Gluten free by choice?

A friend of mine, who works with Children asked me how I felt about people going gluten free, who "don't have too"

Well, that depends on what you think makes it required.
I would eat gluten if it did not make me ill.

But I have known people who swore that there child with autism does so much better on a gluten free, no sugar, non dairy diet.

I know diabetics who find Gluten free diets easier to manage with less insulin.

Oprah, Gwyneth Paltro and other Celebrities claim that being gluten free is essential to a good Detox.

I'm behind anything that makes gluten free products more accessible to me.

In 2006 Reader's Digest published a list of the 10 diseases that doctors miss. http://www.rd.com/health/10-diseases-doctors-miss/}  # 7 was "CELIAC DISEASE In adults it takes an average of 11 years to diagnose celiac disease,... An estimated two million Americans have the disease but an astounding 97 percent go undiagnosed."
So, I can imagined that in the 6 years since then, with all the attention that it gets, we have gathered up most of that 97%

On the other hand, When I hear about someone claiming to be gluten free who is obviously not doing it seriously, It makes my teeth clench. Weather it's "My Doctor said, but I still eat cake" or its someone doing "low carb" and calling it gluten free.
For some this is a fad diet. They think that eliminating gluten will help them lose weight, or something superficial like that.

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In 2010, in Spain they did a study that found that "healthy adults who ate a gluten-free diet for a month had a dramatic drop in protective gut bacteria and immunity-boosting chemicals." SO it's not a good idea to do it if you dob't NEED to.

So I think, if you suspect celiac disease, or gluten intolerance, get tested. If your test is negative, try the "diet". If you don't feel better, then Gluten is NOT your problem. Put your focus somewhere else.