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This newsletter is about Gluten Free
September 25, 2010
Why Gluten Free?
Hi ,
Why Gluten Free?
I read an article in the Sacramento Bee recently that asked the question "Why Gluten Free?" The article essentially ridiculed the current "fad" towards a gluten free diet. If this article were labeled as an opinion editorial everything would be fine, but unfortunately it pretended to be an authoritative piece of investigative journalism. Nothing could be further from the truth. The author did very little investigation into gluten sensitivity and simply restated the 50-year-old statistic that less than 1% of people have celiac disease. The statistic is fine. The problem is that celiac disease is just the tip of the iceberg in the world of gluten sensitivity.
Current research shows that 35% of the population shows gluten sensitivity antibodies in their stool, and 12% of people show auto-immune reactions to gluten that are causing their immune system to attack their own body tissues. Genetic testing shows the immune system genes in control of this reaction are actually not rare, and may be present in up to 60% of Americans. So as you can see, gluten sensitivity is a much bigger problem than just the less than 1 % of people that have the particular form of gluten sensitivity that produces celiac disease.
What other diseases are associated with gluten sensitivity? If you have any of these diseases you should be tested for gluten sensitivity as the gluten may either be causing the problem or making the symptoms much worse.
* Microscopic colitis
* Chronic diarrhea of unknown origin
* Irritable bowel syndrome
* Inflammatory bowel disease
* Autoimmune liver disease
* Other causes of chronic liver disease
* Dermatitis herpetiformis
* Diabetes mellitus, type 1
* Rheumatoid arthritis
* Sjogren's syndrome
* Lupus
* Scleroderma
* Autoimmune thyroid disease
* Dermatomyositis
* Psoriasis
* Any autoimmune syndrome
* Chronic Fatigue
* Fibromyalgia
* Osteoporosis
* Iron deficiency
* Short stature in children
* Down's syndrome
* Female infertility
* Peripheral neuropathy
* Cerebellar ataxia
* Seizure disorders
* Psychiatric disorders
* Depression
* Obesity
* Alcoholism
* Autism
* ADHD/ADD
* AIDS
* Hepatitis C
How can the list be so long? All these diseases can be caused by or made worse by over-reactions in the immune system. Gluten sensitivity causes the immune system to become over-reactive and start attacking our own systems. Basically gluten sensitivity causes auto-immune diseases. This can inflame virtually any tissue type in your body. It might attack your joints causing arthritis, your brain causing dementia or ADD or even depression, your heart causing atherosclerosis, and so on. It can target anything in your body.
So instead of only 1 person in 122 needing to avoid gluten, the number is really 1 in 3 here in America. That is a whole lot of people. If you are sitting on a bench with someone on either side of you, one of the three of you is probably gluten sensitive
...is it you?
To cut the Sacramento Bee a little slack, the research I am quoting here is only a few years old and not well known. A casual Google search will not have it show up on the first page. What is obvious is that a lot of people who quit grains and avoid gluten feel a lot better. What else really matters? If you feel better avoiding gluten, then you are probably gluten sensitive. If you really want to know for sure you can go to:
and order the gene test and or the stool antibody tests to find out scientifically if you would benefit from avoiding gluten. I did, and unfortunately I discovered that I am really sensitive to gluten. I have had to make massive changes to my lifestyle, but it is paying off. Many of the things I was attributing simply to aging were in fact immune reactions. That is good because there is nothing I can do about aging - it happens to all of us. But I can do something about eating a food that is slowly killing me. I stop eating it!
Good Journey,
David
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Ouestions - if you have questions of a health or growth nature we could discuss in this newsletter, or if you have comments or ideas about a future newsletter focus please email me at:
david@fairoakshealth.com
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