Gluten-Free Diet

[AnIntentionalRoad]

About a year ago my beard started developing a bald patch that grew to the size of a silver dollar or two. I went to the dermatologist who said it was an autoimmune issue and wanted to shoot my fact up with steroids but I said I would look at other options.

My DW suggested trying a gluten-free diet and probiotics as some autoimmune issues are caused by food intolerance.

Anyway, six weeks later the beard still has the same bald patch.

But I feel really good! I am not nearly as physically exhausted as I would often be during the day or in the evenings. Also, my whole digestive system just feels much more comfortable.

I love bread and baking but I am hesitant to try eating wheat again after this experience. I'm curious if others have any related experiences.

 

[Ready]

I've been gluten free for three months now. I've never felt better. I used to go to bed every night with an upset stomach. And I was always feeling like I wanted to take a nap in the middle of the day. Now I have more energy than I remember having 20+ years ago. And I'm never hungry. When I ate gluten, I was always craving carbohydrates, and even after I ate them, I never felt full.

Gluten was complete poison for me. After seeing how much better I feel now, I think it should be declared a potentially toxic drug, and have appropriate warning labels.

 

[Walt34]

I've been gluten-free for over 20 years because of celiac disease. It sounds worse than it is, one just has to carefully read labels. I didn't notice any changes other than my digestive system worked better.

 

[donheff]

There is a fair amount of evidence that some (many?) people are gluten sensitive without rising to celiac disease. If you read Grain Brain you may become so leery of wheat that you will stick with the gluten free or at least reduced gluten diet regardless of whether you notice the impact.

 

[InParadise]

About a year ago my beard started developing a bald patch that grew to the size of a silver dollar or two. I went to the dermatologist who said it was an autoimmune issue and wanted to shoot my fact up with steroids but I said I would look at other options.

My DW suggested trying a gluten-free diet and probiotics as some autoimmune issues are caused by food intolerance.

Anyway, six weeks later the beard still has the same bald patch.

But I feel really good! I am not nearly as physically exhausted as I would often be during the day or in the evenings. Also, my whole digestive system just feels much more comfortable.

I love bread and baking but I am hesitant to try eating wheat again after this experience. I'm curious if others have any related experiences.

Don't give up on your baking, just move to gluten free recipes. There are many out there just by Googling.

 

[haha]

I've been gluten-free for over 20 years because of celiac disease. It sounds worse than it is, one just has to carefully read labels. I didn't notice any changes other than my digestive system worked better.

I've will have been gluten free for 17 years this August, like Walt for Celiac disease. I had some other symptoms besides bowel issues that went away. Easy bruising. Since I was a boy I was usually covered in bruises, ended after about 3 months off gluten. Another prominent and very uncomfortable symptom was a really itchy occasional skin rash called dermatitis herpetaformis which as I remember took a little less time to be permanently gone.

It took me little while to get the nuances of the diet, but then it was easy. I formerly loved really good bread, and New England pizza. I tried a few gluten free substitutes and they were terrible, so I went cold turkey and just do not eat any gluten containing food. This also made me low carb, since I liked the weight loss and ditched almost all roots too. It isn't hard, if your former symptoms hurt like hell, or itched you to death.

It does make eating out tricky, so I only go to places that I feel very secure, which are almost all more expensive than for example most ethnic food. Ditto travel, I would not like to be "doing Italy" and spending half my time in the bathroom.

Ha

 

[AllDone]

It does make eating out tricky, so I only go to places that I feel very secure, which are almost all more expensive than for example most ethnic food. Ditto travel, I would not like to be "doing Italy" and spending half my time in the bathroom.

Ha

Actually, Italy is just the place to visit, if you have celiac. The celiac gene is found throughout Europe, but it's most prevalent in Italy and so everything in Italy is labelled. Italians understand celiac disease better than most and a gluten free diet is quite easy in Italy.

 

[haha]

Actually, Italy is just the place to visit, if you have celiac. The celiac gene is found throughout Europe, but it's most prevalent in Italy and so everything in Italy is labelled. Italians understand celiac disease better than most and a gluten free diet is quite easy in Italy.

Thanks- I guess I was just thinking about all that bread and pasta.

Ha

 

[trirod]

Actually, Italy is just the place to visit, if you have celiac. The celiac gene is found throughout Europe, but it's most prevalent in Italy and so everything in Italy is labelled. Italians understand celiac disease better than most and a gluten free diet is quite easy in Italy.

Agree with this. My wife has celiac disease so has to eat gluten free. She used to travel internationally a lot on business and she says that Italy was the best place to visit. Although New Zealand comes a close second.

Since my wife eats totally gluten free then for the most part I do too. I can't say I noticed any difference in my health because of that.

 

[ERD50]

So what would it take to find out if gluten is causing someone non-specific type problems? Some people just reported 'feeling better, more energy' - who wouldn't want that?

I do know of people who had severe bowel trouble that was cleared up by going gluten free (I believe they were diagnosed as celiac). But for others. do you just need to try it and see? How long of a test?

BTW, there are now some beers that go through a process that supposedly removes almost all the gluten, and taste like 'normal' beers. The typically sorghum-based gluten free beers range from pretty awful to 'not-bad'. If I couldn't drink real beer, a 'not-bad' beer could do in a pinch.

But there is some controversy over this, some people claim they still react to whatever is there. Others seem to be fine with them.

-ERD50

 

[InParadise]

So what would it take to find out if gluten is causing someone non-specific type problems? Some people just reported 'feeling better, more energy' - who wouldn't want that?

I do know of people who had severe bowel trouble that was cleared up by going gluten free (I believe they were diagnosed as celiac). But for others. do you just need to try it and see? How long of a test?

BTW, there are now some beers that go through a process that supposedly removes almost all the gluten, and taste like 'normal' beers. The typically sorghum-based gluten free beers range from pretty awful to 'not-bad'. If I couldn't drink real beer, a 'not-bad' beer could do in a pinch.

But there is some controversy over this, some people claim they still react to whatever is there. Others seem to be fine with them.

-ERD50

Lots of really great dry hard ciders out there too, if you crave something beer-like but can't do gluten.

 

[Katsmeow]

But for others. do you just need to try it and see? How long of a test?

DH and I went gluten free for a month during December. I basically followed the Gluten Free diet that Dr. Agatston (the cardiologist who does the South Beach Diet) suggests to check this out in his book:

Amazon.com: The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Gluten-Aware Plan for Losing Weight and Feeling Great--Fast! eBook: Arthur Agatston, Natalie Geary: Books'

After the 30 days was over, I slowly added gluten back in. In both the case of DH and I, we found that we were not sensitive to gluten. We didn't feel any different off gluten than on gluten. Nonetheless, I felt it was a useful exercise and was glad that I did it.

 

[AllDone]

I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone in an Italian class say, "I'd like to visitItaly, but I can't because I have celiac." They want to visit Italy because their nonni were italiani and they have celiac ... because their nonni were italiani. Look for "senza glutine". By law everything is labelled.

 

[Ready]

Many people who try a gluten free diet also end up reducing their carbohydrate intake significantly while on the diet. This complicates trying to assess the impact of gluten elimination.

If you are very sensitive to gluten, eliminating it should have significant benefits that you will notice within a few weeks. However, if you are not gluten sensitive, but you still reduce your carbohydrates during the experiment, you will likely still see higher energy levels and possibly weight loss.

The benefits of a low carbohydrate diet are significant, but should not be confused with a gluten free diet. Realistically though, if you eliminate the typical sources of gluten - bread, cereal, pasta, etc, and don't replace these ingredients with gluten free equivalents, you can't help but switch to a low carb diet without specifically trying.

 

[Walt34]

But there is some controversy over this, some people claim they still react to whatever is there. Others seem to be fine with them.

-ERD50

From what I've read sensitivity seems to be wide-ranging. Like peanut allergies in some children, a whiff of gluten will send some people into anaphylactic shock and they have to be hospitalized, others like me don't notice or react to small amounts. So far anyway. Knowing that sensitivity can change, and suddenly, I don't tempt fate on that one.

 

[InParadise]

Many people who try a gluten free diet also end up reducing their carbohydrate intake significantly while on the diet. This complicates trying to assess the impact of gluten elimination.

If you are very sensitive to gluten, eliminating it should have significant benefits that you will notice within a few weeks. However, if you are not gluten sensitive, but you still reduce your carbohydrates during the experiment, you will likely still see higher energy levels and possibly weight loss.

The benefits of a low carbohydrate diet are significant, but should not be confused with a gluten free diet. Realistically though, if you eliminate the typical sources of gluten - bread, cereal, pasta, etc, and don't replace these ingredients with gluten free equivalents, you can't help but switch to a low carb diet without specifically trying.

Actually, one of the risks of going gluten free is that the manufactured gluten free products tend to be higher in sugar than those with the gluten. It is very easy to be high carb and gluten free if you have stores nearby that can easily provide you with the products, or bake them yourself. I don't low carb Youngest, and he certainly enjoyed those gluten free frosted cup cakes I got as a Valentine's treat from Trader Joes.

 

[Leonidas]

I don't completely abstain, but I eat gluten selectively and in discreet intervals. A couple of times a month I have beer and pizza, or the occasional sandwich. If I go overboard I often develop sinus congestion and the sniffles.

My understanding of the gluten-autoimmune connection is that everyone will get some Zonulin signalling from Gliadin, and Zonulin causes gut permeability which is part of the triad of auto-immune causation (genetic predisposition - gut permeability - environmental trigger).

 

[AnIntentionalRoad]

My understanding of the gluten-autoimmune connection is that everyone will get some Zonulin signalling from Gliadin, and Zonulin causes gut permeability which is part of the triad of auto-immune causation (genetic predisposition - gut permeability - environmental trigger).

Is that what they call Leaky Gut Syndrome?

 

[Leonidas]

Is that what they call Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Intestinal permeability is a known phenomenon - I think it occurs to some extent in all healthy people - but if there is too much permeability it can cause inflammation that leads to some certain medical conditions like Crohn's disease.

What is called Leaky Gut Syndrome blames a much wider spectrum of conditions on gut permeability. Inflammation resulting from the bacteria, viruses, toxins, proteins, etc., that are escaping from the gut is the alleged culprit. From what I read there is much dispute over this, and not much in the way of studies supporting it, but it's starting to gain support.

What I was referring to was something in between the two positions. As far as I know, there is no single identified cause of autoimmune diseases, but among the most frequently identified possible causes are bacteria or virus, drugs, chemicals and environmental irritants. Genetic predisposition is often a factor, but not all people who have the genes for an autoimmune disease will be symptomatic. The theory I'm referring to says that you have the perfect triad of causation for an autoimmune disease if there is the genetic factor, coupled with intestinal permeability problems and an environmental factor (illness, drugs, food, environmental irritant). I think there are studies supporting this theory in regard to Celiac Disease.

Considering that many conditions, like Diabetes, are being redidentified as being autoimmune diseases, there may be something to the broader claims in Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Me, I just avoid wheat products because I function much better without them. The exact mechanism behind it is a mystery - but it works for me.

 

[bld999]

...Snip

Considering that many conditions, like Diabetes, are being redidentified as being autoimmune diseases, there may be something to the broader claims in Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Me, I just avoid wheat products because I function much better without them. The exact mechanism behind it is a mystery - but it works for me.

Type 1 diabetes has always been identified as an autoimmune disease AFAIK.
Type 2 is not autoimmune.
Is there some newer info?

 

[Sarpy]

Reading 'Wheat Belly' and 'Grain Brain' explained a lot of this to me.
A restricted carb diet (and thus a low-grain diet) has always made me feel better and given my the best weight management program.

 

[Leonidas]

Type 1 diabetes has always been identified as an autoimmune disease AFAIK.
Type 2 is not autoimmune.
Is there some newer info?

I think the science is ongoing and the evidence is not yet clear, but the research has been identifying an autoimmune component for a number of years. It's probably less accurate to break Diabetes down into different diseases (one autoimmune and another metabolic), and more accurate to identify a continuum where there are both autoimmune and metabolic elements present. A well known example would be LADA, which is referred to by some people as Type 1.5 Diabetes - it's more of an autoimmune disease, but it does have features of the T2DM metabolic disease.

A 2002 study in England found that 10-15% of T2DM patients exhibited evidence of Islet cell autoimmunity. There are more recent studies supporting the assumption that T2DM also encompasses autoimmune aspects based on the presence of circulating autoantibodies against β cells and self-reactive T cells. This from 2011 studies of humans in Canada:

“We were able to show that people with insulin resistance make antibodies to a select group of their own proteins. In contrast, equally overweight people who are not insulin-resistant do not express these antibodies. It’s highly suggestive that your body targets its own proteins as part of the development of insulin resistance...It really links the concept of insulin resistance to autoimmunity.

 

[splitwdw]

About a year ago my beard started developing a bald patch that grew to the size of a silver dollar or two. I went to the dermatologist who said it was an autoimmune issue and wanted to shoot my fact up with steroids but I said I would look at other options.QUOTE]
Intentional, It sounds like Alopecia Areata which is an autoimmune disease. My husband had similar symptoms. He lost part of his mustache and a half dollar size bald spot on the back of his head. After 6 months he finally went with the corticosteroids injection in his head. His hair grew back and was darker where the injections were. Eventually the hair color evened out. This only happened one time. There are pills you can take if your not into injections.

 

[ripper1]

I also am a celiac. Twenty years ago I had the blood test and the biopsy confirmed it. At first the gluten free food that was sold at the super markets was horrible and tasted like cardboard. Now it seems in the last few years the food has gotten better. Restaurants also have gluten free menus. They have also come out with gluten free beers that are not so bad. But here is the thing for you beer lovers, now they are saying certain beers out there are considered safe for a celiac if they are less than 20ppm. Well, here is three beers that are all under 10ppm........Corona, Bud Light, Coors Light. Stay thirsty my friends.