There's so much fuss about Gluten! Suddenly gluten seems to be the bad guy for everything, including cancer. Is this just another media induced fear or is there really something behind it?
We live in a day and age where researchers are able to get some answers. They are finding out why we are getting certain illnesses. Celiac Disease is beginning to get some of their attention with great results.
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?
When a gluten intolerant person eats gluten, their body cannot take it. The body has identified the thing as an invader, a potential threat, and will use all its resources to battle it. Does that sound like a lot of work? It is! Every time a gluten intolerant person eats gluten, they put their whole system to work. If the whole body needs to work so amazingly hard every time they eat, the body will soon be exhausted. This can lead to a chronic immune reaction, inflammation and subsequently tissue damage. Finally the immune system will shut down. The body becomes overworked and all those systems inside you designed to keep you at your best will break down. In this state, the body will not only be vulnerable, but in more ways than one, it will be broken. Other diseases, such as cancer, neurological diseases and autoimmune diseases will take advantage of this vulnerable state and attack.
Gluten causes cancer indirectly. To see that, we need to understand that everyone produces cancer cells that have the potential to become full blown cancer. Healthy people do not have to worry so much because their healthy immune system can control those cancerous cells and keep them from mutating. As long as our immune system is doing its job, we will be safe. What gluten, the bad guy, does is overwork our immune system until it is too tired to function properly. At that point, it is too worn out to control those cancer cells and the cells mutate. Unknowing gluten intolerant people thus have a much higher risk of cancer and other such serious diseases.
If we compare ourselves with the other members of our taxon, like modern chimpanzees and apes, we would be better off health wise to eat mostly plant foods such as leaves, fruits, gums, and stalks with some additional eggs, and small animals. We are not originally born eating only bread with something in between. Sandwiches are neat, but not really what we should eat most of the time.
Are we more at risk? Yes, because we are so technologically advanced. Historically speaking, the introduction of grain based foods is paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of cancer. Gluten does not directly cause cancer but it does mess up our immune system. That alone should keep us from eating gluten. Also, 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, meaning our body doesn't like it nor want it in us. 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 and a weakened immune system cannot save us from cancerous cells.
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!
We live in a day and age where researchers are able to get some answers. They are finding out why we are getting certain illnesses. Celiac Disease is beginning to get some of their attention with great results.
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?
When a gluten intolerant person eats gluten, their body cannot take it. The body has identified the thing as an invader, a potential threat, and will use all its resources to battle it. Does that sound like a lot of work? It is! Every time a gluten intolerant person eats gluten, they put their whole system to work. If the whole body needs to work so amazingly hard every time they eat, the body will soon be exhausted. This can lead to a chronic immune reaction, inflammation and subsequently tissue damage. Finally the immune system will shut down. The body becomes overworked and all those systems inside you designed to keep you at your best will break down. In this state, the body will not only be vulnerable, but in more ways than one, it will be broken. Other diseases, such as cancer, neurological diseases and autoimmune diseases will take advantage of this vulnerable state and attack.
Gluten causes cancer indirectly. To see that, we need to understand that everyone produces cancer cells that have the potential to become full blown cancer. Healthy people do not have to worry so much because their healthy immune system can control those cancerous cells and keep them from mutating. As long as our immune system is doing its job, we will be safe. What gluten, the bad guy, does is overwork our immune system until it is too tired to function properly. At that point, it is too worn out to control those cancer cells and the cells mutate. Unknowing gluten intolerant people thus have a much higher risk of cancer and other such serious diseases.
If we compare ourselves with the other members of our taxon, like modern chimpanzees and apes, we would be better off health wise to eat mostly plant foods such as leaves, fruits, gums, and stalks with some additional eggs, and small animals. We are not originally born eating only bread with something in between. Sandwiches are neat, but not really what we should eat most of the time.
Are we more at risk? Yes, because we are so technologically advanced. Historically speaking, the introduction of grain based foods is paralleled by an increase in the prevalence of cancer. Gluten does not directly cause cancer but it does mess up our immune system. That alone should keep us from eating gluten. Also, 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, meaning our body doesn't like it nor want it in us. 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 and a weakened immune system cannot save us from cancerous cells.
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:
Dr. Berger is a biologist and a specialist in Food Allergies. Once her son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance she decided to make a website for parents with kids allergic to food.If you want to know more aboutGluten Sensitivity than go to her website.
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