I ordered Chinese food last week. I have been consciously making an effort to avoid Gluten. Well, I went crazy, I had a hard time getting out of bed and getting motivated for work and life. Then I remembered MSG, which has Monosodium GLUTENATE!!! It took me three days of eating leftover Chinese fried rice and General Tsao's chicken to figure this one out. My other symptoms were severe depression, fatigue, anxiety, anger, loss of motivation, apathy and maybe some D when I am Glutened. Last Friday, and since, I have felt much better by watching what I am eating. My family and friends think I am nuts when I tell them this, with the exception of those who have been around people who have had this disease.

This article has really helped me (please read): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4610998.stm

A professor from my graduate school once said that "small changes make for big changes" and in my case how true. I feel much sharper and more optimistic by something as small as avoiding grains. I am beginning to feel that I have control of my emotions for the first time in my life, 33 years of it. I don't like to blame things, but I guess I can blame a lot of my behaviors on Gluten. I think I tolerate Casein pretty well, still experimenting.

I am thinking of getting Enterolab, but it looks pricey.

Your thoughts and experiences?

BTW, this is a great web-site, I am learning so much!

MSG is gluten free, however, the soy sauce used in most chinese dishes is NOT gluten free. That would likely be your problem. You could make most of these dishes at home using gluten free soy sauce in the recipe.

Enterolab is a great tool for those who don't have their doctor's support in diagnosis. However, it can only tell you if you're gluten sensitive. It can't diagnose Celiac.

yeah, had some soy sauce with it, but maybe I am MSG intolerant as well from the symptoms I read.

question: is Centrum multivitamin Gluten free? I think I had a small reaction to it a couple days ago.

MSG is controversial, but is gluten-free. Many soy sauces are made from a mixture of wheat and soy. Wheat is cheaper, so the resulting sauce is cheaper if wheat is used. Restaurants are businesses seeking a profit, so they usually use the least expensive ingredients available. Basic economics.

There are are a number of soy sauces available which are truly soy sauces and which contain no wheat. If you are in Canada, VH brand soy sauce is gluten-free and is widely available in grocery stores at a reasonable price. Only in Canada, you say. Pity.

Soy sauce in a restaurant, hmmmm....

The regular Centrum multi is gluten-free, but not all of their formulations are. You would need to call and check for those--their number is on the bottle.

Do you have problems with dairy? The Centrum does contain lactose.

I think I have a dairy allergy, in that it causes my skin to break out.

I've read MSG can penetrate the blood brain barrier and cause depression moodiness, is this true?

oy chineese food is a gluten havan!! i ate stirfrys for 2 days in feb when we had to travel out of town thinking that it was better for me than the burgers. i was sooooo sick, and then i found out there is gluten in all their sauces, and soy sauce, not to mention that im allergic to soy. i make my own stirfrys at home now with no problems. so now we stay away from asian food out at all costs!!

Like people said, MSG is gluten free, but for me it causes problems. I had beef jerky, no gluten, soy sauce, nothing... But MSG... had D for 2 Days!

I'd say Soy Sauce is probally the culprit.