Once you've spotted gluten-free shampoo on the store shelf, you know the trend's gone too far.
Whether food contains gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley – used to concern a relatively small group of people who suffer from celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction to gluten in the small intestine. While growing numbers of people have been diagnosed with the disorder over the last decade, the crowds that have jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon for other reasons outstrip them.
Gluten never was in most shampoos, by the way, save those containing wheat germ oil. Unless you plan to drink it, it's harmless since gluten must be ingested for the body to react, says Peter Taylor, executive director of the Canadian Celiac Association.
"We see the market for gluten-free going crazy," says dietitian and author Shelley Case, "but who needs it and who doesn't?"
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