Why do gluten sensitivity and celiac disease seem more prevalent these days?
Until recently, not many people had heard of or knew someone with gluten sensitivity or even celiac disease. Why does it seem to be so frequent now? Answering this question requires a bit of discussion and is by no means an in-depth treatise on the subject. It may be important to understand some terms first. I am often asked what the difference is between gluten sensitivity, a gluten allergy, and celiac disease.
Most experts agree that in order to be diagnosed with an allergy, one must have an immune reaction that involves the antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE) and the subsequent release of histamine from a class of white blood cells called mast cells. This type of allergic response is immediate and can often be severe. The most serious reaction is called an anaphylactic reaction and can be life-threatening. If you have this type of allergy, you definitely know it and you probably carry an EpiPen with you. Some people “disappear” from this type of allergy as they age because the IgE level drops rapidly between the ages of 10 and 30. [1].
Gluten or other food sensitivity usually means that the patient has an immune response with a different set of antibodies. These antibodies are called immunoglobulin A (IgA) or immunoglobulin G (IgG). When you’re diagnosed with gluten sensitivity, your tests will show that you’re reacting to some compound in wheat, rye, or barley. Realizing that you have IgA and/or IgG sensitivity can be more of a mystery, as there are many symptoms you may have that are often attributed to some other cause. Misattribution is usually due to a delay between the time of ingestion of the food to which it is also sensitive, or due to the mild nature of a reaction at the time when you simply write down “as is”.
Celiac disease refers to the destruction of the small intestinal villi, which are the finger-like projections of cells in the small intestine, by your own immune system. Imagine a piece of shag carpet rolled into a tube with the hair hairs on the inside, and you’ll have an idea of what the small intestine looks like on a microscopic level. Now imagine that your immune system has a fleet of lawnmowers that mistakenly cut all the furries down to bumps. That’s celiac disease, and the end point of destruction is called total villous atrophy (TVA). Due to the lack of villi, you cannot absorb nutrients in sufficient quantity, and as a result, other diseases or conditions may develop, such as osteoporosis or iron deficiency, depression, abnormal liver blood test results, and much, much more. further. [2]
Here’s a super important point to take to heart: Gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are BOTH permanent intolerances to ingested gluten that result in immune-mediated inflammatory damage to cells in the small intestine. So why does gluten sensitivity seem to be more prevalent these days? First, more advanced tests are now available, making diagnosis more accurate with blood tests or saliva tests.
The gold standard for detecting celiac disease used to be a blood test for IgA reaction to alpha gliadin plus 3 biopsies (gliadin is a glycoprotein present in wheat and several other cereals within the genus Triticum). The problem with this “gold standard” test is that near complete villous atropy (TVA) was required before the test would become unequivocally positive. In fact, patients with celiac disease tend to be 10 to 15 times more likely to have IgA deficiency in their blood.
Since the advent of better tests (IgA and IgG saliva and more tests than just alpha gliadin) and awareness that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are more prevalent than previously thought has led clinicians to seek these disorders in their clinical evaluation. In my practice, I have found that almost 100% of the patients who come to me with chronic health issues (such as fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism and balance disorders, etc.) have gluten sensitivities. I have access to and use some of the most advanced non-invasive tests available today, and as a result, my chronically ill patients have now found renewed hope for recovery from their illnesses. Those patients with autoimmune thyroid, fibromyalgia, balance disorders, diabetes, Menieres disease, etc. who complete our battery of tests and are treated with my specialized program of Johnson Neuro-Metalbolic Therapy are reclaiming a life full of excitement.
Additional reasons why gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are more common include:
- Genetically modified foods (GMOs)
- deamidation of gluten
- Storage of gluten in containers for long periods of time, leading to enterotoxin contamination
- hygiene hypothesis
- Leaky Gut Syndrome (LSG)
- Chronic stress and consequent impaired tolerance of the immune system
- poor nutrition
Unless you’ve had your head in the sand, you probably know that Monsanto and other conglomerate companies have been messing with our food supply. They think that changing food through the “living better through chemistry” mentality will either make our food more nutritious or, for selfish purposes, make the modified seeds immune to the chemical herbicides they make. Wheat has been modified over the years to have more protein, which is the most allergenic portion of wheat.
Deamidation is the product of the acid or enzymatic treatment of gluten used in the food processing industry. This is achieved because gliadins are soluble in alcohol and cannot be mixed with other foods (such as milk) without changing the qualities of the food. Deamidated gliadin is soluble in water. Our immune system reacts more strongly to deamidated gliadin than to gliadin.
The average storage time in the US for harvested wheat is about 2 years! During this storage time, the waste products of fungi and molds called enterotoxins are formed. Enterotoxins and are defined as a toxin produced by bacteria that is specific to intestinal cells and causes the vomiting and diarrhea associated with food poisoning. Enterotoxins lead to a leaky gut which triggers an immune reaction to the gluten that is contaminated.
The Hygeine Hypothesis theory “proposes that inappropriate exposure to infectious organisms leads to immune dysfunction. Under normal circumstances, the immune system is exposed to various viral, bacterial, fungal, or parasitic challenges and is appropriately calibrated for these actual threats afterwards.” Public health successes, along with increased use of antibiotics and vaccines, minimize the chances of mounting successful attacks against genuine attackers.However, IgE is still present and, in the absence of damaging agents, begins to attack harmless environmental substances.
There is an enormous amount of scientific evidence for this. Children who have had early infections show much less atopy, allergy and autoimmune diseases.” [3]
LGS Leaky Gut Syndrome is an intestinal condition in which the walls of the intestines are damaged to the point where they no longer function to prevent food molecules, bacteria, and other unwanted materials from entering the bloodstream. As a result of foreign material entering the bloodstream, the immune system is activated and intact gluten molecules or any of the other breakdown products of wheat are destroyed, as are cells in the intestines. The following wheat derivatives are the targets of some of the specialized tests that I and other medical practitioners offer for gluten sensitivity.
Derived from wheat lectins:
- Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)
- Derived from wheat proteins:
- alpha, beta, gamma and omega gliadin
- glutenin
- gluteomorphine
- transglutaminase
- deamidated gliadin (15, 17, 33)
Chronic stress alters the functioning of our immune system and can lead to autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease, diabetes, and other diseases. [4] [5]
Chronic stress limits your body’s ability to produce the necessary antibodies to fight pathogens. It suppresses T cells or lymphocytes allowing pathogens to make rapid progress. Elevated cortisol levels also damage the part of your body that makes immune cells. These parts are the spleen, lymph nodes, and thymus gland.
Poor nutrition leads to multiple vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In case you didn’t know, vitamins and minerals are used in the myriad of chemical reactions that your body’s enzymes carry out daily and nightly. “The Standard American Diet (SAD) has been implicated in many diseases and conditions. The Standard American Diet typically consists of a myriad of processed carbohydrates (cereals, bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc.), processed meat products and some fruits and vegetables”. [5] Of course, all those wheat-based carbs will trigger an immune response against gluten in those with a predisposition (people with celiac genes or gluten sensitivity). Most Americans of Northern European ancestry will test positive for gluten sensitivity or celiac genes. I tested positive for one celiac gene and one gluten sensitivity gene and my wife tested positive for two gluten sensitivity genes. As a result, all of our children will also have some combination of the genes.
So there you have it… one more reason why gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are more prevalent.
Remember that better (more advanced) tests and treatments and knowledge of these other factors, in addition to your positive action steps, can help you overcome or mitigate your chronic health problems.
References:
1. Croner S. (1992). “Prediction and detection of the development of allergies: influence of genetic and environmental factors”. J. Pediatrics. 121 (5 point 2): S58-63. 10.1016/S0022-3476(05)81408-8.
2. Murray, J (19990, “The Widening Spectrum of Celiac Disease”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 69, No. 3, 354-365, March 1999
3. The hygiene hypothesis or the old friends hypothesis, http://www.hygienehypothesis.com
4. Miller, G, et al, (2008). “A functional genomic fingerprint of chronic stress in humans: blunted glucocorticoids and increased NF-κB signaling”, Biological Psychiatry, Volume 64, Issue 4, Pages 266-272
5. Willemijn V, et al, (2003). “The effect of HLA-DQ2 gene dose in celiac disease is directly related to the magnitude and amplitude of gluten-specific T cell responses,” Proc Natl Acad Sci US A. 2003, Oct 14; 100(21): 12390-12395.