Category Archives: Celiac

New Study Finds Micronutrient Deficiencies Common In Patients Diagnosed With Celiac Disease

Dr. Rath Health Foundation - Jun 27, 2019 -  Paul Anthony Taylor

A new study from the United States has found that many patients with celiac disease have micronutrient deficiencies. Carried out by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, a ‘cathedral’ of conventional medicine, the study shows that a lack of vitamins and minerals is a common finding in adults newly diagnosed with the disease. Significantly, in a sign that conventional medicine is perhaps beginning to recognize the importance of correcting nutritional deficiencies, the researchers say these should be addressed at the time of diagnosis.

A serious digestive condition in which the ingestion of gluten, a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and various other cereal grains, leads to damage in the small intestine, celiac disease is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide. Gluten is found in a wide variety of foods including pasta, breakfast cereals, pastries, most types of bread, and most beers. Consuming foods or drinks containing gluten can result in celiac patients experiencing symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and indigestion. Joint pain, fatigue and skin problems can also occur, as also can nerve damage. In children, the disease can affect their growth and development.

Conventional medicine offers no cure for celiac disease. Instead, patients have to switch to a gluten-free diet and are given drugs to control symptoms. Significantly, however, even when following a gluten-free diet and taking prescribed medication, at least 30 percent of celiac disease patients still report symptoms. Clearly, therefore, while obviously necessary, for many people avoiding gluten is an incomplete treatment for this disease.

Zinc deficiency seen in almost 60 percent of celiac patients

The Mayo Clinic study looked at data on 309 adults who had been newly diagnosed with celiac disease between 2000 and 2014. The researchers found that many of them had micronutrient deficiencies at the time of diagnosis. The most common deficiency was zinc, which was seen in almost 60 percent of patients. Other micronutrients found to be deficient included vitamins D and B12, folate, copper and iron.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Adam Bledsoe, MD, admits he found it somewhat surprising to see the frequency of micronutrient deficiencies in these newly diagnosed patients, given that few of them had symptoms of impaired intestinal absorption. Weight loss was seen in only just over 25 percent of patients, for example. However, while Bledsoe and his colleagues recognize that the deficiencies may have health implications, they claim that what these might be is currently unknown. In reality, of course, the health risks of micronutrient deficiencies are already very well understood.

Treating celiac disease successfully is about more than just avoiding gluten

Patients suffering from celiac disease are hardly alone in having multiple micronutrient deficiencies. We know this because Dr. Rath’s revolutionary Cellular Medicine research has demonstrated that a long-term lack of vitamins, minerals, and other essential micronutrients is the primary cause of today’s most common chronic diseases. With celiac patients known to have an increased risk of developing health problems such as coronary artery disease and cancer, the presence of micronutrient deficiencies in celiac disease can thus be revealed as the primary reason for this.

Based on this explanation we can also now understand why, even when following a gluten-free diet, at least 30 percent of celiac patients still report symptoms. Unless the micronutrient deficiencies are corrected, avoiding gluten alone is an incomplete treatment for the disease.

The fact that Mayo Clinic researchers have recognized the importance of addressing nutritional deficiencies in celiac disease clearly has the potential to become a significant step forward in the control of this debilitating health problem. As always, however, the key question will be how soon doctors and health policy makers can implement a recommendation to do so into clinical practice. Given the accumulated evidence in favor of micronutrient supplementation, it is time for celiac patients everywhere to be told the facts.

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Gluten intolerance may not exist at all says surprising new study

Natural News - Thursday, April 04, 2019 by: Earl Garcia

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, which affects more than 18 million Americans, may be something that is all in the mind, a new study claims. Australian scientist Peter Gibson, who ironically confirmed in a 2011 study that patients without Celiac Disease can otherwise be sensitive to gluten, now refutes his previous findings with his new research.

Gibson examined 37 self-identified patients with Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) who were given gluten-containing meals at varying levels for two weeks. Research data revealed that gluten-specific effects were observed in only 8% of respondents. However, these gluten-specific effects were not reproduced, suggesting that there is no evidence linking dose-dependent gluten intake and gastrointestinal discomfort in self-identified patients with NCGS. “In contrast to our first study… we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten,” Gibson said.

Glyphosate-contaminated wheat might be behind gastrointestinal issues

While current research debunks the correlation between gluten consumption and NCGS-related discomfort, the bigger issue at hand might be the culprit for such occurrence –glyphosate contamination.

The National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) classifies glyphosate as an herbicide and is used to help promote plant growth. It was first registered in the U.S. in 1974 and has since become the most widely-used herbicide on the market. According to the NPIC, glyphosate is not likely to evaporate after being sprayed. It is considered a probable human carcinogen according to the World Health Organization’s Agency for Research on Cancer.

Glyphosate is sprayed directly on crops – including soy, corn, canola and sugar beet – that are genetically modified to resist it. The toxic chemical is also being sprayed on staple crops such as wheat, barley and oats, ahead of harvest. Wheat in all its forms – such as cold cereals and bagels – is a readily available breakfast fix for most parts of the world. Alarming reports of glyphosate contamination has been raising food safety concerns for years.

An April 2016 report by the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) USA revealed that 10 of 24 breakfast foods examined tested positive for some levels of glyphosate. Included in these breakfast items were whole-wheat bagels and oatmeal, as well as eggs, yogurt and coffee creamers. The ANH said the results show that the toxic herbicide is entering the market in many ways, either being sprayed directly on crops like wheat or through livestock feed. “The fact that it is showing up in foods like eggs and coffee creamer, which don’t directly contact the herbicide, shows that it’s being passed on by animals who ingest it in their feed,” Gretchen DuBeau, executive and legal director of ANH-USA stated.

Nonprofit organizations Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project also released a report in November 2016, which compiled a list of food products that contain glyphosate residue. Included on the list are wheat-based products such as a cold cereal and whole-wheat crackers. The testing was carried out at Anresco, an FDA-registered laboratory. “Frankly, such a high level of glyphosate contamination … [is] alarming and should be a wake-up call for any parent trying to feed their children safe, healthy and non-toxic food,” said Dave Murphy, executive director of Food Democracy Now!

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How Famine Under the Nazis Revealed the Cause of Celiac Disease

In the winter of 1944, the city of the Hague was going hungry. In fact, all the cities of the western Netherlands were hungry. Railway workers and the country’s government in exile had defied German occupiers with a strike. In response, the Nazis significantly cut off the country’s most populated region from food supplies. The canals also froze, making transportation and escape impossible. What resulted was the “hunger winter,” a famine of unprecedented scale.

Solutions were few. Fuel ran out quickly, and some residents even ground up tulips to make flour. One group, however, wasn’t suffering as much as expected. In the Hague’s Juliana Children’s Hospital, pediatrician Willem Karel Dicke noticed that the children in his care with celiac disease were improving, even as they starved.

Doctors had known about celiac for years. But there was no consensus on its cause, or how to treat it. It acquired its name in 100 A.D., when Greek* physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia was stumped by an ailment with symptoms of weakness, malnutrition, and diarrhea, which he dubbed koiliakos.

Today, celiac disease is known to be a genetic autoimmune disorder. Those afflicted have a severe reaction to gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat. It can be a challenge to diagnose, but once identified, the treatment is simple: eating a diet free of gluten.

But at the dawn of modern medicine, celiac remained a frustrating mystery to doctors. Even worse, the disease had the greatest effect on children.

Food was airdropped in April, ending the hunger winter. Fotograaf Onbekend/Nationaal Archief/Anefo/CC0

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