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Wheat Gluten - the Protein with Teeth 12 Feb 2006

"Leaky Gut Syndrome"

How many people suffering headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, iron deficiency, depression, chronic tiredness, somewhat overweight, with a history of infertility or miscarriage have considered the possibility of Wheat (Gluten) sensitivity?

In people with Gluten intolerance, Gluten actually attacks the lining of the gut, tearing holes in it. The condition is known as "Leaky Gut Syndrome". No wonder it makes you feel tired and sick!

Gluten is a highly complex protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Gluten intolerance means you don't absorb nutrients properly, so you miss out on things like iron, calcium and vitamins.

But that's just the start. When your gut is 'leaky' certain other nasties like bacteria and allergens escape into the bloodstream. This is a direct conduit to every other part of the body - including the brain.

Symptoms of Gluten intolerance are often gastro-intestinal (GI) and include stomach bloating, cramping, flatulence and diarrhea. But the long term effects are more serious: anaemia, osteoporosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), depression, dementia, obesity and bowel cancer.

See Health Risks.

Runs in the Family
We already know that Celiac Disease is a condition that is 'atopic' - it runs in the family. If you are Celiac then ~10% of your first degree relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children) will be Celiac as well. This is a much higher proportion than in the general population.

Gluten Sensitivity Much More Common Than Celiac Disease
New evidence (2001 - see references below) indicates Gluten sensitivity goes much wider than just Celiac Disease. Gluten sensitivity affects 15% or 1 in 7 people.

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) in up to 15% of people, is NOT the same as Celiac Disease (~ 1 in 130 people or less than 1%). The traditional test for Celiac Disease (CD) is a blood test (which is only a guide), then an intestinal biopsy: under anaesthetic the doctor takes a tissue sample from your intestine and sends it for testing.

Unfortunately many doctors still think 'Celiac Disease' when testing for Gluten sensitivity. When the blood test result turns out negative or inconclusive, the patient can be misled into thinking Gluten is not the problem.

There are now more sophisticated blood tests to look for NCGS, but generally in mainstream medicine in the US and Australia the new practice has not yet been integrated.

As a result Gluten intolerance is notoriously undiagnosed, misdiagnosed and and under-diagnosed.

Recent Research
Most doctors don't have time to read medical journals and catch up on new findings. So they can only apply the knowledge they learned 10, 20 or 30 years before, in medical school.

* With negative or inconclusive results the doctor may be dismissive of Gluten intolerance, even if you suggest it.


* How to find out? Do an Elimination Diet and know for sure. The Eliminaiton diet is accurate and simple and needs no drugs or therapies.


* If it turns out that eating Gluten free for a few weeks brings dramatically improved health then you would have to conclude you have Gluten intolerance, wouldn't you?

Gluten Sensitivity is Poorly Diagnosed
If you think you might be Gluten sensitive - you should see your doctor. Most Gluten intolerance is undiagnosed - resulting in serious but preventable diseases in many sufferers.

A common indicator is low iron or anemia. Most people just buy over-the-counter iron supplements and think that's all they need to do. But that's why many Gluten intolerant people are not diagnosed until later in life.

Eventually the long term anaemia causes other problems. And the body's ability to compensate diminishes with age. As a result some Gluten intolerance is diagnosed only after an emergency hospital admission of a middle-aged or elderly patient.

The immune system is involved
There is also the well known Celiac skin condition Dermatitis Herpetiformis, sustained itchy spots, but that is not present in all Gluten intolerant people.

Gluten intolerance causes lots of other symptoms like chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, depression and infertility. No wonder, with all these symptoms it is tricky to nail down!

Gluten is a protein and has recently been associated with classical allergy symptoms like skin rashes and respiratory problems (coughing, asthma).

* That means Gluten intolerance is definitely involved with the immune system, contrary to previous understanding.


Even doctors and health professionals agree that Gluten intolerance is poorly diagnosed.

But treatment is easy!
Whether you have Celiac Disease or Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, treatment is the same: a Gluten-free diet. It is increasingly in the media - a good thing for two reasons.

* The disease and its impact on lifestyle are becoming better understood

* More gluten-free products are now available

However the research which forms today's knowledge is not entrenched. As recently as 1993 medical opinion was divided. The case study of Susanna Lohiniemi is interesting because the diagnosis eluded doctors for ten years.

Final Comment
So . . . the question is not: How many undiagnosed Celiacs are out there? But rather:

How many people suffering headaches, depression, iron deficiency, overweight, with a history of infertility or miscarriage have considered the possibility of Gluten intolerance?

This all makes a ton of sense people. My granny had this issue, and I have most of her off the wall allergies. I'm considering reading labels more now...lol. I'm going to try to cut this stuff out of my diet completely, even in wheat bread, and see if that doesn't make some kind of difference. Any of you who have anything wrong that is in this list consider the same to see if it doesn't help you some.

Wheat gluten is in almost everything you eat. If you want to cut it out, its very expensive and you have to go to places like whole foods to get gluten free things. Hope your budget can handle it.

We have been doing gluten free, dairy free, and pretty much soy free in my household for around 3 years. The first year I spent 3 quarters of my shopping trip reading labels. Let me tell you just because the label doesn't say gluten wheat, rye, barley, etc. doesn't mean it's not in there. I bought so many products only to get them home and realize they had gluten in them. Some companies are nice enough to tell you, but not all of them. Luckily there are websites where you can find a list of all ingredients now. We do mostly organic food so in the process of me learning I found all of the organic markets I shopped at had actual gluten free sections. In fact most organic stores have a section for special diets. If they don't most have employees that are pretty knowledgeable and will do what they can to guide you if you're lost.
The elimination diet is the only way to be 100% sure if you have an issue with gluten or anything else. There is a "chance" you can find out through other methods. For instance sometimes allergies can found through blood tests. There is also a test specifically for celiac disease. For intolerance's doctors usually do titers which allows them to compare inconsistencies in the immune system to find the problem. None of these methods are completely accurate and some may give different results each time a test is done. There is another method which I plan on looking more into at some point it's called electro dermal screening. It is suppose to find all allergies, intolerance's, and deficiencies in your body. Most naturopath's have a set up to do it.
I think a gluten free diet can be beneficial for anyone out there. Not only can it help with issues listed in the article above is has also been shown to help many others. A lot of people expect once they change their diet everything will immediately be better. It does sometimes take time though. Often people see positive changes the first few weeks, but it can take several months for gluten to get out of your system completely, so it may take longer for others. Also you shouldn't remove all gluten from your diet at once. I say this because for some there can be ill effects when removing it all at once. The reason this happens is because your body is addicted to it so your body reacts like a drug addict without drugs when it is taken away immediately. If you make changes slowly there shouldn't be a problem.
As HK said it can be very expensive. It really just depends on what you eat. If you eat a lot of bread it can really add up. The average gluten free loaf is $5-6 and it's about half the size of a regular loaf. Some of it's really disgusting with odd texture too. I must have tried 20 or more different kinds before I finally found one that was good and I bake it myself. I do a lot of baking actually. I'm not sure that it cuts my costs, but things taste much better. It is a really hard change to make, but has been well worth it in my house.

I just noticed what you said to HK. What makes you think she was directing anything at you? I think she was just saying what she thought. It's called an opinion. Theres no need to take offense and name call.

Yeah dont think I was referring to YOU. How self centered. I was making a general statement.