Gluten sensitivity is a silent epidemic. Seven out of ten Americans have it, many have no idea that this substance they eat on a daily basis is causing the vast array of unpleasant symptoms and severely limiting their quality life.
Celiac Disease takes gluten sensitivity to an entirely new level. For those with Celiac Disease, eating gluten scars their intestines, leading to a domino effect of a wide range of symptoms and other diseases like Hashimoto's, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, MS, Eczema, Psoriasis, Alopecia, Osteoporosis and even Type I Diabetes. Anyone with these issues must get testing for Celiac Disease to see if it is the root cause. Those with Celiac Disease have a ten fold greater chance of developing autoimmune issues.
The way that Celiac scars the intestines is by damaging the villi. Villi are projections on the walls of the small intestine. They function to increase the surface area of the intestines, which makes for more efficient absorption of nutrients, sugars, amino acids etc. When the vili are damaged, we are incredibly nutrient deficient, which leads to all of these other problems.
For those with wheat/gluten sensitivity or Celiac, the body is responding to wheat-containing foods as an antigen (toxin) by producing antibodies (specialized proteins the immune system uses to break down and eliminate foreign substances from the body). This means that it reacts to wheat as a toxic food (or more specifically, to the protein in wheat, gliadin, as a toxic amino acid sequence).
Signs and symptoms of Celiac include, but are not limited to:
Persistent migraines
Skin issues of all kinds
Thyroiditis
Autoimmune conditions
Hair loss
Weakness
Bone pain
Abdominal bloating
Low energy/chronic fatigue
Progressive, unexplained weight loss
Chronic diarrhea
Poor liver function
Unexplained low cholesterol (b/c of poor fat absorption)
Issue with blood clotting
It is VERY important to do a thorough Celiac screening if you suspect that you have it because studies show that a person with Celiac will increase their chances of gastrointestinal cancer by a factor of 40 to 100 times that of the normal population.
The key to healing from Celiac is to find it quickly, when it is only presenting as inflammation in the GI tract and not flat out scarring.
TESTING:
Step 1:
Get an IgG food sensitivity test for wheat/gluten as well as intestinal permeability/leaky gut. They will test your blood serum sample for reactivity to gliadin, the protein found in gluten.
Step 2:
If you respond with any kind of intestinal permeability, then get a test for transglutaminase. Even if you do not come back positive to gluten sensitivity, it is a good idea to get this test. Trangluataminase is the marker for damage to the gut lining. It shows atrophy of the aforementioned villi, resulting in nutrient malabsorption. Many tests only come back positive if the villi are completely atrophied. However, we want to catch it early, ideally BEFORE too much damage has happened to the villi. Your next recourse is to move on to step 3.
Step 3:
Your final test is an IgA test for anti-endomysial antibodies. These are very specific antibodies that only occur in Celiac Disease.
Step 4:
Empowerment and Getting Your Life Back
Our food supply has been so degraded over the last 60 years. If you have Celiac Disease, learn all you can to live a 100% gluten-free life which includes all of your bath and body products as well as your food and you will live a normal, healthy life with a near complete reversal of ALL symptoms. However, you MUST avoid gluten like the plague for life, which means never, ever eat it. Even 1mg of gluten (the equivalent to the size of 1/8 a thumbnail) will trigger symptoms, issues and damage to those with Celiac Disease.
Other suggested sites to learn more:
http://undergroundwellness.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-celiac-disease-with-dr-obryan-full-interview/
