When we think of ‘gluten’ we automatically think of wheat. However gluten is really found in a large percentage of grains, starches and manufactured foods. The key ones are:
- Wheat (that includes sourdough)
- Barley,
- Rye,
- Spelt,
- Bulgar,
- Couscous,
- Farina,
- Kamut,
- Matzo,
- Semolina
Why all of a sudden are we concerned about Gluten?
An exponential amount of research has been mounting against Gluten over the last 10 years. The few years, this has become more and more talked about in main-stream media.
Going ‘Gluten Free’, will make a huge impact on your health today but also prevent issues in your children’s health in the future. Furthermore, this will change the genetic footprint of generations to come and protect those from gluten related autoimmune illnesses.
Here are the facts, as we know today:
- For the first 2.5 million years of evolution, 99.9% our species has been gluten-free!
- The grains we eat today in fact bear little resemblance to the grains that entered our diet thousands of years ago.
- Modern food engineering and hybridization (aka cross breeding) has allowed us to grow modified grains that firstly contain gluten less tolerable but also less nutritious.
- Wheat has been bred to be shorter and sturdier and also to have more gliadin.
- We used to prepare our grains differently also. They were soaked, sprouted, fermented and bread was baked using slow rise yeast. This allowed amino acids to increase and disable enzyme inhibitors and other nutrients (such as lectins and phytic acid which bind to nutrients and prevent them being absorbed) from being a problem.
- Today, the flour is bleached and the bread is baked with quick rise yeast.
- Crops are sprayed heavily with antibiotics such as Round Up – toxic to humans.
The Link to Auto-immunity
The world’s leading researcher and pioneer into Gluten related disorders is; Alessio Fasano. He discovered the catalyst not only to Coeliac disease, but also to other autoimmune diseases, was Gluten. He explains that, a number of elements need to come together for AI to occur:
- A Genetic predisposition to autoimmune (gene mutation),
- The presence of toxins in the diet or environment (Gluten); and
- A ‘Leaky Gut’ (intestinal permeability).
Initially researchers thought you were born with celiac disease, however this was disproved in 2010 when they discovered some people had only triggered Celiac after 70 yrs of eating gluten.
Fasano discovered a protein molecule in our gut called Zonulin, which is triggered by gluten ingestion that leads the cascade of events for leaky gut – the opening the permeability of the stomach lining to leak into the blood stream. In coeliac and those other autoimmune diseases, the amount of Zonulin is higher.
Gluten therefore = potential for triggering all Autoimmune diseases.
In the last few years, due to such a rise in apparent gluten related disorders, they have had to come up with a new term for the symptoms induced by the ingestion of gluten. Besides celiac disease and wheat allergy, the most studied form of gluten-related disorders characterised by this evident immune mechanism is called: non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).
NCGS
Many experts think that gluten only effects the GI tract. The reality is that gluten can cause or contribute to more than 200 medical conditions. The findings indicate that gluten can disrupt hormones and contribute to:
- Short stature and delayed growth
- Delayed puberty
- Type I Diabetes
- Rickets (soft bone disease caused by vitamin D deficiency)
- Anemia
- Hypoglycaemia
- PMS
- Low testosterone
- Endometriosis
- Hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, Graves
How Gluten disrupts hormones
Gluten induced hormone imbalance can occur via multiple mechanisms.
- Gluten can cause malabsorption of fat leading to female hormone deficiency
- Gluten can cause malabsorption of vitamins and minerals that help regulate blood sugar, thyroid hormone function, estrogen and progesterone balance, testosterone, cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and growth hormone production.
- Causes elevations in the hormone prolactin – this can contribute to irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, loss of libido, and bone loss.
- Gluten can cause inflammation that damages organs responsible for the production of hormones.
- Gluten can induce autoimmune reactions that lead to the body’s immune system attacking hormones, hormone receptors, and the organs responsible for producing hormones.
- Gluten can cause leaky gut contributing to immune system dysfunction and altered regulation.
- In men this can contribute to weight gain around the gut, low libido, increased blood pressure and cholesterol, poor energy, and brain fog.
- The molecular structure of gliadin, the protein portion of gluten, closely resembles that of the thyroid gland. When gliadin breaches the protective barrier of the gut, and enters the bloodstream, the immune system tags it for destruction. These antibodies to gliadin also cause the body to attack thyroid tissue. This means if you have thyroid disease and you eat foods containing gluten, your immune system will attack your thyroid.
- Even worse, the immune response to gluten can last up to 6 months each time you eat it.
- This explains why it is critical to eliminate gluten completely from your diet if you have Thyroid disease. There’s no “80/20” rule when it comes to gluten. Being “mostly” gluten-free isn’t going to cut it. If you’re gluten intolerant, you have to be 100% gluten-free to prevent immune destruction of your thyroid.
If you have the gene, then your one step closer to developing any number of auto-immune disease. If you don’t carry then gene, then you can impact your hormones significantly and also pre-dispose your bodies to “Leaky Gut” syndrome = inflammation = immune challenges.
I see in all patients an improvement with removal of gluten. I see no reason to have gluten in the diet what so ever given the amount of research into it’s adverse affects, and positive results with its removal from diets
Grains and (this includes corn) feed pathogens such as EBV. They grow stronger causing more damage and producing toxins. It’s these toxins that create the inflammation.
Why can others eat wheat and not get autoimmune? This is very hard thing to prove. But perhaps one theory might be because they do not have the pathogen or the virus that creates the disease.
What are good substitutes for Gluten?
- Quinoa,
- Millet,
- Oats GF,
- Organic short grain brown rice.
Though if inflamed with conditions such as Auto-immune, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Psoriasis Eczema etc, then remove grains all together. Organic short grain brown rice is arsenic free because not sprayed with pesticides. White Rice might introduce pathogens so don’t have this rice if you have an inflamed condition.
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