I found this article by Dr. Junger For all of us who like more in-depth info on the effects of gluten in our bodies.
“Gluten is the number one Toxic Trigger that people discover after completing their Clean Cleanse. But while many people feel gluten is toxic for them, they don’t understand why.
What is gluten and what exactly does it do to our gut?
Gluten and the Gut
Gluten is a protein with sticky properties found in grains, such as wheat, rye and barley. This glue like property, and many others, makes gluten especially useful to the food industry, which uses gluten as a binder, filler, shaper, bulking agent, texturizer and stabilizer in its products.
It is almost impossible to escape gluten in America. Gluten is everywhere, and it can really do a number on the gut. To digest gluten, the cells of the intestinal wall produce a specific enzyme called transglutaminase. Transglutaminase breaks down gluten into its smaller building blocks, the peptides gliadin and glutenin. The cells of the intestinal wall then absorbs them into circulation. The GALT (gut associated lymphatic tissue) scans their surfaces, as it does with all things absorbed, in search of threatening surface codes. For reasons that only nature understands, the surface of the glutenin peptide is not coded as threatening, but gliadin’s is in people with a genetic predisposition.
T cells in the GALT will mediate the production of anti-gliadin antibodies. These same antibodies, however, often attack the body’s IW natural transglutaminase enzyme, essentially tearing apart the intestinal wall, piece by piece, the hallmark of an auto-immune disease. This shrinks and erodes the villi and microvilli, the finger like tendrils in the small intestine that maximize the surface area, and result in an inability to absorb any nutrients at all. In its most severe expression, this is known as Celiac Disease, which presents as weight loss, diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain and an overall failure to thrive.
This severe form of presentation is relatively rare, but for every person diagnosed with Celiac disease there are an estimated 8 others whose symptoms are atypical and therefore much harder to diagnose. Analysis of data showed that when people are finally diagnosed, they have been suffering for an average of 10 years.
Celiac disease and its milder and atypical presentations are the result of an auto-immune mechanism initiated by the GALT upon detecting the surface of gliadin. Glutenin can also trigger a series of reactions that end up in destruction of the intestinal wall and gut dysfunction, but not through a response to its surface being recognized as threatening. Glutenin stimulates the immune system to release interleukin 15, one of its most lethal weapons, which the immune system employs in the detection and elimination of cancerous cells. Interleukin 15 eats up the intestinal wall, which then leads to abnormalities in absorption and permeability.
Gluten Sensitivity Today
Today, gluten sensitivity is considered a common systemic autoimmune disease. Knowledge of the different ways in which the disease presents and the different organs it can affect is just starting to emerge in the medical community, thanks in large part to the hard work of the Institute for Functional Medicine. Avoiding gluten is especially important during gut repair programs, but for many it will be important to avoid it permanently.
The way that gluten affects human health is not well understood by most people. The list of syndromes and diseases associated with gluten sensitivity is endless. It affects all of the body’s systems: hematologic, reproductive, neurologic, endocrine, hepatic, rheumatologic, encephalopathic, dental, and cutaneous.
Practically any symptoms in any organ can be the result of a chain of reactions that start in the gut once it is exposed to gluten in a person with the genetic predisposition. Gluten is associated with cancers of the mouth and throat, esophagus, small intestines and lymphomas. It is also associated with type 1 diabetes, as well as thyroid disorders, such as hashimoto, the most commonly diagnosed thyroid dysfunction in America. Many patients achieve normalization of their thyroid function when adopting a gluten-free diet.
Gluten sensitivity is also associated with other autoimmune diseases, such as sjorgens and dermatitis herpetiforme. Hair loss, or autoimmune alopecia, is another presentation. It is also associated with depression, migraines, arthritis, fatigue, osteoporosis, and anemia, to name a few.
With so many scientifically proven or suspected connections to so many diseases it is tragic that instead of removing gluten from our lives, here in America we put it in everything.
What to do?
Budgeting isn’t easy and investing for the future can be a little scary. But if you want to be financially sound, you must educate and practice both. There’s no other option.
The same goes for wellness. We must educate ourselves and practice healthy habits.
My suggestion is to learn more about gluten and other toxic triggers, practice replacing them with healthier whole foods, and see how much better your health becomes. We’ve heard it before, but it is so true: nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels.”
We are very happy to offer you tasty gluten-free and organic food choices. 🙂
