Corpus, you got any personal knowledge or evidence on autoimmune conditions and gluten consumption? Dearly interested in it.
This is only just one of the articles that describe the problem:
Gluten and the autoimmune disease spectrum
While some scientists/doctors had suspicions about it for over 15 years, it's only in the last 2-3 years that "non-celiac gluten sensitivity" was accepted in the medical circles (and in fact, some older doctors are still transfixed into the "whole grains" thing). Do a google search about all this, there are a gazillion articles that have sprouted about gluten on autoimmune, inflammation and even mental conditions recently! Even NYTimes had two articles about it this year alone! Another good one:
50 Shades of Gluten (Intolerance)
However, a word of caution: for many AI conditions that are heavy (e.g. multiple sclerosis), going plainly gluten free won't help as much as actually changing a few more things too. I mean, it will still help lots, but you won't be maximizing your chances of healing. For example, if you cut down glutenous bread, pasta and pizza, and then you simply start buying their equivalent gluten-free ones, you won't see nearly as much healing. These are "empty calorie" foods, they're also processed, and in some cases, they're as bad as glutenous food. This is one of the most telling TED videos about all this:
So based on my readings, and my own personal experience battling an AI condition, this is what *I* had to do:
1. No gluten, ever (wheat, barley, rye). No oats either, they're usually contaminated. I always read labels!
2. No vegetable seed oils, which promote inflammation and whack the O3-to-O6 ratio (I use olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter).
3. Limit my added sugar intake. Daily fruits, some raw, local honey, tubers, are all ok.
4. No processed food, and that includes gluten-free cereals/bread/pasta/pizza/sweets.
5. Limit rice and corn to once a month or so (they have similar proteins to gluten, and some immune systems confuse them for real gluten). For corn, it has to be organic, not GMO. White rice is healthier than brown rice, because all the anti-nutrients are found on the shell. Same goes for the other grains btw, it's really the opposite of what we've been taught!
6. No unfermented legumes, they're full of lectins (just soak them for 24 hours, change the water 2-3 times). No soy, except in the form of organic (non-GMO) tamari, gluten free soy sauce (just to use with my sushi, once or twice a month).
7. Dairy must be fermented in order to reduce lactose content (e.g. yogurt, kefir, cheese), and preferably from casein A2 animals (goats/sheep/buffalo). Home-made goat kefir, fermented for 24 hours, proved very helpful to my condition. Some people can't do dairy at all though.
8. I eat up to about 330 gr of meat/fish daily (and 1 egg for breakfast). Everything else is veggies (raw or not). I always serve wild fish AND (usually pastured) meat/offal with lunch/dinner, but in small quantities: most of the plate constitutes from many different veggies (up to 12-15 different species).
9. I supplement with D3, CoQ10 Ubiquinol (not Ubiquinone), Magnesium (most people are deficient on it in the West). I eat *wild* fish daily, so I don't need to take fish oil.
10. Nuts/seeds are ok, in some loose moderation (unless soaked, in which case, have them freely). The only nut not allowed is peanuts, because they're not nuts, they're legumes.
This regiment has saved my life, literally. I was sick for 10 years, and in Sept 2011, I was reborn. I have the Internet to thank for all this, because my doctors didn't help me at all. I was prescribed a variety of drugs, including many very strong antibiotics, that did nothing to help me. I became a prisoner to my own home. No more.