New Insights into Gluten Intolerance – Not the Usual Yada, Yada, Yada on Gluten – This gets Serious, and most importantly, detectable. Bread may not be the staff of life anymore.
A lot has been said about the benefits of the Adkins diet, more recently the South Beach and then Paleo Diet; I have been totally against those through the years because they were meat heavy and meat is acidic – an acidic pH that falls low enough encourages bacteria, viruses, fungi, and cancer! BUT, these low carb diets seem to help with diabetes, high cholesterol, and a myriad of other dis-eases in the body. So my quest has been to figure out why some can eat gluten and others can’t and what are the reasons.
The first clue is the word itself (gluten: the Latin word for glue). I had no idea that one reason I couldn’t stop eating carbs once I started (like when I used to eat not one cookie, but five), was that gluten containing grains contain exorphins, a morphine type substance that is very addictive.
So today, I want to summarize my findings for you.
First, I have encountered clients quite often who have the blood work that is typical for severe gluten intolerance: keep in mind that you do not have to have all of the markers below to have a severe gluten intolerance. Unfortunately, I have all of them, so my ears (maybe my eyes, too) perked up for sure when I saw the list below!
- Depressed white blood cell counts (Below 5)
- Subclinical anemia (ferritin levels below 10 in women and below 33 in men
- Depressed OR elevated serum protein levels
- Low triglyceride levels (below 75 mg)
- Alkaline phosphatase levels below 70 U/L
- Depressed blood urea nitrogen levels – below 13
- Elevated HDL (High Density lipoprotein or so called Good Cholesterol) – 75 mg or higher or below 55 mg)
- Excessively depressed or elevated total cholesterol levels
- Elevated liver enzyme levels
WHO knew but didn’t tell us that our chronic conditions revealed in the blood could be related to gluten sensitivity! And WHO knew that gluten just isn’t the same as it used to be when we could eat white bread and doughnuts and not end up with stomach cramps and diarrhea or constipation!
Yes, since the 80s, wheat and other cereal grains have been adulterated and cross bred to the point to where modern wheat cannot survive in a natural environment without man’s help…Wheat just isn’t wheat anymore. It is shorter and stockier and produces much more gluten; some call these Frankengrains. Grains and legumes also inhibit the thyroid and have gluten and gliadin, common sources of food sensitivities. Gluten is everywhere…just read your labels and find that it isn’t just in bread and crackers. All cereal grains could be problematic, even corn, rye, oats, barley, etc., but wheat seems to be particularly bad.
An MD, Dr. William Davis, explores all of the reasons why we should avoid modern cereal grains in his book.
“Wheat Belly is a provocative look at how eliminating wheat – even so-called healthy whole grain wheat – from our diets is the key to permanent weight loss and can offer relief from a broad spectrum of health and digestive problems.” Book Summary: Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD
OK, so the question now is, “what is affected by eating wheat and is dairy just as bad?”
First, gluten can lead to all kinds of health issues – physical, mental and emotional. Yes, the mental and emotional problems occur when over-consumption of carbs depletes B Vitamins and serotonin levels, damaging the ability to “convert amino acids into neurotransmitters!” (Gedgaudas).
“Fifty-five diseases can be caused by gluten,” – New England Journal of Medicine
“Death was most significantly affected by diagnostic delay, pattern of presentation, and adherence to the gluten free diet, defined as eating gluten once per month, increased the relative risk of DEATH 600%” (Corrao et al. 2001)
IBS and other bowel issues, autoimmune illness, cancer, migraines, diabetes, heart disease, ADD and ADDHD are major issues today and could all be a result of gluten issues.
Gluten is a very unsuspected culprit in many illnesses; in fact, it is little recognized by allopathic medicine. If a sensitive child or adult is exposed to gluten, it literally stops blood flow to the part of the brain that lets us focus, control emotions and to organize our lives.
The gut/brain connection discussion continues through the medical/alternative communities. Thanks to people like Jenny McCarthy and her work with her own autistic child, that a healthy gut mirrors a healthy brain and vice versa. Gut tissue is in every part of the body due to the formation of the embryo…a healthy gut and so goes the rest of the body.
In Nora Gedgaudas’ article entitled: “Grains: Are They Really Health Food? The Adverse Effects of Gluten Grains” published in the WELLBEING JOURNAL, you’ll find a more in depth explanation of this issue and its far reaching effects in our children and ourselves.
Stay tuned next week to the gluten/yeast/gut connection! Let’s continue to unravel the mystery of why we are so unhealthy when we try so hard.