The above statement is a facebook status update from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center facebook page. I'm afraid, I just don't.get.it. What type of cure are they looking for...something that allows one to eat gluten I suppose. But, avoiding gluten isn't all that bad. Sure, it would be nice to indulge in pizza and cookies and bakery cakes but really none of that stuff is good for ANYONE. Plus, it can all be made gluten-free. In fact, I tend to believe that just about everyone would be better off without gluten. Sure, not everyone has celiac or an obvious intolerance, but I do think many, many, many (if not most) people are negatively affected by gluten in insidious ways.
Here is a very informative page on The Dark Side of Wheat. It's definitely worth a perusal.
My family doesn't have celiac, but we do have gluten intolerances, and in many, many ways I feel it is a blessing in disguise. Being gluten free has forced us into healthier eating. We have basically given up anything even remotely processed, or anything that comes in a box or has more than 5 ingredients. We make everything from scratch. I have discovered new foods and new ways of baking. Coming up with gluten free meals, snacks and treats has expanded my mind and challenged me in exciting ways. I love spending time in the kitchen whipping up new recipes. Currently, I am enamored with coconut flour (for all baking and treats) and amaranth flour for bread. I love coming up with new recipes and trying new things.
Being a gluten-free household has led me to strive towards becoming a sugar-free (ok..sugar-lite) household. I'm learning how to do more baking with honey and other substitutes, and am excited to try my hand at using stevia.
But, back to the original question of a cure for celiac. What type of cure would that be? A surgery to remove something? A small intestine transplant? Or perhaps a pharmaceutical drug that has a list of side effects a million miles long. No thank you! I think I'd rather stick with a gluten free diet. Seems a lot safer than any "cure" they might develop.
Even 1 mg/day of gluten can be bad for celiacs. So, it is useful to find something that will reverse the damage to the intestinal mucosa. Or for someone with refractory celiac disease. I don't believe in cures myself, but I'd rather have a cure than not, if it means that accidental exposure won't be bad. That said of course, I agree with you that being gluten-free is better than trying to eat gluten and "curing" the mucosa.
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