Celiac: What to look out for and how to combat the disease

Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance or celiac spruce, is not a food allergy. Rather, it is an autoimmune disease that affects one in every 133 Americans. 

In 2011, a panel of celiac experts convened in Oslo and settled on a medical term for this malady: non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The experts agreed that there is a condition related to gluten other than celiac. However, they still do not know how many people have gluten sensitivity, what the long-term effects are or even how to reliably identify it. The definition is less a diagnosis than a description–someone who does not have celiac but whose health improves on a gluten-free diet and worsens again if gluten is eaten. It could conceivably be more than one illness.

Celiac disease is triggered by the consumption of protein in gluten (gliadin), which is the primary proteins in wheat gluten that contains repeating patterns of amino acids that the digestive system cannot break down. (Gluten is the only substance that contains these proteins.) Gliadin is found in foods containing wheat, barley or rye.

Those with celiac have one or two generic mutations that somehow cause the immune system to attack the walls of the intestine when pieces of gliadin course through the gut, resulting in symptoms that include vomiting, chronic diarrhea or constipation and diminished growth rates in children.

There can also be the inability to absorb certain nutrients, which can cause vitamin deficiency thus depriving the brain of nutrients. It can also hurt the peripheral nervous system, affect the bones and deprive the liver and other organs of vital nourishment, leading to other illnesses and stunted growth in children.

In the book “Dangerous Grains,” co-author Dr. James Braly wrote, “About 70 percent of children with untreated celiac disease show exactly the same abnormal brainwave patterns as those who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder.”

Since the celiac disease causes malabsorption, other symptoms also include weight loss, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, gas and bloating. A general weakness and fatigue ad foul-smelling or grayish stools are also possible.

CD results in damage to the villi.  Villi is the small hair-like projectors that line the small intestine that resemble a deep pile of plush carpeting.  The function of villi is to absorb vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.  Without villi, the inner surface of the small intestine turns from a “plush carpet” to that of “tiled floor”.  When this happens, your body won’t be able to absorb the nutrients that are necessary for health and growth.  Instead, nutrients such as fat, protein, vitamins and minerals will be eliminated.  Celiac is clearly associated with abnormal intestinal permeability that may contribute to osteoporosis by causing changes in bone metabolism and electrolyte balance.  However, the link may be even more direct: Celiac-associated autoantibodies may actually attack bone and joint tissue. 

Celiac symptoms.  The general complaints include intermittent diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating.  The secondary symptoms include irritability or depression, anemia, stomach upset, joint pain, muscle cramps, skin rash, mouth sores, osteoporosis and neuropathy.

Risk factors.  Celiac tends to be more common in people who have Type-1 diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, Down syndrome and colitis. If left untreated, CD can lead to various complications like malnutrition, loss of calcium and bone density, lactose intolerance, cancer, neurological complications like epilepsy.

Solution.  Comprehensive GI restoration is to remove, replace, re-inoculate and regenerate. Remove the offending substances from the diet.  Food allergens and other materials that negatively influence the intestinal environment can cause localized irritation and trigger the release of damaging chemicals into the general circulation, affecting the other tissues or organs. 

Follow an anti-inflammatory diet, replacing digestive enzymes and stomach acid where necessary.  Digestive factors and enzymes facilitate the breakdown of food.  Insufficiency of these compounds is very common as we age.  This inhibits optimal digestion and the utilization of nutrients.

Reintroducing healthy promoting friendly bacteria (i.e. lactobacillus acidophilus) helps maintain a desirable balance of GI microflora.  Balance is critical to intestinal mucosal health, immune function, intestinal barrier function and digestion.