Gluten Free Diet and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis has many causes.  A frequently overlooked solution is going on a gluten free diet, although this only applies to those with celiac disease.

This may seem to apply to just a small group of the population, until you look at the numbers.  In fact, it applies to a significant majority of people suffering from osteoporosis.

The proportion of the population with celiac disease is estimated to be just under 1%.  While not a huge number, it is very significant, especially when you look at the number of patients diagnoses with a specific disease, that in fact ends up being a symptom of celiac disease.

For example, when you look at the population of patients with osteoporosis, the proportion of those with celiac disease jumps to 5%.

If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, or osteopenia (a more mild form of bone density thinning which often leads to osteoporosis), and the usual prescriptions such as Fosamax have no effect, you’ll want to pay particular attention to this finding.

Common prevention and treatment of osteoporosis is a subject for another article, but I’ll mention in passing that Fosamax does not impress me, and I don’t think milk is the answer either, especially if you have a milk allergy.

Following a gluten free diet will probably help you if you have celiac disease.  If you do not have celiac disease, a gluten free diet will probably not help you.

You might think that people with celiac disease have the celiac disease symptoms to prove it.

More and more, research is showing many cases of mild celiac disease where there are no noticeable complaints in the gut such as diarrhea etc., but there are symptoms, often misdiagnosed as being caused by something else, and therefore not treated appropriately for the problem.

In roughly 5% of osteoporosis cases, the cause is celiac disease and the cure is going on a gluten free diet.

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