I've been gluten free for about a month and my asthma feels like it is gone. I haven't needed my inhaler once and my lungs aren't itchy and hot feeling anymore. It's remarkable.

I have a bad asthma reaction to foods with commercial citric acid in them. I can eat lemons and oranges all day long and have no problems. I have done research and found that they grow the citric acid in mold. I realized this several years ago that I only had asthma when I had a food item which had the ingrediant "citric acid". I have asthma only once in while so I can trace this easier than most. I also prepare most of my food from basic ingrediants and eat out only once in a while. However, almost all restaurant food seems to have citric acid and so I have learned to avoid eating out.

I was diagonosed with asthma in 2007 at age 56 to my total surprise. Didn't think much of it until this summer when I got smacked down with several episodes that landed me in the ER. Oddly, earlier in the year I had stopped eating wheat to test the relationship between ADD and gluten. This was also a recent revelation about my entire family having ADD. And so this summer I had returned to eating wheat when I traveled to the Northeast for a reunion and conference and it's been DOWN HILL ever since. It came to me this morning while pouring granola into a bowl for breakfast that I should check the WEB on any causal relationship between gluten and asthma AND LOW AND BEHOLD here it is. THANK YOU!!! I'll be back with a report.

At the suggestion of a friend, I took my son to a chiropractor to see what other ways we can deal with his allergy induced asthma... He told me to eliminate gluten and dairy from my son's diet. This of course was impossible to do, but in time, I was able to eliminate both. (the dairy was a little easier but the gluten was the most challenging part). Spring allergy season came and instead of his singulair, the chiropractor recommended a natural anti histamine supplement. This combined w/ the elimination of gluten and dair and voila! It was great! For his 6th birthday, my son ran around and not one attack (even a slight cough). Throughout the spring, he went to various parties, he would sweat and turn red as he usually does when he runs around- but not a single cough or shortness of breath! I was estatic! Then came the summer- between driving him to camps, swim classes, more free time for him to be around others (namely other family members like my mother and mother in law who think I'm being a bit much with my son's new diet), mini weekend trips ... I found myself always saying "OK, but just a little bit this time" or giving in to people's "it's just a little bit... his body craves bread...". My son ate a donut here, a slice of pizza there, a little bowl of non GF cereal, etc... etc... etc... now in August, ragweed season has arrived coupled with the heat wave and air quality alert days that just hit us and my poor son got his first attack in 8 months! Thank God wasn't bad that we had to rush to the hospital, but for three nights, I have to listen to him cough and struggle. We are back to the albuterol- the homeopathic recommendations weren't helping too much at this point. EIGHT MONTHS! AND THE SPRING ALLERGY SEASON WITH ZERO NEED FOR HIS NEBULIZER! AND JUST BECAUSE I GAVE IN TO PRESSSURES (MOSTLY FROM FAMILY) ... MY POOR SON IS SUFFERING! Today was day three and my husband has the audacity to tell me to bring him to his always claritin and antibiotic crazed pediatrician--- in the meantime, he waltzes in our home with munchkins and winked at our son that he can have just one. I put my foot down and told him off! Then, I reminded our 6 year old why he is in this state in the first place... So yes. In my son's case, I highly believe that having gluten in his diet. I wish they would do more scientific studies. This would save thousands of children from having to take singulair and other allergy medications and asthma medication that may have side effects...

So I went gluten-free & haven't needed an inhaler in years. In fact, both of the once I had were expired as of last year (but I haven't had insurance for a while). So over the past couple of weeks, I went on vaca, attended a conference, & just generally bunked my usual diet. I haven't been able to breathe ALL DAY! I think it started a couple days ago, but I've totally been wheezing for going on 16 hours. I've also been more itchy than usual & my head is definitely clogged. All these things creep up on you if you don't pay attention, & then you wonder what's going on!

Like the article says, if you're skeptical or unsure, just try to go gluten-free for a few weeks & see the diff. I also noticed that I'm not as sluggish when I'm gluten-free, & I don't have as many joint problems. I also don't feel like there's lead in my gut.

Be kind to your body & it will be kind to you!