able to eat gluten. But if she did it again, it would only take her a few months. That’s right, a few months after a celiac diagnosis, she would be able to eat gluten again. I cannot get over how dangerous and irresponsible this is. People will get sick from this advice.
I like to stick to facts when it comes to our fun little disease. So let me post some facts for you:
Fact: Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.
Fact: Celiac disease affects men and women across all ages and races.
Fact: 83% of those celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
Fact: The longer a person is not properly diagnosed and continues to eat gluten, the greater their risk of developing other autoimmune disorders, neurological problems, osteoporosis and cancer.
Fact: Untreated celiac disease increases the risk of cancer 200-300%.
Fact: Untreated celiac disease increases the risk of miscarriage 800-900%.
Fact: There are NO pharmaceutical cures for celiac disease.
Fact: A 100% gluten-free diet is the only existing treatment for celiac today.
Fact: The total US healthcare cost for all untreated celiacs: $14.5 – $34.8 billion annually.
Fact: Elissa is not a scientist and Elissa is not a medical professional. Ellisa (and Maria) should stay in their own fucking lanes and stop talking about fucking diseases when they have no fucking clue what they are talking about. Podcasts like this should be flagged and taken down.
Ok fine…that last one was an opinion. But I do encourage you to comment on the IG reel and also report it. As always, let’s make our voices heard.
FFS
I don’t even know why the term ‘remission’ is even a thing. ‘Remission’ indicates that you are no longer affected by coeliac disease and thus could happily eat gluten. The disease is not in remission, it is being treated by a gf diet. It’s like saying that hypertension is in remission whilst taking blood pressure tablets because your BP is normal – no, it is being treated. The whole concept is ludicrous. I bet it doesn’t take long for the woman in question to start getting symptoms again and doing some real damage. Opening herself up to litigation too.
Remission is a well-recognized term used in the medical profession when referring to stabilization of Celiac Disease symptoms. It’s also recognized throughout medical literature and used as a descriptor in journal articles. Here is an example:
Predictive Factors and Clinical Impact of Deep Remission in Celiac Disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7506239/
There are dozens if not hundreds more of reputable medical sources I could reference that use the word ‘remission’ to define the abatement of celiac symptoms when in compliance with a gluten-free diet.
Therefore, the term “remission” is correct. However, this Elissa lady is definitely a kook and is soliciting very dangerous advice to the Celiac community. So sad and surprising since she already a cancer survivor of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma which people with celiac disease are at an elevated risk of developing. Additionally, what is odd, is she still uses all gluten-free ingredients in the recipes she shared on her blog. This leads me to believe she is pushing misinformation to line her bank account. Shameful. And litigious. I agree.
Wondering if she’s an affiliate with gluten ease 🤔
Same
I just went to see what other comments were posted on IG & it told me the media could not be loaded. I’m guessing they took it down. 😀
They took the brief IG post down but the podcast itself is still up. Working on it.
I guess it’s a reflection of our society, but do you have to drop the “Eff Bomb”? You may be upset , but try to find a better way to articulate your surprise/anger/shock.
I can be spicy. Sometimes I think it’s warranted. But I know not everyone likes it.
Oh God not the Gluten Ease thing again. Yet another journal article: https://journals.lww.com/jpgn/Fulltext/2008/08001/Celiac_Disease_Pathogenesis__The_Proinflammatory.9.aspx
Once your T cells change tactics, they don’t change back. I’d love to have a drug that reverses the transcription factors that maintain the autoimmune reaction. But there’s no such thing. And no such drug free thing, either.
Thanks for that article, Angelica!
It’s refreshing for my brain to read scientific truths after reading the content from that whacko podcast.