Tag Archives: blood tests

Scenario 1: Amazing Variety of Illness and Disease

Please keep your “sick and tired” friends and their children in mind as you read this.

On a recent trip to Denver I ran into several scenarios that you or a friend might relate to. I am trying to open your eyes as to how pervasive gluten intolerance is. We drove a lot and if I had occasion to talk to someone along the way about my book and the hazards of gluten, I did. Now I didn’t talk to that many people and I was shocked at the numbers already doing the GF diet and those who had no idea that gluten could be linked to their ailments/symptoms.

  • I spotted a rib-thin child with circles under his eyes and a narrow chin (these can be typical signs of classic celiac disease); he was traveling with his parents and two siblings. We were on the concourse train at the airport so time was limited. I immediately introduced myself, and the subject matter of Toxic Staple to the mom and said, “I’m pleading with you to read the information in my book,” as the train drew near the last stop and I handed her my card. She didn’t say the child had been tested and we didn’t have time to get into any other issues he might have been experiencing (fatigue, achy muscles and bones, irritability, hungry all the time, belly ache, intestinal issues, etc.). This parent will need to be armed with testing info I spell out in the book, since the child’s doctor obviously hadn’t offered testing, or if s/he did, it wasn’t enough. I realized later I had one book with me and I was kicking myself that I hadn’t given it to her.
  • This same mom, as we were heading to the escalator, told me of a family of 4 children who were all having issues. Two were hallucinating and on psychotropic drugs; I didn’t have time to find out about the other children. Yes, psychoses and many other neurological/cerebral issues are linked to gluten. The children are off gluten and off the drugs and doing fine. I am hoping to hear back about them. (Never stop taking prescribed meds without consulting your doctors. Please see disclaimer above at http://www.toxicstaple.com). My neurological chapter is the longest in the book and links many neuro problems to gluten with great research from around the world. The All American Diet is doing terrible things to our kids and their families.
  • I met another mom whose daughter had mouth sores and was very anxious. She was pale and unwell from about the age of 8 (a teen now I think) and was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease. There is little research linking Behcet’s to gluten however it is listed on page 146 in Toxic Staple as one of many manifestations of celiac disease (Abenavoli et al, 2006). I am praying she follows through with the cutting-edge testing in my book; it is a terrible disease. This kid’s life might drastically change for the better if celiac disease or gluten intolerance was uncovered and a strict GF lifestyle was followed. Behcet’s is one of about 20 eight-syllable skin diseases you never heard of that are linked to gluten—along with eczema and psoriasis.
  • One woman whose husband was a chiropractor said her family was gluten, dairy, and bean-free because of the negative affects of these proteins on many people. If she gets a little gluten a rash develops on her hands.
  • Another woman at the airport was in a wheelchair (late 60’s early 70’s). The doctors told her she would never walk again after falling and smashing leg bones, and maybe the hip. She gets around fine, but needs help when traveling. She is on a GF diet. Osteoporosis can be a sign of celiac disease. The problem is you don’t know it until you break your hip or some other bone.
  • Another woman on GF/DF/yeast-free diet needed 14 hrs. sleep and a nap and didn’t wake up feeling rested and about 6 hrs. after dinner the heat would come on like she was on fire. She gets an itchy rash under her breasts if hit with gluten.
  • Another woman told me she had swollen ankles like she might have had congestive heart failure, she couldn’t lose weight, and had hypothyroid. She was doing great on a GF lifestyle except for the dystonia, muscular spasms affecting speech. She didn’t think dystonia was linked to gluten, but I expect it is. Numerous neuro/muscular issues are linked to gluten and much more research is needed. You will find some “brain talk” communities and enough neuromuscular research to make you wonder.
  • On one flight I heard two women talking. One was into infertility research. Wished I’d been sitting beside her because there is huge research linking celiac disease to infertility, sterility, miscarriages, lousy PMS, and numerous other women’s and pregnancy issues. But is anyone educating our doctors? The young mother next to her was talking about ADD and one youngster in the hospital. The neuro chapter has stories on ADD/ADHD, autism (an incredible story) and Asperger’s. Our poor kids don’t have much of a chance with the tainted, overly processed, high gluten/dairy diet they are being feed along with the plastics and chemicals that permeate our food.
  • One retired nurse told me her whole office follows a GF lifestyle and everyone feels better. Her husband chimed in and said his sister’s life has been totally transformed by going GF.
  • Another woman told me her very good friend is having a terrible time even though she follows a GF/DF and I think a couple other proteins are out too. It is important to detect gluten issues early and address them with an absolute diet. Some people who have a difficult time responding to the GF diet probably have a gut that is very out of whack with a destroyed gut biome. They may have other issues they need to clear up before the gut will heal.
  • One woman said she and her family ate little gluten. “Why,” I asked? “Everyone feels better,” she answered. She mentioned that she was having a problem with mold. She was still getting some gluten in her diet. Since she has been doing low gluten the blood tests won’t work so I suggested she get tested with the specialized stool test (Chapter 17). These stool tests are very sensitive and saved my family, as we were all negative on the blood tests. If positive she needs a 100% GF diet. I expect her mold problem will clear up. Mine did, along with a bunch of other allergies.

Gluten is hugely affecting our population and those around the world. You must empower yourself by getting educated on the hazards of gluten. Request the panel of blood tests if you are having health issues. If negative on the blood tests then do the stool testing. (Chapters 16 & 17)

 

Is The Gluten-Free Diet Just Another Fad? Absolutely Not!

The gluten-free diet has become a fad, but it is definitely not just another fad.

It’s no wonder all the gluten-free faddists feel better, lose weight, have more energy, headaches and skin problems disappear, intestinal issues subside, reflux and PMS get better, etc. My take is this: if you have chronic or troublesome health issues that get better with a gluten-free lifestyle, you are most likely gluten-sensitive to some degree. You are somewhere on the path or continuum of having a gluten problem. Of course you feel better when you remove the toxic staple, gluten.

But there is a problem just trying the gluten-free diet. I named my book Toxic Staple for a very good reason: gluten is at the root of huge illness. There are thousands of studies from around the world linking gluten to major ill health. So it’s important to get tested to see the results in black and white. It really helps one stay on the GF diet if intolerant, but to do the blood tests you need to keep eating gluten. If you just think you are a little sensitive and don’t fully comprehend the implications of being intolerant or having celiac disease, you may have the temptation to cheat. No, a little bit of gluten is not ok if you are intolerant or have celiac disease.

Gluten is a toxic protein for a huge part of the population (about 30%). It slowly whittles your health away and devastating, degenerative disease may not appear until years or decades later when your body has become quite compromised. That’s why it’s so important to get tested. Find out if this insidious monster is lurking in your closet before more serious issues manifest. If so, then face the GF lifestyle with an A+ attitude and see how your health, energy, and vitality may change. You deserve a healthier and stronger life, and your family needs you to be healthy.

Please read the disclaimer on my site above.

 

Tom Brokaw’s Journey With Multiple Myeloma: Are Celiac Disease And Multiple Myeloma Linked?

I recently watched Dateline featuring Tom Brokaw and his journey with multiple myeloma (MM). Although there is little research linking MM to gluten and celiac disease some does exist. One study that I write about in my chapter, Gluten Indicted: “An Enhancer to Cancer,” questions whether MM is a “more severe form of gluten intolerance than celiac [disease].”*

As I have researched since 2004 I have found such cancer-related terminology as lymphoma, lymphatic, leukemia, leukemic, myeloproliferative, malignant, and more linked to gluten and celiac disease. Many blood and bone disorders are linked to gluten, and some of the cancers associated with celiac disease are throat/esophageal, stomach/ intestinal/colon, and many more.

I couldn’t believe the information on autoimmune hepatic liver and sclerosing cholangitis. These two diseases can resolve with a gluten-free lifestyle. My father died of liver cancer and it was thought by his doctor, much later after reading the stunning research, that he had these two disorders before they turned cancerous.

If you have cancer or know someone who does (doesn’t everyone?) it might be important to determine if they are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease. There is a catch 22, however! The test results for celiac disease (CD) might be affected by chemo and other heavy-duty drugs so the results might not be a true reading: if you tested negative you might really be positive. You need to request a panel of blood tests (the typical one may not be enough to detect intolerance), and if negative on the blood tests do your body a favor and do the specialized stool testing (Chapters 16 & 17).

If you have undetected celiac disease or gluten intolerance or don’t address a gluten issue with an absolute gluten-free lifestyle your body can become quite compromised over time. CD can affect any part of the body and can hugely affect your immune system. How can your immune system even begin to fight any cancer cells if it is drastically compromised? And where do those cancer cells come from anyway? Might it have something to do with all the inflammation from celiac disease or antibody reactivity? I strongly expect so!

If you have most any chronic health issue lingering for 2-3 months it would be important to detect whether or not you are gluten sensitive. Over 300 symptoms and maladies are linked to gluten….that doesn’t leave much to your imagination!

Some of the latest webinars** and presenting forward-thinking doctors are saying if you have a healthy gut you’ll never develop cancer or autoimmune diseases. You don’t have a healthy gut if you have undetected or unaddressed CD.

Many folks are diagnosed with a miserable, life-altering cancer without manifesting any symptoms. “But I’ve been healthy my whole life,” they say. Don’t wait for this most serious diagnosis to hit your family. Especially if you do have health issues. It could be time to look your symptoms and diseases/maladies square in the face. You may be able to turn your health around before something really traumatic consumes your life.

I’ve tried hard to reach out to some folks who have gone through cancer treatment or who have other serious life-threatening diseases, but most of them go to the best doctors (who never mention celiac or gluten) and they expect their doctors would know this vital information. But there is little being done to present conferences to educate all our doctors in all facets of medicine. It’s like banging your head against the wall. It will need to become a grassroots movement much deeper than the faddish movement folks are trying now. And it will take decades for all doctors to begin to understand the full implications of what gluten is doing to much of the human race, but the research is there.

Kindly share http://www.toxicstaple.com and this blog with your ailing family and friends.

*Juranić et al., “Antibodies Contained in “M” Component.”

**The Truth About Cancer, and The Autoimmune Summit