Gluten Free Vegan Living

With all the new studies and article on the dangers of gluten, it may be safe to assume that gluten may be bad for everyone. But why?

Dr. Vikki Petersen wrote an article on the subject:

Wheat is a Threat to Your Health, Even if You’re Not a Celiac

Gluten is the protein that is mostly present in wheat, about 85% of all the protein present. However, there are, unbelievably, 23,000 different proteins present in modern wheat that can create inflammatory, negative reactions in the human body, according to Dr Perlmutter. I will admit that this is a number far beyond any I have heard, but I do trust the source….

However, and we have discussed this many times before, WE, meaning humans, may also be a ‘predator’ when it comes to wheat. And as a predator the wheat we eat is attacking us. How?

The WGA protein has a liking for a protein in the human body called N-Acetylglucosamine and binds to it. Don’t worry about the long name, what’s important is where the protein is found: namely tendons, joint surfaces, cartilage, the lining of the entire digestive tract and the lining of the miles and miles of blood vessels within all of us.

When WGA ‘binds’ to this protein it can leave the cells of the particular structure, e.g. the cells lining the digestive tract, vulnerable. Whether it’s damaging the lining of the gut that could potentially result in leaky gut or damaging the lining of blood vessels putting them at risk to inflammation, it is thought that WGA has truly direct toxic effects on the heart, brain, immune and endocrine systems.

According to Dr. Vikki, this can affect anyone whether they are celiac, gluten intolerance or gluten sensitive.

Personally, I find this information very scary!  How many years have we, as human beings, been eating wheat and how long has it been doing this kind of damage to our bodies?

If you have read Dr. Vikki’s book, The Gluten Effect, she mentions mention that populations who consume wheat are at higher risk to certain degenerative and inflammatory disease. These diseases, she says, were not present prior to the introduction of wheat and are less present in those societies that do not consume it, even today.

With the studies I have seen, maybe she is right:  We should leave wheat to those who can digest it — animals with 4 stomachs!!

What do you think?

Dr. Vikki Petersen is one of my favorite authorities on Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease.  Her book, The Gluten Effect, was one of the first books I read after being diagnosed with Gluten Intolerance.  The book was very eye opening for me at the time and I still refer to it from time to time when I have questions.

Today, I would like to share some special information from her article on  Vitamin D and Gluten Intolerance.

Gluten Intolerance & Vitamin D Deficiency

Why Does Deficiency Continue on a Gluten Free Diet?

Removal of gluten should, ideally, result in the healing of the villi and normalization of absorption. When that doesn’t occur then we know that something else is compromising healing. I wish I could say that this was an unusual scenario, but it isn’t.  In fact it is more the norm. Eliminating gluten, while a critical first step, is typically insufficient to restore normal function to the small intestine and thereby the total health of the body.

Why? Frequently an individual has an intestinal infection, poor balance of good bacteria, or some other inflammatory factor that is preventing healing. That cause must be identified and treated quickly.

If you are like me, you probably assumed that eliminating gluten from your diet would heal the absorption problems in your body.  According to Dr. Petersen, this is not the case.  Eliminating gluten is just the start — much more needs to be done to restore optimum  health.

Dr. Petersen goes on to recommend taking Vitamin D3 in liquid form:

Another possibility is that the vitamin D being taken is not the best quality. I recommend vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) for my patients in a liquid form. The base is olive oil so that’s what it tastes like.

Since I live in the north part of the county (Idaho), I do best with 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D2 in the winter time.  Once I am able to go outside in the sun for at least 20 minutes per day, I will reduce that to 5,000 IUs.  I find that I feel better and am better able to cope with the short days, snow and ‘cabin fever’ that many of us northerners deal with!

For more info, check out Dr. Petersen’s Video on Gluten Intolerance and Vitamin D3

Personally, dealing with the damage in my body from gluten has become a lifelong quest for answers and research.  Thankfully, eliminating gluten from my diet, helped me considerably, but I find that it did not completely restore my health.  I continue to deal with mild Ataxia and it’s many side effects.  On the other hand, if I were still eating gluten, I would probably be in a nursing home — not knowing my name or those of my loved ones!

How about you?  What special issues are you dealing with due to ‘gluten poisoning’?

According to Dr. Vikki Petersen, author of The Gluten Effect, there are Secondary Effects of Gluten found in non-gluten foods.  These foods are called cross reactive foods — meaning because they have similar proteins to gluten, your body may react to them just as though they were gluten.

Here is the list of the four major cross reactive foods:

• Coffee
• Dairy
• Oats
• Yeast

Personally, I understand the potential harm in the above cross reactive foods:  I also have an intolerance to dairy that when I have eaten any, I have similar symptoms as when I am gluten poisoned.

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Dr. Petersen’s book, The Gluten Effect, is an excellent resource for anyone dealing with gluten issues.  Click on the link below to purchase a copy: