When Gluten-Free Eating Is the Best Medicine - Melissa Diane Smith
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HFjBxdaiI-Z1HQ2o5fGBidQqToCPcBWuf6-egzqhogEVJ2zlnNTa5IIefZHe73qGaOnTxuKhBwB65mnH39OjNuflXXjW12sxmnOrZgOUsrgJytt2oVj1Ukx2C6Ffbofc1TL3HZBTHgsVNZygHKQBtEERbHBNXhjuIY4IMv360pRjwKHaaZojf6akdA/w426-h640/Gluten-Free-Grains-683x1024.jpeg)
My investigation into gluten began more than 20 years ago and revealed some surprising things about this problematic protein. I interviewed a woman named Victoria for my book “Going Against the Grain” (2002) who had unexplained low blood iron counts that kept getting lower each year for, believe it or not, a period of 20 years. At one point, she was taking nine iron supplements a day, and none of the doctors she had seen could determine why she wasn’t properly absorbing iron. She grew sicker: She kept getting more and more exhausted, extremely pale and short of breath, and her fingernails were curling up. Finally, after a two-decade-long health journey, she ended up seeing one more gastroenterologist, who gave her the answer to her condition: She had celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction in the gut to the gluten in wheat and other grains, and it could be corrected with a change in her diet. After “Going Against the Grain” was published, a client named Pam, who was diagnosed with osteo