Gluten and Magic

Gluten is a protein in wheat, barley, rye and triticale (a rye/wheat hybrid) that is hard for some people to digest. These people are divided into a number of subsets. An estimated 1-2% of the population have celiac disease – an autoimmune form of gluten intolerance – who must eat a gluten-free diet for life. Other people may not have celiac disease, but may be allergic to wheat (about 0.2-0.4% of people) or may have what's termed non-celiac gluten sensitivity--NCGS-- (a group some experts estimate at from 1% to 6% of the population).  Of note, NCGS is a research in progress. Peter Gibson, a professor of gastroenterology at Monash University and director of the GI Unit at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia has a number of studies with conflicting results.

An argument has always appeared over the very logic of gluten sensitivity. How could such an intolerance exist in an agricultural culture? But lactose intolerance is quite real--and traceable genetically. ( http://steeleydock.blogspot.com/2014/06/got-milk.html ) More, agriculture is new.

But there is another curiosity revealed in words.  Alphitomancy comes from the Greek word meaning "barley," the suffix -mancy comes from the Greek term meaning "divination." Years ago it was common in some cultures to test a subject for truthfulness by feeding him barley. If he got indigestion, that was an indication he was lying.