Is Gluten really the bad guy! There's been so much media coverage from Autism to physical appearance diets and such that we should consider that gluten maybe bad for some of us. But how bad is it?
Our technology is constantly improving and researchers are identifying the reasons for some diseases. Celiac Disease has been under scrutiny for some time. With that in mind, maybe there's something behind all the hype?
If a person cannot tolerate gluten, they may have Celiac Disease. Celiac Diseases affect the immune system. According to many scientific reports, untreated celiac diseases can lead to cancer. Many people don't even realize that they suffer from a Celiac Disease because the symptoms can be very common ones such as stomach problems, diarrhea, rash, etc. And let's face it, most doctor visits are only 15 minutes long and a doctor isn't going to dwell too long on those types of symptoms. More than likely the doctor will say you are depressed or are coming down with a bug. Celiac Disease symptoms are many times not associated with a Celiac Disease, so you need to ask some questions from your doctor instead of relying on those they'll ask you.
Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity had been a medical myth. Only within the last six months the medical world has started to take a real intense look at this possibility. Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity means you unknowingly suffer from gluten intolerance. If you don't know about it, but feel sick, you won't know how to make yourself better. You will waste time trying experiment with medicines that all encourage you to eat when you take them. Eating gluten will make you worst and you'll blame the medicine. This cycle can go on and on. It will use up not only your mental energy, but also the energy of your overworked immune system as well! Why do that to yourself if you can avoid it?
Let's imagine for just a moment that you eat gluten, but your body cannot tolerate it. Every time you eat, you will stress your whole system, meaning your whole body will do what it can to make you not happy about eating that thing it cannot tolerate. This can lead to a chronic immune reaction, inflammation and subsequently tissue damage. Finally the immune system will run amuck. Your body will waste all its energy addressing this tolerance issue that it will be vulnerable to other diseases such as cancer, neurological diseases and autoimmune diseases.
Gluten doesn't cause cancer directly. Understand that everyone produces cancer cells that have the potential to become full blown cancer. Healthy people do not have to worry because we have our friend, the immune system, who controls these cancerous cells. As long as our immune system is doing its job, we will be safe. What gluten, the bad guy, maybe does is overworking our immune system until it is too tired to function properly. But not only the immune system is overworked the whole system is overworked. At that point, it is too worn out to control those mutated cells. And so, gluten intolerant people can end up with cancer and other such serious diseases.
We should eat better, especially Americans. Animals eat smarter than we do. Plants, fruits, whole grains (excluding gluten) a few eggs, the occasional smaller animal is how we would best keep our bodies in peek condition. We are not originally born eating bread with something in between.
Historically the introduction of grain based foods is paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of cancer. Gluten does not cause cancer but it does mess up our immune system. There are many cases of healthy individuals saying they feel better while on a gluten free diet. That's the thing with health, there's always room for improvement, especially if we're talking about gluten.
The main question is "What is so toxic about gluten???"
The toxic part of gluten is the gliadin protein. There isn't a specific, scientific document saying that the gliadin protein has been modified but I have read several reports stating that wheat is modified, especially the gliadin part, to obtain better baked goods. That means they altered it genetically. When we play with genetics some weird things can happen. So I cannot say if the wheat from our ancestors was less toxic to us or not. Their muffins might not have risen so high, but they were definitely eating something more natural than what we eat.
The gliadin part of gluten induces the unwanted immune responses found in celiac diseases, which is called an Interleukin-15 mediated response (IL-15). An IL-15 mediated immune response was detected in all individuals, meaning it was also found in people without Celiac Diseases or non celiac gluten sensitivity! So, we all produce an innate immune response to gliadin. If everybody is reacting this way, the gliadin might not have been the best answer for our fresh baked needs, eh?
As if that's not enough, several gluten exorphins were isolated from gluten. This is scary because exorphins are opioid mimicking peptides, meaning they are in the same group as morphine like polypeptides. And like morphine, it has an impact on the immune system and other functions such as nerve function, neuromuscular function, to just name a few. Exorphins can down regulate our immune system, making us susceptible to infections. A weakened immune system cannot save us from cancerous cells. Frankly, a weakened immune system can't do a whole lot, period.
Being gluten free is maybe a good thing? Well, looking over this article again I start to believe that my son is the lucky one, being an identified gluten intolerant will give him no chance to be anything but healthier!
Our technology is constantly improving and researchers are identifying the reasons for some diseases. Celiac Disease has been under scrutiny for some time. With that in mind, maybe there's something behind all the hype?
If a person cannot tolerate gluten, they may have Celiac Disease. Celiac Diseases affect the immune system. According to many scientific reports, untreated celiac diseases can lead to cancer. Many people don't even realize that they suffer from a Celiac Disease because the symptoms can be very common ones such as stomach problems, diarrhea, rash, etc. And let's face it, most doctor visits are only 15 minutes long and a doctor isn't going to dwell too long on those types of symptoms. More than likely the doctor will say you are depressed or are coming down with a bug. Celiac Disease symptoms are many times not associated with a Celiac Disease, so you need to ask some questions from your doctor instead of relying on those they'll ask you.
Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity had been a medical myth. Only within the last six months the medical world has started to take a real intense look at this possibility. Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity means you unknowingly suffer from gluten intolerance. If you don't know about it, but feel sick, you won't know how to make yourself better. You will waste time trying experiment with medicines that all encourage you to eat when you take them. Eating gluten will make you worst and you'll blame the medicine. This cycle can go on and on. It will use up not only your mental energy, but also the energy of your overworked immune system as well! Why do that to yourself if you can avoid it?
Let's imagine for just a moment that you eat gluten, but your body cannot tolerate it. Every time you eat, you will stress your whole system, meaning your whole body will do what it can to make you not happy about eating that thing it cannot tolerate. This can lead to a chronic immune reaction, inflammation and subsequently tissue damage. Finally the immune system will run amuck. Your body will waste all its energy addressing this tolerance issue that it will be vulnerable to other diseases such as cancer, neurological diseases and autoimmune diseases.
Gluten doesn't cause cancer directly. Understand that everyone produces cancer cells that have the potential to become full blown cancer. Healthy people do not have to worry because we have our friend, the immune system, who controls these cancerous cells. As long as our immune system is doing its job, we will be safe. What gluten, the bad guy, maybe does is overworking our immune system until it is too tired to function properly. But not only the immune system is overworked the whole system is overworked. At that point, it is too worn out to control those mutated cells. And so, gluten intolerant people can end up with cancer and other such serious diseases.
We should eat better, especially Americans. Animals eat smarter than we do. Plants, fruits, whole grains (excluding gluten) a few eggs, the occasional smaller animal is how we would best keep our bodies in peek condition. We are not originally born eating bread with something in between.
Historically the introduction of grain based foods is paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of cancer. Gluten does not cause cancer but it does mess up our immune system. There are many cases of healthy individuals saying they feel better while on a gluten free diet. That's the thing with health, there's always room for improvement, especially if we're talking about gluten.
The main question is "What is so toxic about gluten???"
The toxic part of gluten is the gliadin protein. There isn't a specific, scientific document saying that the gliadin protein has been modified but I have read several reports stating that wheat is modified, especially the gliadin part, to obtain better baked goods. That means they altered it genetically. When we play with genetics some weird things can happen. So I cannot say if the wheat from our ancestors was less toxic to us or not. Their muffins might not have risen so high, but they were definitely eating something more natural than what we eat.
The gliadin part of gluten induces the unwanted immune responses found in celiac diseases, which is called an Interleukin-15 mediated response (IL-15). An IL-15 mediated immune response was detected in all individuals, meaning it was also found in people without Celiac Diseases or non celiac gluten sensitivity! So, we all produce an innate immune response to gliadin. If everybody is reacting this way, the gliadin might not have been the best answer for our fresh baked needs, eh?
As if that's not enough, several gluten exorphins were isolated from gluten. This is scary because exorphins are opioid mimicking peptides, meaning they are in the same group as morphine like polypeptides. And like morphine, it has an impact on the immune system and other functions such as nerve function, neuromuscular function, to just name a few. Exorphins can down regulate our immune system, making us susceptible to infections. A weakened immune system cannot save us from cancerous cells. Frankly, a weakened immune system can't do a whole lot, period.
Being gluten free is maybe a good thing? Well, looking over this article again I start to believe that my son is the lucky one, being an identified gluten intolerant will give him no chance to be anything but healthier!
About the Author:
Martina Berger, PhD is a biologist and a specialist in Food Allergies. After her son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance she decided to make a website for parents with kids allergic to food. If you are interested to read more aboutGluten Sensitivity than go to her website.
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