What You Should Know About Gluten
And why you should be concerned about what it may be doing to your body 
What
is gluten? Why should I be concerned about it? As we move toward the
Christmas and Hanukah season full of sugary carbohydrate packed food
items, some people will suffer greatly from the increase of grains in
their diet. Their effects in the body may be immediate or there they
can become undetected yet extremely harmful long term cause of hidden
inflammation and disease.
The seeds of most flowering plants
have endosperms with stored protein to nourish the plants during
germination. Gluten is the protein and is actually made of two protein
components gliadin and glutenin. These exist along with starch in the
endosperms of primarily grass-related grains. Being insoluable in
water, these proteins can be purified by washing away the starch.
Therefore glutenin and gliadin can be a source of nutritional protein
either by directly eating grains containing it or by its use as a food
additive in otherwise low protein foods. Glutenin in wheat flour gives
bread the chewiness of baked breads like bagels. When dried and milled
to a powder and added to ordinary flour dough, it provides a higher
protein source over the original high carbohydrate breads. Wheat, rye,
and barley are examples of these grass grains containing both proteins.
The stored proteins of maize (corn) and rice are also called glutens,
but their proteins differ from wheat gluten because they lack the
gliadin. There are basically four major classes of food storage
proteins including the albumins, globulins, prolamins and glutenins.
Any of these proteins can be the cause of an inflammatory response of
the mucosal lining of the intestinal tract.
Gluten is added to
pet foods in attempt to improve the protein content. When cooked in
broth, gluten absorbs the surrounding liquid and becomes firm to the
bite so it is widely used in vegetarian dishes as a meat substitute.
Gluten is used in many food products as a stabilizing agent. It is
found in ketchup, soups, ice cream, and soy sauce where it may not be
expected. The FDA does not require that added gluten is written on the
food label. We may get far more gluten in our diet than we know. This
causes difficulties and is very hazardous to those who are gluten
allergic, gluten sensitive, or those who have coeliac/celiac disease.
All
three of these conditions involve an inflammatory response of the
mucosal lining of the intestinal tract generally to the glutenins
and/or the gliadins. The type of antibody responses by the immune
system to these proteins determines which of the three conditions are
involved. Lab saliva tests can help firmly establish if you are
responding adversely to gluten (HealthWalk can ship you the Saliva Test
kit so you can do the test in your own home and send it in for
analysis). Galvanic Skin Response, GSR Biofeedback testing here at
HealthWalk™ is another way to look at the body responses to many food
stressors including dairy, egg, soy and wheat.
Coeliac (or
celiac) disease is an autoimmune response disorder of the small
intestine and is caused by gliadin. Symptoms include diarrhea, failure
to thrive (in children), chronic fatigue, migraine headaches, dizziness
(vertigo), abdominal pain, gas, bloating, and also constipation. The
inflammation that occurs in the small intestine causes malfunction of
the intestinal villa and therefore mal-absorption of important
nutrients from our food.
A wheat allergy can be from eating
gluten, a respiratory response to inhaling the grain dust, or on
contact. Responses can appear in many different forms. Generally, our
protective barriers system of the gastrointestinal tract, the upper
respiratory, and the blood brain barrier can be involved in this
inflammatory fire. The most severe is the anaphylaxis response where
one must seek immediate medical attention. More common symptoms are hay
fever, acute asthma, headaches, sinusitis, itchy eyes and throat, pain
of joints and the back, migraines, and constipation.
Inflammation
is the culprit and mal-absorption/fatigue are at play here as well.
Gluten allergy, sensitivity, and celiac can be very detrimental to your
health and well-being.
Solutions include a gluten-free diet
which is an essential start to calming down the inflammation quickly
and the use of the correct enzymes, homeopathic remedies, herbal and
supplement support to desensitize the allergic response to gluten.
Gluten-allergic/sensitive or those who have coeliac/celiac disease need
to stop eating wheat, barley, and rye. Our nutritionist here at
HealthWalk™ will discuss some healthy alternatives depending upon your
GSR test results. Avoid foods with enriched flour, bread crumbs,
semolina wheat, modified food starch, whole wheat flour, cracker meal,
bran, couscous, natural flavoring, vegetable gum, and vegetable starch.
Good alternative grains are corn, rice, potatoes, and tapioca. Other
good gluten-free grains are amaranth, millet, quinoa, sweet potato,
teff, and chia seed. Pure buckwheat is also considered ok for a
gluten-free diet. Make sure you read labels and ensure no flour has
been added.
It is most important to be guided towards the right
program for you to stop the inflammatory process as soon as possible.
Here at HealthWalk™, we determine what your individual needs are
specific to your condition.
A woman came into HealthWalk™ after
having ingested some food in a nearby restaurant and she was highly
anxious and was manifesting hives and itching and a tightening feeling
in her throat. She felt she had eaten some gluten and knew she was
highly allergic. She was given a homeopathic remedy Apis and then
alternated between two liquid combination remedies, Acute Rescue (has
Bach rescue remedy in it) and the phenolic homeopathic Histamine. She
was given a half a dropper each and then observed for changes. This
procedure was repeated every 2-3 minutes until a change began to occur
which started after several minutes. She was observed supported for
another two hours in the clinic and sent home with the remedies to
continue use throughout the day. She was breathing fine, the hives were
completely gone, and her throat was clear when she left. She was
relieved that she survived the severe allergic reaction unscathed and
scheduled another GSR and Nutritional Counseling appointment to come
into HealthWalk™ for further testing and consultation to improve her
gastrointestinal health.
By Diane Kusunose P.T., B.T., Galvanic Skin Response, Cold Laser
Therapy, Homeopathy at HealthWalk Healthcare clinic and sanctuary. HealthWalk™ offers customized, non-invasive and effective
support to enable your body’s own innate powers to enhance health, performance
and healing. HealthWalk
is
dedicated to supporting and educating you to achieve and maintain
vibrant wellness. HealthWalk is a unique integrative healthcare
facility and sanctuary with a global umbrella of leading edge
technologies, services, supplements and products backed by over 20
years of research.
HealthWalk™ is located at 5825 Avenida Encinas suite 111, Carlsbad CA 92008 for more
information call 877-255-4703, email info@healthwalk.com or visit www.healthwalk.com
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