Gluten Sensitivity

I want to address the whole issue of gluten sensitivity, at least from my own experience.  Did you know (I didn't) that you can be sensitive to gluten, and that senstivity could be wreaking havoc on your health, even if you are NOT celiac?


I have toyed with gluten for years.  I had some strange reactions to grains but it wasn't a reaction in my gut.  I would eat a piece of bread, even healthy, spelt bread and walk around feeling totally spaced out for a few hours.  I remember the doctor telling me to eat bread every day for two weeks so that he could test me for anti-gliadan antibodies.  Before the two weeks were up I was on the couch, holding my head, feeling like I was going insane!  The test came back negative.

I would go off gluten and feel fine, but I missed bread.  I found a book a few years ago that really helped me understand what was happening to me.  It's called The Gluten Connection by Shari Lieberman.  I learned that there is more than one kind of reaction to gluten and that a sensitivity to gluten can be behind a host of ailments.

To quote Dr. Leiberman "even if you were consuming the same amount of grain today as you did last year or 10 years ago, you would be ingesting more gluten.  That is because bioengineers continually work to "improve" gluten and make it a larger and more potent part of the edible grain.  It is estimated that today's wheat contains nearly 90 percent more gluten than wheat did from a century ago!"

Another thing I learned from the book is a possible explanation as to why I am sensitive to dairy, nightshade vegetables, and soy.  According to the book "patients with a gluten sensitivity have a high frequency of cross-reactivity to milk - most notable the milk protein casein (sodium caseinate and calcium caseinate) and whey."  This is NOT lactose intolerance.  It's an immune reaction to the protein in milk and it's similar to the response your body has to gluten.
Nightshades - tomatoes, peppers, white potatoes, eggplant and tobacco - have a protein that is similar to gluten which is called lectin.  According to Dr. Lieberman "when you eat these foods, antibodies you have formed against gluten react to the nightshade lectin, resulting in the same type of immune reaction you have to gluten."

There is significant evidence that foods in the nightshade family also contribute to pain in people with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions as well.  I know that to be true from personal experience.  I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my mid 30's, but when I went on a nightshade-free diet, all the pain and inflammation in my body went away.  If I eat these foods, the pain returns.  I am happy to live pain-free.  It's a small sacrifice to make.  I would encourage you, if you suffer from an inflammatory condition, to try not eating nightshades.

Soy is a legume and it has a high lectin content as well, so it may cause a similar reaction.  It does for me.  When I eat soy products I get pain and inflammation in my body.

I have since had a genetic test for celiac (one your doctor can request - contact me if you want to know what it is), and it too was negative.  I was told that I would never develop celiac disease.  However, along with hosts of other people, I definitely feel better on a gluten-free diet.  Check out some of my healthy gluten-free recipes in this blog for yourself!

- Joanie