My Alternative Romance (Part 2)

In part one we discussed one of the factors that sent me down the path of healing with my hypothyroid diagnosis. This post will discuss my second experience with autoimmune diseases and my epic battle against the sources of evil.  Okay maybe these sources are not really evil, just unhealthy.  I do have a tendency to exaggerate…

In 2011 I had to have surgery for a pregnancy that unfortunately did not make it past 20 weeks.  It was in the weeks and months following where I found myself very ill with a particularly nasty adenovirus and I was not recovering like I should. I followed up with an alternative doctor to determine what could be the causes of my ongoing issues.  I considered ignoring my symptoms as I had been through a lot in the previous few months, and the likelihood of there being any reason beside me just needing to rest was in my opinion slim.  The doctor ran a battery of tests including a very interesting test for IgA anti-gliadin antibodies. Gliadin is not the name of a wizard or a fairy princess but a protein more commonly known as gluten which is found in wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats.  The IgA test is one of the first steps to determining if you have celiac disease.  When my results came back they recommended taking a biopsy of my intestines as my antibodies were extremely high which meant I was reacting very poorly to gluten.  For many people testing high for these antibodies is a sure sign that you have celiac disease.

I see articles on the internet frequently stating that most people should continue eating gluten unless they are diagnosed officially.  They call gluten avoidance a fad and make fun of anyone making that choice. They shame anyone following a gluten free diet as being ridiculously naive and often call it unhealthy.  This is really sad because some people will listen to this uninformed view of the subject and miss out on an opportunity to limit foods which are actually harming their health.  The whole shaming and bullying that goes on with everything from parenting to lifestyle choices is quite silly as everyone is made up of different building blocks and therefore reacts differently to food, drugs, vaccines, weather or M. Night Shyamalan movies.

Celiac disease is one of those pesky autoimmune diseases we discussed last time where your immune system damages your intestines due to the consumption of gluten.  The only way to confirm a celiac diagnosis is to examine your small intestine in most cases this involves a biopsy (aka cutting and taking a portion of your gut…no thanks) to determine if those antibodies are an indication of damage.  Some people can have high antibodies for gluten and be experiencing the symptoms of celiac disease, but not have damaged intestines for whatever reason.  I chose to keep my guts intact and opted to remove the offending gluteny products.  Then I cried for months because I could never again have cake.  Actually I am crying right now as someone just offered me donuts.

So you say, I don’t have that, or they tested me several years ago and I was fine.  A little known fact about celiac disease is that it can be triggered/activated after a surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection or severe physical or emotional stress.  If you remember from reading this post two minutes ago, I experienced 4 out of the 5 possible causes listed here.  Also, celiac disease is more common in those suffering from autoimmune thyroid disease…check and check. Just because you have never had a reaction or problem with gluten or other grains does not mean it will stay that way.  I highly recommend that if you are having any one of the 300 possible symptoms of celiac disease, you ask your doctor to run at least one of the gluten antibody tests.

So you haven’t tested positive for gluten intolerance or celiac disease, but still find that wheat is triggering some health issues. This could be due to a pesticide called glyphosate, more commonly known as Monstanto’s Roundup.  You can read some technical sciency information here about what the chemical can do to human intestines.  Roundup is an herbicide used to kill weeds on crops designed (aka genetically modified) to resist dying with the application of the chemical. Crops designed to resist Roundup include corn, soybeans, canola, cotton, sugar beets and alfalfa.  Wait a second…..why isn’t wheat listed? Is it a typo? has she lost her mind?  No it is not a typo and the jury is still out on the other question.  What most people don’t know is it has been a common practice over the last 10-15 years, and as far back as 1980 for US farmers to to spray Roundup on their wheat crops right before they harvest. The reason for this is it kills the plant and allows the wheat to dry evenly so when they harvest, their yield is improved.

Now you are saying, so what. I don’t have any issues with wheat or gluten.  Here is where I am going to tell you that you are wrong.  Let’s go back to this link and the information about what glyphosate does to your intestines and in particular the specific fact about Roundup inhibiting cytochrome P450 enzymes, which are responsible for detoxification.  If you are still confused as to why this is important, here is where I drop the mic. Gluten intolerant, celiac or not, eating almost any wheat or other grain sprayed with Roundup in the US of A will impair the ability of your gut to produce enzymes critical to detoxify chemicals, toxins, heavy metals, viruses, bacteria….you name it.  Every one of you reading this not currently completely avoiding anything with Roundup contamination (a difficult task) is affected by the toxic effects of a very nasty chemical.  It just so happens that wheat is one of the only grains sprayed with the chemical so close to harvest and therefore more likely to contain higher amounts of it when it reaches your plate.  Here is a staggering document that lists some common prepared foods that contain glyphosate and it is by no means inclusive of everything that has traces of the nasty chemical. How many of these did you eat today?

A UCLA study recently reported that the keto diet specifically affects human gut bacteria in a positive way.  While the study was mainly looking at why the keto diet reduces seizure disorders in those affected, we can infer that the positive changes in gut bacteria are affecting more than just conditions related to seizures.  While I am not a doctor, scientist or writer, could some of the beneficial health outcomes from the keto diet possibly be because we are removing not just sugars (which promote bad bacteria) from our diet, but all grains that are heavily sprayed with a chemical that is known to cause negative changes to your gut bacteria?

There are many articles you can read about how important our gut bacteria is to our health and emotional well being and how it can even determine if we maintain a health weight or an unhealthy one.  Also there are many articles discussing how bad bacteria or a reduction in the “good” bacteria can open up holes in your intestines (increase intestinal permeability if you want a more appropriate term) which can cause inflammation and can open you up to many other fun health issues.  Reading these articles I experienced a strange sort of deja vu as they kept showing evidence that an unbalanced microbiota is linked to a higher occurrence of celiac disease and diabetes along with other autoimmune diseases.

Here is something to think about. Every person comes pre-programed genetically with different strengths and weaknesses.  Some people can’t drink coffee past 11am without buzzing around the house at 2am vibrating and sparking like metal in a microwave. Others can drink two gallons of the stuff at 10:00pm and hit the pillow at 10:05pm like they’ve just taken valium.  Some people may react negatively to gluten or glyphosate and have the typical intestinal symptoms, while others might get recurring sinus infections or itchy rashes on their elbows.  Others won’t have symptoms, but the low levels of systemic inflammation for 55 years could cause cancer in a susceptible organ. You can see how complicated this can be and how easy it is to dismiss the cause or combined causes of an illness that has a delayed vs. acute onset.  Also there is more than just gluten to contend with in the causes of inflammation and disease.  This is just layer one in a very large scary toxic onion.

Another problem is that wheat, grains and gluten are found everywhere, and it isn’t just cross contamination that you have to deal with. Salad dressings, prescription drugs, supplements, soy sauce, shampoos, conditioners, gum, toothpaste, ice cream, sauces, deli meat, spices, shredded cheese, makeup, Playdoh and even some alcoholic beverages distilled from grains contain the illness triggering gluten.  You think you might be safe getting that omelette at your favorite greasy spoon, think again. Many of those establishments use a pre-made egg mixture and often add pancake batter or wheat to make the eggs fluffier.  I recently enjoyed this phenomenon when visiting a restaurant and forgot to request real eggs in my omelette. I experienced a very nasty surprise later that day and for the rest of the week.

So what does one do when confronted with this unfortunate information about a significant portion of the food we eat on a daily basis?  Is it easier to ignore if you aren’t currently experiencing the typical digestive symptoms?  What about those migraines you get regularly?  What about that cystic acne or psoriasis? How about that anemia that you were diagnosed with, or your intolerance to lactose? Oh and don’t forget your seasonal allergies, hair loss, arthritis, osteoporosis, liver failure, infertility, heart disease and cancer diagnosis all with links to celiac disease and gluten intolerance.  You may be young right now and a lot of these things are often linked to old age, but if you were to meet yourself 40 years older right now, would you be able to say that you tried your best to keep healthy?  Would your older self thank you?  I have to start a new paragraph as I just reached the maximum allowed amount of questions in this one.

Some fascinating research by one of the UCLA Anderson Professors Keith Chen postulates that the language we speak can affect our behaviors like saving money for retirement or current health choices like diet and exercise.  He has shown significant data that languages that don’t use future tenses have populations with better savings rates along with health choices.  For your information, the English language requires a distinction between past, present and future.  Put simply, by speaking English, we might have a tendency to separate what we do now with future consequences or benefits according to this research.   Another Professor from UCLA Anderson Hal Hershfield has research to suggest that if we think about and visualize our older selves now we are more likely to make healthy choices today rather than putting them off.  I am urging you to think now about whether you are ignoring a possible sensitivity, because you are afraid of how that might inconvenience your life going forward.  To me inconvenience is osteoporosis or cancer and I will gladly forego eating those pancakes knowing the danger that gluten and glyphosate pose to my health.

So what do you do if you think that you may need to get checked out for gluten intolerance or celiac disease?  I would speak to your doctor about the IgA test and hope they are supportive of your request.  Before taking the test you need to be eating gluten for the results to be accurate.  If your doctor is not on board or thinks the test is unnecessary you can skip the doctor and use one of several companies that offer direct consumer testing like www.healthcheckusa.com or www.directlabs.com.  I have used Health Check USA and I found it very reliable.  Your insurance may cover these services but you should go in assuming to pay out of pocket. You should always ask your health insurance company if they will reimburse you for these costs as well.

If nothing else I would recommend you get extra nutrients through foods or supplements whether or not that sandwich you ate for lunch gives you trouble or not. Most recently diagnosed celiac patients are often deficient in fiber, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, folate, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.  It is also not known if the trigger of celiac could also be caused by a nutrient deficiency and if so which one.  It is the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg that is a hotly debated topic in the online celiac community.  Actually I don’t think people argue too much about this issue online as I am sure they are all nice reasonable people. Whatever the controversy, there is consensus that damage to the intestines occurs with celiac disease, which means the reduction in ability to absorb nutrients. Could a pre-existing deficiency in say zinc or vitamin D increase your chances of triggering celiac disease or is it just the symptom of damage?

So we have damage to our intestines and a reduction in ability to detoxify, that is the end of it right?  There is nothing else scary out there that could cause problems? Part 3 of this exceedingly long and getting longer by the minute saga will discuss more things we can do to stay healthy, happy and ensure that we don’t cry every time another M. Night Shyamalan movie comes out.