Tag Archives: celiac disease

Poem: Trickster or Treat?

Poems, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have to admit Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine, but I was prompted to write this jingle for a local poetry group I’ve been trying to attend.

Trickster or Treat

It is a devilish trickster
In everything you know
From white flour in cupcakes
To wheat flour pizza dough

It plays with your health
In insidious ways
It can lead to cancer
And shorten your days

Neuro issues quite linked
To celiac disease
Detect if you have it
Get some expertise

Part of its schtick
Is autoimmune disease
It devastates your body
With seemingly great ease

Type 1 diabetes
Is associated you know
All should be tested
Before diseases overthrow

Over 80 autoimmune
Oh, you didn’t know
From thyroid, blood, and liver
To MS and cardio

A few symptoms
You might recognize
Reflux, fatigue, and headaches
Can be a great disguise

From intestinal issues
To weight loss or gain
To organ and skin problems
Can be related to grain

If you experience
Most any chronic disease
Consider it could be
Gluten is your sleaze

You have an opportunity
To educate yourself
On the many faces of gluten
That can deteriorate one’s health

The treat is finding out
What is wrecking your health
Once you discover it’s gluten
You’ll realize your greatest wealth

Over 300 symptoms and maladies
Linked to gluten if you please
Substantiated by world research
This is a moment to seize

By deleting this nasty protein
Your body can quickly heal
Feeling energetic, never sick
Has tremendous appeal

If you’ve been down and out
Not feeling very well
Get tested for gluten issues
Your health can excel

If your doctor says,
“There’s nothing I can do”
Don’t believe it for a minute
With gluten-free you can renew

A decade into “Toxic Staple”
Recommended for doctors too
With life-transforming info
For the sickly to pursue

So take this poem seriously
Your health may be at stake
Let the gluten-free diet
Your health vigorously remake

© Oct. 1915 Anne Sarkisian

For excellent testing information that goes beyond what is generally offered (if it is even offered), if you have chronic health issues, please check out and share with your doctor Chapters 16 and 17 in my book. Little is being extended in the way of conferences for health care professionals in all facets of medicine, and certainly not enough testing info is offered unless you have full-blown celiac disease and do test positive.  Too many folks test negative and told they don’t have a problem with gluten when in reality they are gluten intolerant.

Catch this nasty monster before it overtakes your health.

 

 

Scenario 1: Amazing Variety of Illness and Disease

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

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)

 

Poem: A Degenerative Conduit

Poems, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the last several years I’ve written many poems on the hazards of gluten with hopes the reader will become motivated and empowered to really look at their symptoms and diseases and face up to the fact that they may well be linked to gluten. Ignoring them may make matters worse over time.

My book, Toxic Staple, goes above and beyond testing information, both blood and stool, to help you, along with your doctor, track down the insidious gluten intolerance or celiac disease…even if you already tested negative for celiac.

A Degenerative Conduit

Been feeling a health deficit?
Energy level is quite unfit?
Any part of the body it can hit
It is a degenerative conduit
For illness

Been living in “discomfit”
You think it’s a passing skit
But the symptoms never quit
You’re on an endless circuit
Of unwellness

Before your final exit
Your life may need an edit
You must come to admit it
If you relish a healthy benefit
From decrepit decline

Adopt a new lifestyle spirit
To which you fully commit
The GF diet is legit
You’re in the cockpit
To recapture health

Your body needs lifetime respite
From gluten you must omit
Let me be most explicit
On the GFD you must git
To renew your health

Keep a focused wit
Your strength has no limit
Allow yourself to commit
With a GFD good health is implicit
Believe in yourself

© 2013 Anne Sarkisian

Kindly share this website and blog with your sick and tired friends who are exasperated trying to recoup their health… www.toxicstaple.com Please download the “Free Report” on this site…top right.

Could Tom Brokaw’s Multiple Myeloma Be Linked To Gluten?

Endorsements, WebWire Releases, , , , , , , , ,

Below is a link to the WebWire release questioning whether Tom Brokaw’s multiple myeloma could be linked to gluten. In it Sarkisian quote’s a European researcher who suggests “multiple myeloma could be a worse form of gluten intolerance than celiac disease.”

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=197635

The article prompted a read of Toxic Staple and a strong endorsement from Professor Zorica Juranic:

“Reading the book Toxic Staple of Anne Sarkisian I was really amazed by her sincerity, and determination to confer the truth about so many toxic gluten effects. The book is perfectly written. No words to add or to remove from the text.

“Anne Sarkisian deserves the special respect for her book; firstly for her frankness, honesty, and courage to say the truth about her fight for the health of her loved ones, for the health of many gluten-sensitive people, the fight to open consciousness of health professionals for the complex, potentially harmful gluten effects.

“She alone, with her soul, heart and intellect, did great and hard job carefully searching through scientific medical literature. She clearly listed the clinical signs and laboratory tests related to diagnosis of gluten sensitivity (in almost all very serious health disorders connected with this) and not less important, she wrote about which food is healthy for people with proven gluten sensitivity. This points to Anne Sarkisian as the rare, unique, wise person, which with the book Toxic Staple, opens important new civilization breakthough in the care of general people health.

“I warmly recommend this book for reading. It is a gift, full of knowledge which could help many people suffering from enormous reactivity to gluten to live healthier. Every information in this book is supported by appropriate reference from peer reviewed scientific journals that make it credible, not only for forward-thinking medical doctors, but also for all health professionals, as well as for non/educated people who are interested in their health and, more importantly, for the health of their loved ones.”

Zorica Juranić, PhD, retired Research Professor

Author of the publication: “Antibodies contained in “M” component of some patients with multiple myeloma are directed to food antigens?” Leuk Res. 2006 Dec; 30(12):1585-6.

 

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

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

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.

 

Not Enough Testing!

Testing, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

dreamstimefree_164004Until there are mandated conferences for doctors in all facets of medicine (dream on), since gluten can affect any part of the body, you may need to become your own health-seeking advocate. You need to know the blood tests to REQUEST. All too often not enough testing is given to detect celiac disease or gluten intolerance and the patient is told she/he doesn’t have a problem, can still eat gluten, and meanwhile is still having troublesome health issues.

TOXIC STAPLE will provide testing information that will very likely detect a gluten issue if there is one. Sorry, but the one blood test often given may be negative and the patient may be quite gluten sensitive. By the time you test positive on the one blood test you most likely have full-blown celiac disease with very damaged villi and a very compromised body. Even if the panel of four blood tests is given you may still test negative, but be quite gluten intolerant.

This is when it would behoove you to read and “absorb” the stool testing information in Chapter 17. This testing saved my family, as we were all negative on the blood tests except for the baby (not old enough to test), and one grandchild with full-blown CD.

The book will empower you with the knowledge to get to the bottom of what’s ailing you or a loved one, if gluten sensitive, to find greater health, energy, and vitality just as my family and I have. It is not rocket science. It is about removing the toxic staple that is making you sick and tired, and jeopardizing your health in a myriad ways!

Although I wrote the book for the masses that are so sick and tired of being sick and tired, or misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, or over-dosed, it is being recommended for health care practitioners by medical professionals up on gluten. So please do consider loaning a copy to your doctor.

Kindly share this site with family and friends who may have chronic health issues.

 

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

Toxic Staple, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

 

 

 

 

 

Type 1 Diabetes and Gluten: Exciting Research!

Toxic Staple, , , , , , , , , , , ,

This most compelling study, “Remission without insulin therapy on gluten-free diet in a 6-year old boy with type 1 diabetes mellitus” was published in the British Medical Journal in 2012*. The boy did not have celiac disease, but nevertheless was put on a gluten-free diet after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He was able to survive nicely without insulin for 20 months while in the study.

Although he was negative for celiac disease I wonder what his test scores were, as too often the bar is set too high and the patient may not test positive for CD, but may be gluten intolerant and on the road to CD. According to some experts it is important to pay attention to the lower numbers on test results, as this could be a sign of things to come. Perhaps the pancreatic islet cells can be damaged the same way the villi can— without having celiac disease, but being intolerant to gluten.

It’s most interesting that the child responded to the GF diet. Numerous autoimmune diseases, as discussed in my book, Toxic Staple are linked to gluten, and patients sometimes manage their disease by removing this noxious protein with some amazing results.

The wife of one of my storytellers who had type 2 diabetes adhered to the GF diet along with her husband. Her diabetes normalized and she was able to get off her meds with the approval of her doctor (never stop taking your meds without consulting your doctor).

Do you suppose that detecting gluten sensitivity and adhering to the GF diet would be preventative medicine from developing T1D or any other autoimmune disease? I expect it would!

Don’t you think this info is headline news? I do, but it will take decades to be featured as such. Did you know it is recommended that those with type 1 diabetes be tested for celiac disease? Maybe they should be tested for gluten intolerance too.

The bottom line of this study suggests that more research is needed on the effectiveness of a gluten-free diet in aiding remission of T1D.

If you know someone with type 1 diabetes, especially if they are newly diagnosed, please introduce them to my book, Toxic Staple, and my web site http://www.toxicstaple.com and blog.

Refer to chapters 16 and 17 on traditional and cutting-edge testing to detect whether or not you are gluten sensitive. If positive pay strong attention to the GF lifestyle.

*Sildorf et al., BMJ Case Rep. 2012; 2012: bcr0220125878 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3387460/

 

Denial About the Ravages of Gluten

Toxic Staple, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I can’t tell you how many people I run into who are in strong denial about the hazards of gluten. “Oh, we don’t have that!” But signs of intolerance are written all over their face: paleness or flaming red cheeks, sallow color, puffy eyes, sickly looking, drab, thinning hair, weight loss/weight gain, dry skin and lips, skin issues, etc.

I often ask folks who are in denial and resistant to testing who have a lot of health issues, “Do you like living?” It’s difficult to comprehend the severity of how gluten can affect the body over time. That’s why I poured a decade into researching and writing Toxic Staple. By the time you get to the end of the book hopefully you’ll get it.

Whether it’s celiac disease (CD damaged villi) or non-celiac gluten intolerance (GI damage to many parts of the body, but not to the villi) one’s life and health can improve immeasurably when gluten is removed from the diet—perhaps even return to normal, though you may have forgotten what that feels like. It’s surprising how well you may come to feel and only then, looking back, recognize a list of symptoms that you took as part of the aging process or part of a kid-being-a-kid. I encourage you to keep track of these symptoms no matter how seemingly trivial as your body heals – you will be surprised.

If you are experiencing borderline suboptimal health, gluten may be the issue. No one in his or her right mind wants to know that wheat, the staff of life, has become a toxic staple for millions, but ignoring the effects of gluten can lead to disastrous health issues over time. Throughout TOXIC STAPLE you will be bombarded with numerous degenerative and serious health issues that seem to only worsen if a gluten-free lifestyle is ignored or get better if it is addressed.

Disease is caused by something! Time to get your head out of the sand. Discover if you have intolerance to gluten. Then embrace your new way of life and be thankful you know what’s ailing you. Or you may need to prepare for a degenerative decline over the years ahead, a road you may already be traveling.

Only you can turn your health around! Toxic Staple paves the way for you to dramatically change your health and life if gluten intolerant. I originally wrote it for people who are “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” but it is being recommended for health care professionals by those-in-the-know.

Please note: The patient may respond better to a GF lifestyle if diagnosed earlier rather than years to decades later when the body may be very compromised on many levels. And of course, numerous other toxins can add to the mix of a sick body. Your turnaround in health may depend on how sick you are, how well you adhere to an absolutely GF diet, and other factors affecting your health.

 

 

“Gluten Is Not YOUR Problem!”

Testing, , , , , , , , , ,

You may have tested negative on the one blood test often given and been told, “Gluten is not your problem.”

Unless your blood test is positive, denoting full blown-celiac disease, the one blood test you may be given is very likely not enough testing to track down the insidious gluten sensitivity. It is important  to REQUEST a panel of four blood tests (there is more likelihood to detect it with more than one blood test), and if negative on blood testing it would behoove you to follow up with stool testing.

I met a woman recently whose life is miserable with stomach/intestinal ailments and fatigue. She tested negative on the typical one blood test her doctor thought to give her and was told gluten was not her problem. The doctor didn’t know what was making her so sick. The woman’s granddaughter has so many food sensitivities that there is not much she can eat. The child’s mom has Crohns. I urged the gram to read my book (testing info that will likely detect a sensitivity/intolerance to gluten) and to look further into the more sensitive stool testing. I expect gluten is at the root of most of their issues and I expect they all could have a much better life with a bit of gluten detection and a gluten-free lifestyle. This is a common scenario: doctors unaware of the hazards of gluten and adequate testing.

Please do not postpone getting screened for celiac disease/gluten intolerance if you are suffering, especially from stomach/intestinal issues (but there is so much more). Life seems to only get worse over time. It could take decades for serious ailments to evolve —ailments you don’t ever want to deal with. If you are already dealing with serious health issues you may be able to turn many of them around. It’s never too late to detect the cause, delete the “toxic staple,” and realize better health, as exemplified by the numerous success stories in my book, TOXIC STAPLE.