Celiac Disease Information - Managing Gluten Insensitvity

Celiac Disease - Managing Sensitivity to Gluten
By Connie Limon

An inflammatory condition called celiac disease can occur when people who are genetically predisposed to the disease eat wheat.

The Celiac Disease Foundation estimates that one out of 133 people in the United States have celiac disease. Celiac disease runs in families.

There is no medication to treat celiac disease and the cause is unknown. The best treatment for celiac disease is a diet that strictly excludes products containing gluten. If you have celiac disease, you can never eat gluten, even if you have been symptom free for a long time. Just the smallest amount of gluten can cause symptoms to reoccur.

Gluten is a sticky protein that is usually combined with starch and found in:

• Wheat

• Rye

• Barley

• Oats

If you have celiac disease you must abide by a gluten-free diet. This is not an easy task to accomplish. Gluten is found in most processed foods. The importance of knowing what is in something before you eat it makes reading food labels an absolute must and if you cannot be sure of the ingredients, don't risk eating it.

Use safe ingredients which include:

• Plain rice (all types including wild rice)

• Potatoes

• Corn

• Legumes

• Millet

• Peas

• Corn, peanut, olive, canola and sunflower oil

Foods you should avoid include:

• Breads

• Pasta

• Whole wheat

• Bran

• Pizza

• Oatmeal

• Spaghetti

• Croutons

• Crackers

• Pastries

• Bagel

• Beer

Your symptoms should start to subside in about two weeks. You can then begin to add more processed or prepared foods. Be sure to always read the food labels carefully to be certain you are not getting any gluten. Even food prepared near or in the same pans as food with gluten can cause you problems if you have sensitivity to gluten. There is a variety of cookbooks that can help make your gluten-free cooking easier.

Eating out is often difficult for people with celiac disease. Review the following tips for eating out:

• Focus on fruits and cheese and undressed salads

• At dinner parties, ask the hostess if you can bring a dish and make the dish something you can eat

• Eat before you go out to eat so you are not tempted to eat something that might be harmful to you

• Call ahead to restaurants to explain your special needs and see if they can accommodate you before you go

• Avoid chain restaurants where the food is more likely to be made somewhere else and frozen. Try to find restaurants where food is made to order

• Try to get a simple piece of grilled or broiled meat or fish, flavored with oil and lemon

Packaging descriptions where gluten might be hidden include:

• Unidentified food starch

• Caramel coloring

• Modified food starch

• Hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein

• Natural flavorings

• Flavor or spice extracts

• Licorice

• Vegetable gum

• MSG

Gluten can also be found in the following:

• Cosmetics like lipstick and chap stick

• Stamps and envelopes

• Prescription and over-the-counter medications

Source: The Arthritis Foundation

Disclaimer: *This article is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any kind of a health problem. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Always consult with your health care provider about any kind of a health problem and especially before beginning any kind of an exercise routine.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box. Article written 5-2007.

Author: Connie Limon, Trilogy Field Representative

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Celiac Disease Information

Celiac Disease Information - The Real Cause?

The Real Cause of Celiac Disease (Gluten Allergy) Is Said to Be Unknown - It is Not, and Here is Why
By Bruce Dwyer

The information at the end of this article relates to the current known physiology of how people 'acquire' the celiac disease (CD). The two sources clearly indicate that while specialists know that gluten causes the disease and the effects of the disease, there is no consensus on WHY celiac diseases exists in the first place.

One of the best speculation that I have found is from a book called The Gluten Connection by Dr Shari Lieberman. While this book is a fantastic source of technical medical information it also bravely attempts to uncover the origins of the disease. Although the statistics are often US based, they translate well to other countries. The book states that: "In general populations of Western Europe CD ranges from 0.5 to 1.26%. A 2001 report showed that in the UK the rate of CD was 1 in 112 people, in Finland 1 in 130, in Italy 1 in 184 and the Sahara had 1 in 70!"

Dr Shari talks of a time before celiac disease (symptoms of) seemed to exist. A time when meat, vegetables and grain were predominantly free from man-made toxins, preservatives and the like. She discusses how many of our foods have been modified with the result that while the general population has a CD rate of 1%, that up to 29% may be gluten sensitive . The genetic predisposition of the disease is such that having a first degree relative with CD increases your odds of having CD to 1 out of 22, and a second degree relative to 1 in 39.

Essentially it is suggested that while the human genome has remained unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years, the Industrial Revolution massively accelerated the amount of grain in our diet (as opposed to the traditional carbohydrate load from nuts and berries). Of course this was necessary to feed to rapidly increasing population that were gathering in high density cities, but we did not evolve as swiftly to cope with the gluten overload.

Add to the change in lifestyle the change in grain 'roller milling' process (invented in 1873) which changed our diet from whole grains to refined flour, add the convenience of packaged food with increased grains products, the rise of cereal breakfasts and our overload was well under way. Consider that even since 1967 the US per capita gluten grains consumption has increased from 115 pounds to 139 pounds. "Gluten is used in the manufacturing of virtually all boxed, packaged and canned processed foods to created textures that are more palatable to our taste buds, or it is used as binders, thickeners, and coatings. It is even used as glue on envelopes and stamps." So maybe there is more to the George Costanza story than meets the eye ... but I digress.

WHAT you really need to think about is the next paragraph:

" ... bioengineers continually work to improve gluten and make it a larger and more potent part of edible grains. It is estimated that today's wheat contains nearly 90 percent more gluten than wheat did from a century ago!"

In my general diet readings I have seen how many experts believe the increased use of processed food components such as refined sugars and even the overuse of salt has cause many health issues. Imagine if over refined grains were removed from the majority of manufactured foods and wild seed banks were used to grow grains with their original levels of gluten. Imagine if wholemeal flours were used more often and a non toxic replacement for gluten (with glutens binding properties) was found and used in our foods? Would we then see a fall in CD rates amongst our youth?

The point is that conspiracy theories aside, large food corporations are profit driven and look for the most cost effective solution. This is often at the expense of long term health effects, assuming they have this knowledge in the first place. If you are reading this and you have celiac disease, it probably means that you were predisposed towards it, have acquired it and can't go back to eating any form of gluten. But at least now maybe you have one possible view as to how and why you got it. While the conclusions drawn above are completely speculative it makes intuitive sense that too much of anything, particularly things you don't know you are ingesting, can be a bad thing. Natural is almost always better and if you have CD but your child doesn't have it yet, perhaps you could consider letting them eat low gluten grains rather than 'eating just anything or abstaining completely'. Its worth a try?

SCIENTIFIC CAUSES OF CD - SOURCE 1 "The exact cause of celiac disease is not known; however, inheriting or developing certain irregular genes increases your susceptibility. You are more likely to have these abnormal genes and develop celiac disease if you have a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter) with the condition. In some genetically predisposed people, environmental factors, such as bacteria, viruses, or surgery, may cause changes in the small intestine; then, eating gluten can trigger an irregular immune system response, resulting in celiac disease."

SCIENTIFIC CAUSES OF CD - SOURCE 2 "In celiac disease, an intramucosal enzyme defect produces an inability to digest gluten. Resulting tissue toxicity produces rapid cell turnover, increases epithelial lymphocytes, and damages surface epithelium of the small bowel. Celiac disease affects 1 of every 133 people in the United States and results from environmental factors and a genetic predisposition, but the exact mechanism is unknown. A strong association exists between the disease and two human leukocyte antigen haplotypes, DR3 and DQw2. It may also be autoimmune in nature. It affects twice as many females as males and occurs more commonly among relatives, especially siblings. This disease primarily affects whites and those of European ancestry."

Original career in electronic engineering morphed into Corporate Marketing via MBA in 1998. In the Last few years I have had a strong interest in e-marketing and website optimisation. My strongest desire is to be working in the sustainability industry which causes large reductions in greenhouse gases. Save the planet, save the animals, save the people. http://www.glutenfreepages.com.au

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Celiac Disease Information