How many people have gluten intolerance? 

Symptoms of gluten intolerance are experienced far more than celiac disease. A 2012 Mayo Clinic survey found that 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease, and another 18 million have gluten sensitivity. It is hard to say exactly how many people suffer the symptoms of gluten intolerance because so many people try to treat it on their own without consulting a professional. Likewise, just because there are more gluten-free products on the market than ever, not everyone on a gluten-free diet is sensitive to it. It has been touted as a weight-loss diet and has become sort of a fad. 

Gluten Sensitivity: Is It Real? 

Dr. Jay Marks, an internist and gastroenterologist, who for 20 years was an Associate Director of the Division of Gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine, In Residence, at UCLA, told MedicineNet.com, "Gluten sensitivity is all the rage these days. Not a week goes by when I don't see a patient with gastrointestinal symptoms who has started a gluten-free diet – or what they think is a gluten-free diet - and improved." He explained, "They described their symptoms as feeling bloated and gassy and experienced abdominal pain, diarrhea and abdominal cramping." 

Despite all evidence to the contrary, some people suggest that gluten intolerance may not even be real! Research has been mixed. In one recent study published in Gastroenterology, the journal for the American Gastroenterological Association, Dr. Peter Gibson challenged his own recent study results. He set out to test his original results that suggested gluten sensitivity is a real condition and lent credence to gluten-free diets.