Q: My family consumes a lot of 100 percent whole-grain wheat products, but I’ve heard so much about gluten problems that I’m worried we’re harming our health. Should we cut back? — Anonymous
A: Some experts feel that gluten sensitivity affects far more people than the 1 percent of Americans who know they have celiac disease. It’s a genetic condition in which gluten — a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and some hybrid grains like kamut — sets off an immune reaction that eventually makes the inside of your small intestine look more like a worn-out carpet than the new shag rug it’s supposed to resemble. With so much of the intestinal wall inflamed, more toxins can be absorbed, leading to all sorts of body-wide problems.
But the truth is, although gluten sensitivity is a lot more widespread than celiac disease or gluten allergy, it’s still less common than a stroll through the glutenfree section at your grocery would have you think. Because gluten gets more bad press than Lindsay Lohan, gluten-free foods have become a fad. We’re going against the grain and suggesting you keep doing exactly what you’re doing.
Whole grains are way too nutritious and delicious to eliminate unless you have genuine problems with them that you didn’t mention. If one of you does develop any signs of gluten issues — getting an itchy, blistery rash, having really awful smelling poop or even vague symptoms, like feeling unusually irritable — try switching to grains without glutens, like chia and quinoa, for three weeks to see if you feel better.
Q: I’ve had depression for almost 12 years. Is it something I’ll have the rest of my life? Is this something you can get from your parents? — Sandy, Absecon, N.J.A lot of exhausted parents would swear you get depression from your kids, not vice versa! But really, yes, depression often runs in families, via your genes, your environment or both. If you have been depressed for more than a decade, you may have what docs call chronic low-grade depression or dysthymia (“bad mood”). The symptoms — sadness, loss of pleasure, fatigue, weight fluctuations — are the same as major depression.
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They just tend to be less severe and last longer (major depression usually fades within about six months).
A bad mood that never lifts won’t go away without help. Many studies show that talk therapy or antidepressants work and that the two work best together. We urge you to try them all: Most people treated for chronic low-grade depression do get better.
Q: I have been diagnosed with diverticulitis and can’t eat nuts, corn and foods with seeds. Are there other foods safe for me to eat that will give me the same health benefits? — Daisy, Oakwood Park, Ohio
A: You’ll like hearing this even more than we like telling you this: You probably can eat all of the great foods — popcorn, too — that you thought you had to live without. For years, many people with this digestive disease were advised to avoid these and other foods, because they might trigger a painful attack. But recent studies have found that rather than being bad for you, these banished foods may help you heal. Diverticulitis develops from diverticulosis, a common condition in which small pouches form in the walls of your intestines. It may never bother you, but if it does, you’ve got the “itis” form, an inflammatory episode that causes nausea, diarrhea or constipation, and bleeding. No fun. About half of Americans over age 60 have diverticulosis, and about 20 percent to 30 percent develop the much more serious “itis.”
The reason you can put nuts, seeds and corn back on your menu is that a study looking at the diets of almost 50,000 men linked eating nuts to a 20 percent lower risk of diverticular complications, like inflammation. Likewise, guys who ate popcorn at least twice a week had lower complication rates. So, go ahead, have some. Betcha can’t eat just one.
NOTE: We apologize, but the particle-size test for HDL cholesterol mentioned in our Q&A column of Sept. 20 will not be widely available for about a year. We were misinformed about the timing. The test’s goal: to measure how effectively good HDL is at clearing bad LDL cholesterol out of your system. We’ll let you know when it is available. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen are authors of “You: On a Diet.” Submit questions at .
