Gluten: It's bad news

Posted Thu, 09/16/2010 - 20:59 by Melissa

Last month I got some test results back. One of the tests was for the gene that is linked to celiac disease.

Apparently I don't have it. So I thought I'd celebrate with a beer. Predictably I felt horrible the next day. Why? Well, gluten isn't just bad for celiac individuals, it's possibly bad for almost everyone.

First of all, it's got some seriously bad stuff in it. One of these things is a protein called gliadin, which celiac individuals are sensitive to. But it turns out that others are sensitive to it as well: Is gliadin really safe for non‐coeliac individuals?

The answer is NO:

The data obtained in this pilot study support the hypothesis that gluten elicits its harmful effect, throughout an IL15 innate immune response, on all the individuals. This innate response is found in both patients with and without CD, although the triggering of an adaptive response is CD specific.

So for celiac individuals it's really really bad. For most people it's not so bad, it only "induces epithelial stress and reprogrammes intraepithelial lymphocytes into natural killer (NK)‐like cells leading to enterocyte apoptosis and an increase in epithelium permeability" a little. Enjoy your bagels! 

Even though the media has run a slew of wheat-industry sponsored garbage about how eliminating wheat if you don't have celiac is "dangerous," more and more scientific publications have been running articles on non-celiac gluten sensitvity. It's real.

Whole Health Source has many great posts about it. This one on the genetic test I had is enlightening:

Gluten sensitivity is determined in large part by genetics. A gene called HLA-DQ is intimately involved. It encodes a protein that is expressed on the surface of cells, that serves to activate immune cells when certain foreign substances are present. Different versions of the gene are activated by different substances. HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 are classically associated with celiac disease. Roughly 42% of the US population carries DQ2 or DQ8. According to Dr. Fine, every allele except DQ4 has some association with gluten-related problems! Only 0.4% of the U.S. population carries HLA-DQ4 and no other allele.

Sadly my genetic test didn't tell me whether I carry HLA-DQ4. It just told me I didn't have the celiac markers. But I think it's pretty unlikely I'm homozygous for it. I'll let the symptoms speak for themselves.

"But I eat bread and I feeeel fiiiiiine" I hear people say. Do you really? What about that Claritin you have to take everyday? Or the inhaler you have to carry? Or the bottle of ibuprofen you have to keep by your bed? Gluten is bad news. Try a month without it and see the difference.

Edit: Yipes, here's one for the .4%! Modern wheat also messes your insulin up.

Edit 2: Gluten increases gut permeability (AKA leaky gut) in non-celiac individuals, though not as badly as in true celiac disease.

Comments

Good good good I just came

by Guy The Healthy Paleo Guy (not verified) - 11/16/2010 - 08:41

Good good good

I just came out of my october paleo challenge (see more at http://guythehealthypaleoguy.wordpress.com/) and it was my birthday

Coming out of the October Paleo Challenge I felt great, and then I started to feel not so good anymore. I wanted to be flexible for my guests, so I took some cake and hors d’oeuvre, flour and sugar stuff, baklavas…. So what happened? I started to cough and get the sniffles, headaches, itchy eyes and cravings. And now not only a small skin rash is back but also my mild insomnia (I even don’t poop the same, but won’t go into details…) And I lost a hole in my belt as my belly is now bulging out! All this from a tiny bit of food, not even a whole meal….Dang!!!

So I am now getting rid of sugar, but I think the real culprit was flour........ could it just be like that????
I miss sleeping..... I am monitering my food now to see what happens

Thanks for your wonderful site!
xxxxx Paleo Guy

As a Registered Dietitian and

by AnaJ (not verified) - 09/20/2010 - 17:04

As a Registered Dietitian and a Paleo follower, I think the RD in that pro-gluten article was just trying to say that JUST the elimination of gluten will not result in weight loss. If you eat junk food (whether it contains gluten or not) you CAN gain weight. I have plenty of clients who believe that the elimination of just one food will give them miraculous results which is not the case, it is always about the whole diet.

I personally have cut gluten

by Nick Hamilton (not verified) - 09/20/2010 - 13:05

I personally have cut gluten completely. The last time I cheated was a few months ago when I had a beer. I later woke up with stomach cramps and lower intestine related symptoms that lasted into the morning. A very valuable lesson on why I avoid gluten!

Melissa, Absolutely stay

by Erin Elberson (not verified) - 09/19/2010 - 06:06

Melissa,
Absolutely stay clear! It's a very heated debate right now. There's no real conclusive testing to verify gluten intolerance. To quote from a presentation I'm doing, gluten intolerance is "Symptoms related to gluten exposure, which poorly understood but appears not to be immune mediated or have significant nutritional or inflammatory consequences."
That's in the short term though. Over the long term there has got to be consequences.
The other thought is that the enzymes required for breaking down all foods downregulate if we are not consuming a particular food. So, it's probably been a long time since you had a beer, your enzymes to digest it are likely quite low.
Personally, I wouldn't be playing around with it though. And David is absolutely right, people only think of celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance as it relates to the GI system, but there all systems are involved, and the neurologic system is quite often the first place gluten hits.

I guess the problem is people

by David Csonka (not verified) - 09/17/2010 - 08:27

I guess the problem is people eat bread, and if there is a gluten problem, they expect it to manifest as some kind of stomach discomfort?

I suppose, this is generally not the case with gluten intolerant people, with the resulting symptoms manifesting in the lower intestines.

Awesome post. It's amazing

by gilliebean (not verified) - 09/17/2010 - 03:11

Awesome post. It's amazing the different being gluten-free makes! That's the new mantra for me too: "Just try it for 30 days!"