Wheat Allergies and Celiac Disease: These two diseases keep taking an extra hit by the media

Food Allergies are controversial as it is. But wheat allergies and Celiac disease seem to be taking an extra hit lately when it comes to the media. The headlines scream "Britons May Be Avoiding Wheat Unnecessarily and Food Allergies Are the New Eating Disorder. As if there isn't enough adversity and problems getting others to take food allergies seriously, when the news times are slow, the media seems to like to take on food allergies as the punching bag du jour. Why is that? I'm not sure entirely, but maybe Advisory Boards and skewed data has something to do with it. Yes, wheat allergies are not as prevalent as say peanut or dairy allergies. Our allergist says that my son "drew the short straw" when referring to his anaphylaxis and contact reactions to wheat. But diagnosis of Celiacs disease is actually on the rise. You can read more about the rise in Celiac disease and what is actually is here.

While they are both triggered by wheat or the proteins in wheat, Celiac disease and wheat allergies are actually two different diseases. While Celiac disease is an autoimmune response, wheat allergies are an immune system response. And then there are the people that are intolerant.

Yes, these are all real responses to wheat. Wheat is a top 8 allergen and required to be labeled for by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA).

So why all the backlash from the media? Well, there seems to be a few reasons that I can find.

1. With the rise in diagnosed Celiac disease and food allergies, food manufacturers are worried about a drop in sales and they go to the one place they can to get the word out that there is nothing wrong with their product. The media. By telling the general public that it's "all in there heads", it's invalidating these serious life threatening illnesses which is completely wrong and irresponsible.

2. Like with anything, there is always celebrity backlash. Elizabeth Hasselbeck wrote a book about self diagnosing and going gluten free and even the celiac community itself took issue with "self diagnosing" and "losing weight on the gluten free diet". Many articles have been written since dispelling some of the common gluten free myths.

3. Maybe reporters don't always understand the studies they are reading as pointed out in this Age of Autism article. Then misinformation becomes "fact" because it was published as so.

That is why it is so important that we keep getting the correct information out there to the people who need it. That is why as health activists and the sufferers of the diseases, we need to make our voices louder than the those who really have no idea what they are talking about. Just writing this post I saw so many "articles" that listed wheat allergy symptoms as "slight digestive issues". This is not so!!

What can we do to make sure that correct information is getting out to the public and to our communities?

Can you write a post or tweet one important thing you think people need to know or understand about Celiac Disease or wheat allergies?

Next time an article comes out in the media that doesn't tell the complete story can you write a post that finishes the story or corrects the inaccuracies in the article?

People I trust and who will give the REAL story in the celiac and allergy community:

Allison at Sure Foods Living

Amy at the Savvy Celiac

Celiac Chicks

Shauna at Gluten Free Girl

Sloane at Please Don't Pass the Nuts

Jennifer at Food Allergy Buzz

Ruth at Best Allergy Sites