What’s Up With Gluten?
Gluten has become such a buzzword recently in this county. What’s the deal?
1. Celiac Disease: An auto-immune condition that damages the villi in the small intestine when gluten is ingested. The vili are responsible for the absorption of nutrients. Gluten ingestion causes malabsorption of essential nutrients and inflammation leading to symptoms ranging from neurological issues such as dizziness, brain fog, visual disturbances, to generalized aches and pain, acid-reflux, headaches/migraines, extreme fatigue, hormone imbalances, and numbness in the limbs. The list of symptoms goes on.
It is thought that 30-40% of people have the gene for celiac disease, and 1-2% of people are actually diagnosed. It is common for celiac disease to run in the family, and also for it to be undiagnosed or mis-diagnosed for years or a lifetime.
2. Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: What if you test negative for celiac, but you still have symptoms? This could be why . . .
- Inflammatory Proteins: Aside from gluten, there are other inflammatory proteins in Wheat and other gluten containing grains that can cause an inflammatory immune response in your intestines and gut.
- Increased Intestinal Permeability: Our intestines are not meant to be permeable. Proteins are meant to stay inside our gut and not leak out in to our blood stream. “Leaky Gut” is a condition where proteins are able to pass through the gut wall and create an immune reaction in the body. This is one possible cause of auto-immune diseases.
- Disturbances to Gut Flora: Connected to weight gain, digestive trouble, and mental health
A great journal article from the March edition of Nutrients outlining Gluten’s connection to inflammation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705319/
Symptoms That Can Clear Up on a Gluten Free Diet:
- fatigue
- constipation
- bloating
- diarrhea
- acid-reflux
- joint aches
- headaches
- migraines
- PMS
- brain fog
- rashes and other skin conditions
Important Side Note
Many of my patients find that just removing the gluten can help clear up a lot of their symptoms. Other patients need to go through the gut healing protocol and possibly look in to other food sensitivities and blood sugar/insulin balance issues before they start feeling significantly better. The gut healing protocol addresses the inflammation and the damage that has been done on the gut, helping to heal the gut lining, calm down the immune system and inflammation and restore gut flora using supplements, dietary approaches and acupuncture.
Resources
When I went gluten free 13 years ago, resources or awareness of gluten sensitivities were scarce. Luckily, these days, there are many great places you can go to for more information about gluten issues and how to live gluten free. Many restaurants now have specific gluten free menus and most groceries stores carry a wide range of gluten free products. Keep in mind, just because it’s labelled gluten free doesn’t make it automatically healthy. More on this next time!
All Things Gluten Free FB page And her blog post: Link to blog
Find Me Gluten Free: A smart phone app showing all the restaurants and local spots near you with gluten free products and menus! Great resource on nights you don’t feel like cooking!
Wrapping Up
Going gluten free is not necessarily for everyone. Some people likely tolerate it just fine. If you are struggling with health problems, particularly digestive, inflammatory, allergies or immune issues and want to learn more about how removing gluten and other inflammatory foods may help you feel better, ask me about the gut healing protocol. It’s helped me and many of my patients with a wide-range of health issues.
To schedule a free consultation, call (617) 281-8532 or email: Nicole@SageBostonAcupuncture.com
