I have been gluten-free(ish) for about 7 months at this point. The diet worked wonders for ridding me of numerous other health issues, many of which I didn't even realize were "issues" until they finally went away. I say gluten-freeish mainly because the diet is ridiculously hard to follow. Most places still aren't trained to properly handle food to avoid cross contamination and most food is processed on shared equipment lines that turn out a number of different products. Unfortunately I can still react from time to time from these shared equipment products which causes a bit of a hassle (but provides plenty of bathroom reading time!).
The problems with celiac disease are in large part due to a massive confusion as just what to categorize it as. Is it the damage to the intestines? Is it the ability of your body to develop antigens for your own intestinal lining, is it that change in gut bacteria that the linked article mentions, is it the ability for your body to create antigens to gluten itself, is it the ability for gluten to alter gene expression in your intestinal lining, etc. It's a very multifaceted issue that eventually always comes back to: gluten causes bad sh*t to happen all over your body. Unfortunately many of the tests used today for it by doctors are quite a bit unreliable as they have high false-negative rates. This ends up causing a lot of people who experience clear, measurable discomfort/inflammation/cognitive issues as a result of eating gluten products to have their doctor come back with "your tests show that nothings wrong so you must have IBS".
As to the information in that link you posted:
- Oats are not safe. The site is correct in saying that they do not inherently create gluten. The site is not correct in saying that most manufacturers no longer harvest/store/process the oats on the same equipment as wheat.
- Unfortunately, according to a recent studies the same thing may be going on with millet grains and so it's best to avoid that one too. And the same thing goes for any other processed (ie: not whole grain) version of any other grain product (rice flour/soy flour are big culprits here).
- Modified Food Starch, in US products this is always made from corn unless otherwise noted so unless it specifically mentions being from wheat, it's safe.
Probiotics are pretty much a must for anyone who has or has had or wants to avoid a problem with gluten. I take them religiously now as I noticed that it severely lessens the symptoms of any inadvertent glutenings.
Macaroni is pasta, pasta is made from flour, flour by default in the american lexicon is made from wheat. This means that unless you're getting your pasta from a box that specifically states "gluten free" then it's not safe. Unfortunately the safe boxes taste like crap...
If a manufacturer states "gluten-free" then technically it doesn't mean sh*t. There are recommended limits of gluten content in products but the FDA still has not gotten around to setting any actual legal limits or guidelines for companies to follow. Products that are independently certified gluten free (GF) logo and all are safe. There have been issues even recently where companies will list "Gluten-Free" (not GF logo'd) when they really mean no intentional gluten ingredients, even though that product is manufactured on shared equipment and ends up glutening (poisoning) celiacs. Luckily the companies are normally quick to change their labeling due to pressure from responsible grocery chains that pull their products from the shelves in such cases (ty Whole Foods).
Additionally the FDA allows companies to state "a gluten free food" for things such as millet, because they do not naturally contain gluten, even when it's been shown that most of the stock out there is grown in the same fields, harvested on the same equipment, stored in the same silos and processed on the same lines. BTW, the FDA is probably the least effective office of the US government. If you feel safe eating any of your food, don't. The only thing worse I can think of is probably the USDA.
