The Growing Problem of Cleanliness | Triple Helix Online

Is treatment using parasitic worms the next treatment for autoimmune disorders?

The Growing Problem of Cleanliness | Triple Helix Online

Read the full article. Here are a few select quotes:

"...improvements in sanitation and medicine, mortality from infectious diseases in the United States has declined by more than 90 percent since 1900, and the quality of life has drastically improved."

"Although mortality rates from infectious diseases have decreased in recent years, a new type of affliction has arisen in its place. Autoimmune diseases are those in which our body’s own immune system attacks normal and healthy cells. This occurs because the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign objects and normal body tissues."

"As studies have found, the prevalence of these diseases over the past century has increased."

"The most prominent explanation for this phenomenon looks at the basics of the immune system and its symbiotic relationships with other organisms."

"...a hypothesis, aptly named the 'hygiene hypothesis', states that good hygiene inadvertently causes autoimmune diseases."

"As such, if the hygiene hypothesis is correct, the cure for autoimmune diseases is simple: expose our bodies to organisms that can help properly develop and control our immune system. Currently, the most promising form of treatment for autoimmune diseases revolves around the use of parasitic worm infection."

"Second Opinion" Informational TV Show Talks Celiac

This program showed up on the TiVo yesterday. (We have a keyword wishlist for "Celiac" or "gluten". Occasionally a random program will show up.) This is a great overview of the difficulty doctors face in diagnosing Celiac disease. It also is a great introduction to the medical description of the disease.

If you missed it, you're in luck. The entire episode is available online! There are also a number of additional resources on their website. I highly recommend the program for everyone.





The most shocking take away for me was when one of the doctors said that in medical school they were told that Celiac disease was 1 in a million. Wow. Of course, now we hear that it is more like 1 in 133. Some say the ration may be closer to 1 in four.

Another great take away. The same doctor said that the gluten free diet makes everyone feel better. Wow. If that word gets out, we'll have not worries about the gluten free market shrinking.

Gluten Cross-Reactivity?

photo © 2006 Ben Cumming | more info (via: Wylio)

When I was diagnosed as having Celiac Disease (and DH), I was told that a strict gluten free diet was the only course of action. I am currently living the gluten free lifestyle. In theory, as long as I avoid gluten, I should expect to see a complete remission of the negative side effects, right? RIGHT?! Well, now I'm reading about a sticky little concept called gluten cross-reactivity.


"Cross-reactivity is a condition where your body’s autoimmune antibodies mistake other food proteins for ones you can’t tolerate. Cross-reaction to other foods creates the same effect as though you consumed gluten" (Paul Smith).


AWW, COME ON!! So, you're telling me that there are other food proteins that my body is mistaking for gluten? Sweet fancy Moses, that is depressing. So what are these other foods? Having read the list, I started to wonder if some of the IBS-type symptoms I have are related to these foods. It really seems possible.


The other food proteins include: dairy (big suprise), nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, tomatoes, aubergines), carrageenan, and potentially other foods including coffee. NOOOOOOO!!!!! See the list of foods under Array 4 in this information. At least this lab thinks that coffee is worth testing for. Has anybody had a test done by Cyrex labs?


From my experience, I think I am sensitive to the highly acidic items on the list, particularly tomatoes and coffee. I will sometimes notice that a home made gluten free pizza with home made tomato sauce will cause distress. Also, if I have coffee in the afternoon--forget it, I'm sick. It seems like I can get away with coffee in limited quantities. I am going to have to do some more testing on the tomato front.


It seems to me that there is not a lot of information on gluten cross-reactivity. If you have links to studies or other resources, please pass them along. Thx.


UPDATE: Here's a five minute video overview of cross-reactivity by Dr. Vikki Petersen.

More on the Gluten Free Bubble

This article asks some of the same questions that I asked in a previous post. Turns out, others foresee a decline in the gluten free market.

Gluten Free at Jersey Mike's

Eating gluten free at the sub shop. What's the point, right? Well, when the food and service are as good as Jersey Mike's, it might just be worth it.

I had read online that this sub shop had some gluten free offerings so I decided to give it a try. We were lucky to go early enough in the day because it wasn't busy. The manager at the Naperville, IL location was great. He walked us through the menu and explained the "sub in a tub", which is the gluten free option. I could see crumbs all over the preparation area so I asked if he could take precautions to prevent cross-contamination. He immediately understood and made sure his staff used a different preparation area and changed into new gloves.

I ordered the Italian sub in a tub with all the oils and spices. It tasted great. Essentially, the sub in a tub is the sandwich fixin's (sans bread) served in a plastic clamshell thingy. My lunch-mate had the turkey and provolone on white bread. The bread looked and smelled amazing, so stay away you Celiacs if this is too tempting for you! Otherwise I highly recommend this sub shop.

When Will the GF Bubble Burst?

I feel incredibly fortunate to live in an area that has an abundance of gluten free options, both in grocery stores and restaurants. I can usually find any gluten free product I want. Sadly, I don't take advantage of all the resources that are available to me. I take for granted that restaurants will have gluten free menus and that Whole Foods will have gluten free seminars. And somewhere in the back of my mind there is a nagging fear that one day this bubble will burst. Someday the market for gluten free products will decline and retailers will reduce shelf space dedicated to specialty products. Someday there won't be enough demand in restaurants to justify specialty training of cooks and servers. But these are all just fears right? There's really no reason to worry, right?

After all, it would stand to reason that the increase in demand for gluten free products is directly related to the increase in diagnosis and awareness of Celiac and gluten intolerance, right? But is that really the case? What if the increase in demand is due to the perception that "gluten free" is inherently healthier? Check out this quote from a recent industry survey:

"Only 8 to 12 percent of gluten free consumers said they bought gluten free products because they or a member of their household has celiac disease or an intolerance to gluten, wheat or other ingredients."

Wow! 46% of respondents said they bought gluten free products because they thought they were healthier overall. This 46% is the bubble.

Of course a gluten free diet is not necessarily healthier for people without gluten intolerance. Typically a gluten free diet lacks in certain nutrients and should be followed with care and intention.

My fearful prediction is that the gluten free bubble will burst once these voluntary gluten free eaters learn that it is not a healthy diet for them. In the mean time, I continue to enjoy the expanding bubble.

Are Wow Bakery GF Cookies Available in Chicagoland?

As far as I can remember I have not seen any products from Wow Baking company in my local stores. They look mighty tasty.  Now I'm on a mission...

How Do You Respond to Misinformation?

In general, this is a question we all have to deal with on a daily basis. With the normalization of the internet and the increase in potential media inputs, it stands to reason that we all have more information than we need really. But is any of this information reliable? Between Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and even TV and ancient media like radio, one is faced with a wide range of potentially conflicting information. Which inputs are reliable and which can be brushed aside? It is sometimes difficult to make this type of determination. It begins with the assumption that we ourselves have access to correct information upon which to base our conclusions about new inputs. Can I trust any news website? (Hint: No.) Ultimately, we all develop our own filter for evaluating information that we read or hear. Ideally, after a lot of exposure to a given topic we can develop a reliable filter. Maybe even an informed filter. Even if we still cannot say which input is right or wrong, we can at least identify the perspective and viewpoint of a given input.

I would like to think that I have developed a well-informed filter when it comes to a few specific topics, two of these being Celiac disease and the gluten free diet in general. I have read enough medical journal articles, specialized magazines, books, and professional blogs to develop a fairly advanced filter for accurate and inaccurate information. Even if I am not a medical specialist, I can sniff out when a source is somehow not entirely trustworthy. And of course, a lot of information is easily searched out on the internet. So, if someone tweets, "Red Stripe beer is gluten free," I can search the internet and find out pretty quickly that this is false and that perhaps the person meant to tweet Redbridge instead.

All this introduction to ask, what is the appropriate response to incorrect information, whether in print or online? With the Twitter example of Red Stripe, it is rather easy to respond on Twitter and correct the information. In this case I would hate to have someone drink a Red Stripe and react negatively to the gluten content. But, what about other cases where the information is more complex or controversial. For example, every week or so it seems I see an online post about the dangers of using creams, shampoos, and other external products that contain gluten. Immediately, my filter sets off a red blinking light. I think, "Now wait, my understanding is that the negative side effects of gluten intolerance are triggered by ingesting gluten." At first, I doubt myself. Then, I recover my certainty and realize that the person posting this information is either confused or has done a poor job explaining themselves. Either they are talking about a gluten allergy and have confused this with Celiac disease, or they read an unreliable source and accepted it as fact. Ok. So then what is the next step? Do I go through the entire process of explaining the difference between a gluten allergy and Celiac disease? Do I post a response on this person's blog? Sadly, I'm usually too lazy or busy to respond and I just move one.

Thoughts?

Free GF Round-Table Discussion

Erin at Gluten-Free Fun has the details of an upcoming free event in the Boston area.

I look forward to hearing about it!

Hydrolyzed Wheat Flour, Yummy!

ADVERT FAIL

Well, this story has been making the rounds in the blogosphere (here, here, and here). According to an article in the Jan 2011 issue of the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, it may be safe for persons with Celiac disease to consume hydrolyzed wheat flour.  Mmm, sweet tasty hydrolyzed wheat flour. It's what's for dinner!

It is quite staggering the lack of analysis on what this actually means. The non-expert like me would like to understand what this means for those with Celiac. The phrase "prolonged trials have to be planned" suggests to me that this means no significant change for the gluten free diet in the near future.


The screenshot above is the unfortunate advertisement from a website citing this recent study. If you can't see the image in the advertisement, it is for Domino's Pizza. This is what the kids would call a FAIL.