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Do You Understand Celiac Disease? Does Your Doctor?

Celiac Disease, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I realized, in talking with a few people, that they did not understand what celiac disease was. Like most people they thought it was a disease you just had the misfortune to get and had no idea you could control the outcome by what you consume.

Yes, if you never consumed gluten you’d never develop celiac disease and very likely many other autoimmune diseases and diseases linked to malnutrition due to malabsorption.

To develop celiac disease: you will have one or two genes (HLA DQ2 and/or HLA DQ8), you need to be consuming gluten, and your gut biome will likely be in poor shape due to antibiotics, bad bacteria, parasites, poor diet, and/or, of course, gluten among others.

With celiac disease there is a destruction of your villi, the tiny hairs in the small intestine that absorb all the good vitamins and minerals from the good food we eat. They become flattened and shorn off like a twenty-year-old shag carpet and no longer have the absorption space up and down each side. Spread your fingers apart; there’s lots of absorption room up and down each finger; now make a fist: your villi are shot to pieces, worn down, and your body pays a huge price for not detecting intolerance to gluten sooner.

You can imagine how devastating this can be for the human body. All parts of the body need nutrition to function optimally. Just think what can happen to your eyes, brain, neurons, muscles, skin, heart, liver, blood, and on and on. Over 300 ailments, diseases, and symptoms are linked to gluten by major world research. Yet many of our doctors are not up to speed on what these maladies are or how to adequately test for intolerance to gluten.

I’ll leave it to you to read between the lines. All I can say is that my family and I (you can read my family saga in Toxic Staple), after a year on the gluten-free lifestyle, were basically going to the doctor’s office for health checkups, not sick visits. Everything that was wrong with us (including the 4 grandkids, 3 daughters, my husband and myself), and believe me there was plenty, began to clear up once gluten was removed. Most everything resolved.

If you have lingering sinus, cough, allergy, asthma, aches and pains, low energy, dull hair and weak nails, paleness, thinness or overweight, stomach issues (most any chronic issue, this is just a drop in the bucket) you need to consider that something is the root cause of your ailments. Gluten can be a huge trigger of illness. Throw in dairy too. Well over 50% of those intolerant to gluten also can’t handle dairy.

We all have choices to make. You can either eat to be sick or eat to be healthy. Your health lies in your own hands. You can become your own advocate by getting educated on the hazards of gluten and how to test for intolerance by reading Toxic Staple. As a driven grandmother I have spelled it out. You will know more about gluten than 90% of our doctors by the time you finish the book. Be sure to read the Endorsements from professionals at http://toxicstaple.com/endorsements/ saying doctors should read Toxic Staple.

A new wave of medicine is in the works. It’s all about addressing the trigger/s of what’s making you sick and not about managing and controlling diseases, once thought to be incurable, with drugs. I even see much of it as preventative medicine. I know that as long as I follow an absolute GF lifestyle and stay away from dairy my allergies, asthma, fatigue, dry skin, brittle nails and on and on will not return.

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For your copy of Toxic Staple: http://toxicstaple.com/buy-the-book/ paperback

https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health-ebook/dp/B00I45HWWM paper or e-book

 

Scenario 4

Scenarios of Illness, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Scenario 4 covers a 24 hour period of meeting folks who either have issues that will very likely clear up on a gluten-free diet or their conditions have already vanished or improved. I base my hunches of ill health reversal on the magnitude of research I have done to write Toxic Staple and on having talked with hundreds of sick and tired folks since 2004 and patients who have rediscovered their health.

The incidence of gluten intolerance seems to be growing rapidly. As I was at a fair recently I only chose to introduce my book to 4 people. Three out of four went for their wallet without even asking to look at the book (I hadn’t intended to sell to them on the spot…just wanted to introduce my website and get them thinking about what might be triggering their symptoms). I made no promises but I expect their health issues to resolve when they remove the trigger and begin to allow their gut to heal.

This is the outcome:

  1. The first woman was most interested when I mentioned thyroid issues; she had hypothyroidism, dark circles around her eyes, and had been dealing with migraines, UTI’s, fatigue, and asthma. She may have been 15 to 20 lbs. overweight and couldn’t lose it, and heat bothered her. Tired of not feeling well, she was all excited to think there may be a better way to live and was most enthusiastic to read Toxic Staple. She has no idea how good she may come to feel if gluten is her problem and she relinquishes it. She has two friends doing the GF lifestyle  who are off their allergy and high blood pressure meds and their lives have positively changed. How common is this picture among women? I would suggest…VERY!
  2. I met a woman who was very enthusiastic about my book and is affiliated with a health and wellness company. She had a skin issue presenting and I mentioned the lengthy list of skin issues linked to gluten in the chapter, “The Skin You’re In.” Skin ailments can be a sign of ill health. Many skin diseases can turn around or get miles better off gluten according to the research which begs for much more on the skin disease/gluten connection.
  3. One gentleman was eager to checkout my website and read the book. I expect he will find he has celiac disease or is gluten intolerant; and I highly expect his psoriasis, that must be most irritating, will clear up. Dairy can also be at the root of some skin conditions.
  4. One woman mentioned allergies and she had a couple other symptoms. I expect her life will change if she digs into this. Many who address gluten intolerance find their allergies and food sensitivities clear up once the gut is healed.

Heading for a breakfast gathering the next morning we bumped into an old friend of my husband’s who was anxious to tell me he was on a gluten-free diet. His gout had disappeared and he had lost 20 lbs. Life is good and he’s feeling great! He’s definitely on a healthier road and is taking the diet quite seriously. This is the first I’ve heard of gout healing on a GF diet…gone! Many have told me their arthritis is 95% better with a gluten-free lifestyle.

These scenarios are intended to bring awareness to the sick and tired population not only of many of the 300+ symptoms and ailments linked to gluten, but of the expanding epidemic gluten intolerance has become. Some experts claim it to be about 30% of our population. By the sheer magnitude of gluten issues among folks I talk to, I think they are right!

Advocate for yourself by getting educated on the hazards of gluten and how to adequately test for intolerance. You are in the driver’s seat for better health.

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Order Toxic Staple and read the reviews at: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health-ebook/dp/B00I45HWWM:

Endorsements from professionals in-the-know suggesting doctors read it too: http://toxicstaple.com/endorsements/

Disclaimer: http://toxicstaple.com/disclaimer/

 

 

Celebrating Three Quarters of A Century Young!

Gluten-Free Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve just had the good fortune to celebrate my 75th birthday and I must express that I’m in much better health than when I was 40. It hasn’t been luck that got me this far with great health and energy. I’m totally dedicated to a gluten-free lifestyle and have been since 2004. Having researched the ramifications of consuming gluten for years, like a full-time job with no pay (over the edge, I know), I fully understand how it can destroy one’s health and life.

I also try to get to the gym 3 times a week for an hour of stretching, cardio, and weights, and some walking outside in the good weather. Without this exercise and the GF diet I can’t imagine what shape I’d be in. I had done yoga for a stretch and need to get back to it. Yoga is another great mental and physical dimension to add to your routine. I love to garden and do most of it by bending from my back or on my knees. Love to sop up the sun by being outside, but try not to catch the strongest sunlight, and I don’t use chemical sunscreen. This summer I hope to get into the lake and swim on a daily basis.

I’m also dairy-free and stay away from soy. I’m trying to add more fruits and veggies to our diet and to eat as organic and whole as possible, including the good fats. It’s tough giving up cheese/dairy, but the consequences for me are a stiff body, lots of throat clearing, and postnasal drip; and I feel it in my lower back. Also I discovered that doing dairy in the middle of hay-fever season kicked on those allergies (that all disappeared once I got gluten out of my diet) almost immediately and furiously. Dairy can act a lot like gluten and probably about 50% of the folks I talk to who are gluten-free also need to be dairy-free.

How could I possibly be 75? Where ever did those years go? I don’t begin to feel my age! I’m most grateful for my family and friends and for the good health we as a family enjoy. You too can enjoy much better health if you really want to. You need to detect gluten intolerance if you are sensitive to it; then adhere to a 100% gluten-free lifestyle. About 30% of the population may be intolerant. Many lives have changed miraculously by attending to the trigger/s… the bottom-line as to what’s making you sick.

You will be amazed by the many rejuvenated GF success stories in the book and I spell out 4 blood tests you need to request or you likely won’t get enough testing to detect it. Too often they only give one test and often it is false negative. If negative the stool testing in Chapter 17 is very sensitive and picked it up in most of my family.

If my family and I hadn’t discovered this monster gluten protein we would all be in very serious disrepair and poor health with numerous issues affecting many parts of the body. By the end of the first year on the GF diet we were basically going for health checkups.

I know you expect your doctors would know about the hazards of gluten, after all many of you go to the best doctors, but little education is being put forth for mainstream medicine and you are suffering because of it.

Your health remains in your very own hands. You can continue to suffer with whatever ails you (from hangnails and dry skin to asthma and allergies to cancers and autoimmune diseases and on and on) or you can take matters into your own hands and change your life and your health. Find a new doctor if you have to (in functional medicine that looks at the cause).

By the time you get to the end of my book, Toxic Staple, you too will totally get it! It appears there’s not much that doesn’t get miles better if you remove the toxic staple and begin to heal your gut, and you will have comprehensive testing information at your fingertips (make copies to share with your doctors) to help you detect not only celiac disease, but intolerance to gluten that can be just as bad.

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To get your copy of Toxic Staple visit: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health/dp/0989239217 or order from your favorite bookstore

Please read endorsements from professionals in-the-know saying doctors and patients alike should read Toxic Staple: http://toxicstaple.com/endorsements/

To share your GF success story or if you have a question contact Anne at: http://toxicstaple.com/contact/

 

 

Is Hepatopulmonary Syndrome (HPS) Linked to Gluten? Do you have shortness of breath or a low level of oxygen? What shape is your liver in?

Disease, Toxic Staple, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

While looking for something else I ran across a website on hepatopulmonary syndrome. Hepato has to do with your liver, and pulmonary has to do with your lungs. When your liver is compromised your lungs may also become damaged and not function up to capacity causing shortness of breath and lower oxygen levels in your blood, among other issues.

It appears the only “cure” for HPS is a liver transplant.

In steps gluten. A number of lung and liver diseases are linked to celiac disease and gluten toxicity. Many of them will reverse or resolve when gluten is removed from the diet. Neither of the sites I peeked at mentioned a word about gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

“At a gluten-related conference I heard the story of a man who needed a liver transplant who was diagnosed with CD. When his doctors put him on a GFD his liver began to mend; ultimately, he no longer needed the transplant. This story was undocumented, but there is a formal study proclaiming that patients with critical liver dysfunction who adopt a strict GFD may preclude liver failure, even when a liver transplant is being contemplated. Of the four patients in this study who had acute liver disease, ‘hepatic dysfunction reversed in all cases when a gluten-free diet was adopted.’ (1) Seems to me this should be headline news, but I wonder how many folks with severe or even mild liver ailments have ever heard the words gluten or celiac disease uttered by their doctors.” (2)

“Some of the liver diseases associated with CD are autoimmune hepatitis, nonspecific reactive hepatitis (‘the most common’), primary biliary cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis.(3) Liver disease can occur in people of any age, including children. A 2009 Swedish study of children with CD concluded that ‘severe hepatic damage or failure’ could evolve and that children with CD should be assessed for ‘liver function and vice versa, children with severe liver damage should be investigated for untreated celiac disease.’(4) The link is obvious! Nearly 40 percent of children and adults with ‘fatty liver transaminitis or hepatitis’ who have barely any symptoms have liver issues that improve or resolve themselves on a GFD.”(5)(6)

Many lung diseases and ailments are linked to gluten. The research is sparse, but there is some linked to various ailmets that cleared up with my storytellers in Toxic Staple. A woman was told she had lung cancer with a short time to live. It turned out to be sarcoidosis which cleared up with a gluten-free lifestyle…even the pain from the scar tissue disappeared; asthma and reactive-airway disappeared on the GFD; a chronic dry cough vanished on the GFD; lung function crashed and returned (see Holly’s story on page 135).

Research exists on idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and fibrosing lung disease as linked to gluten. Some patients with dermatomyosistis (DM) may have lung cancer among other cancers and it is recommended that those with DM be screened for celiac disease.

If you should have unrecognized and therefore untreated celiac disease or gluten intolerance and your body is not absorbing vital nutrients needed for optimal health how can you expect to have healthy lungs, liver, blood or even a healthy brain?

If you have most any serious disease, especially autoimmune, or any chronic symptom, I urge you to get educated and get tested. I spell it out in Toxic Staple as only an irritated grandmother could. You can make a copy of the testing, both blood and stool to discuss with your doctor. It is life-enhancing information.

See Disclaimer: http://toxicstaple.com/disclaimer/

 Your future health may depend on addressing gluten. To order your personalized copy now visit: http://toxicstaple.com/buy-the-book/ or visit https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Staple-Gluten-Wrecking-Health/dp/0989239217 or check in at your favorite book store.

http://hpscare.com/for-patients/ This site provoked my interest in writing this blog.

  1. Kaukinen, K. et al., “Celiac Disease in Patients with Severe Liver Disease: Gluten-free Diet May Reverse Hepatic Failure.” Gastroenterology 122, no. 4 (2002): 881–88.
  2. Quote from Toxic Staple
  3. Barbero Villares, A. et al.,. [Hepatic Involvement in Celiac Disease.] [In Spanish.] Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 31, no. 1 (2008): 25–28.
  4. Casswall, T. H., et al., “Severe Liver Damage Associated with Celiac Disease: Findings in Six Toddler-aged Girls.” European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 21, no. 4 (2009): 452–59.
  5. Duggan, J. M. “Coeliac Disease: The Great Imitator.” Medical Journal of Australia 180, no. 10 (2004): 524–26.
  6. Quote from Toxic Staple

Thanks at Thanksgiving…and All Year

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As we approach this Thanksgiving Day and holiday season many of us think a little more about giving thanks for all that we cherish: our family and friends, our freedom, and our good health, among many others. I especially am thankful everyday for the excellent health my family and I enjoy. Had we not discovered we were all quite intolerant to gluten we would not have been such happy campers these last 12 years.

Knowing what I know about the devastating and degenerative hazards of gluten from having poured a decade into research and writing my award-winning book, “Toxic Staple” I can’t imagine what shape my family and I would be in if we hadn’t figured this monster out. I am fortunate to only be on one med for a hypothyroid that was very likely damaged due to gluten (autoimmune diseases are highly linked to gluten) before I even knew what gluten was, and I never get sick, and have great energy.

Many of you, however, do not bask in the sunlight of good health and great energy and may not realize that much of your poor state of health lies in your own hands. Most of you really can do something about your allergies, asthma, fatigue, autoimmune diseases, skin issues, neurological maladies, and on and on, if you want to. Naturally everything is not linked to gluten, but truly, it is incredible what gets better when you address this “toxic staple” that pervades our everyday lives and destroys your gut and other parts of the body.

Going downhill at the rate I was traveling prior to “the gluten-free lifestyle” in my early sixties, I can only assume that my longevity has been extended vastly, along with greater health, and rejuvenated energy and vitality.

I encourage you to look at your health and that of your children and other family members and friends. Many of you think it is normal to have intestinal issues, fatigue, allergies, asthma, arthritis, organ issues, migraines, depression, and on and on for more than over 300 maladies linked to gluten, but it is not. Older age does not necessarily have to mean degenerative, failing health. Your health and life can become so much more enhanced and transformed that you would not believe it. I am in better shape in my seventies than when I was in my forties. No kidding! All I did was remove the “monster” gluten (dairy also bothers many who are gluten intolerant). By the end of the first year I was only going for health checkups instead of sick calls.

But let me warn you that the vast majority of our traditionally trained doctors are not giving enough testing to track down celiac disease or gluten intolerance, nor are they aware of the numerous symptoms and illnesses linked to gluten. It’s not really their fault. Little is being done to educate every health care professional in every facet of medicine, since gluten can affect any part of the body, and many think celiac and gluten issues are rare. They are epidemic!

If you are plagued with chronic symptoms and illness please…do your body and brain a favor… you must become your own advocate in conjunction with your doctor. Get educated, get tested (you will need to request certain tests), and if positive follow a 100% gluten-free lifestyle. No cheating!

 And give mega thanks you have discovered the root of your health problems.

Please read the disclaimer above.

Please get back to me with your success story at anne(@sign)toxicstaple.com and kindly share this info with all your sick and tired friends who may be misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, or overdosed! Even some of those who have rare and incurable diseases may find life can improve without gluten.

Need a speaker? anne(@)toxicstaple.com

Are You Gluten Sensitive? How Would You Know?

Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance / Gluten Sensitivity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RECOGNIZE you may have an issue with gluten (celiac disease or gluten intolerance) if you can relate to any of the following:

  • Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?
  • Are you misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, or overdosed?
  • Do you have one or more chronic symptoms/conditions that just won’t let up?
  • Do you pick up every cold and flu bug or have a poor immune system?
  • Are you plagued with allergies or asthma?
  • Are your children bouncing off the walls in school, sick a lot, suffering on the autism spectrum, not able to focus, exhibiting behavioral/anxiety issues, etc.?
  • Do autoimmune diseases, anemia, and/or cancer seem to run in your family?
  • Are you suffering with liver, cardio, thyroid conditions, and more?
  • Are you plagued with migraines/headaches, insomnia, restless legs syndrome?
  • Do you think illness, arthritis, and lack of energy are just a part of growing older?
  • Are you fed up with too many doctors’ appointments, time lost from work and play, too many meds, and not enough answers as to what’s making you so sick and tired?

This is the short list. Over 300 symptoms, diseases, and associated conditions are linked to gluten. TOXIC STAPLE is an eye opener, as in “WOW, I didn’t know that!”

Wouldn’t you like to feel better, have more energy, and age more gracefully without chronic illness and degenerative conditions? TOXIC STAPLE can help you detect celiac disease or gluten intolerance with significant testing information, and it can help transform your health and life by following a gluten-free lifestyle, if you or someone you love is gluten sensitive.