Meet the naturopathic doctor

Everybody has been told that you need at least 8 hours of sleep, and this is TRUE for most of us to achieve optimal health. Why is eight hours important? Because it is between the seventh and eighth hour of sleep when you get almost an hour of REM sleep, the time when the mind repairs itself, grows new connections, and puts it all together. If you are sleeping only six hours, you’re missing that last, important opportunity to repair and to prepare for the coming day.

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It is generally accepted that if you need to lose weight, are stressed out or want to put on muscle mass, you need to hit the gym and hit it hard! While this approach will work for some people, most people’s eating habits and lifestyle choices will cause high intensity workout sessions to have a detrimental influence on their health. That’s because of the effect these sessions have on a person’s nervous system.

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If you are used to burning the candle at both ends, the thought of slowing down, even to go to sleep, can be daunting. If you are one of those people, it’s time for a reality check. If you ever question whether or not it is important to get enough sleep, just ask yourself this question: Is your health FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE worth getting a few extra minutes or hours of sleep? If the answer is yes, or if you are just struggling to get some more ZZZZs use these techniques to give you the best sleep of your life!

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We have all heard it time-and-time again – the number one reason to lose weight is not to fit into your ‘skinny’ jeans, but to protect your health. Every pound you shed can lower your risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, amongst other diseases. Let’s outline exactly what you stand to gain by losing (weight).

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The first two posts in this series detailed how the brain can become addicted to sugar and what happens if you try to stop eating sugar, even for a short period of time. Most people feel awful when they try to quit, so they end up consuming more and more sugar, which perpetuates the problem even further. This final installment of this three part series will detail several ways that we have used to help sugar-addicts the world over free themselves from this sometimes crippling affliction.

Breaking the Cycle

If you feel like you, or someone you know, is addicted to sugar take comfort in knowing this: you are not the first one. There have been thousands and thousands of people that have faced this addiction and beaten it. Here are a number of ways for you to begin to overcome your sugar addiction:

• Eat real food. Ideally, food shouldn’t need a label (i.e., fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables; raw nuts and seeds; grass-fed or organic meats, poultry and eggs; legumes (beans, peas and lentils); fresh fish and organic dairy products. If your food does have a label, make sure you can identify all the ingredients as real food. Studies have shown that the more you eat healthy food, the more you will crave it.
• Eat regularly – every 2-4 hours works best for most people.
• Eat balanced meals – this means when you look at your plate, roughly ½ of it should contain vegetables and/or fruit, ¼ should contain protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, lentils, protein powder) and ¼ should contain a starchy vegetable (carrot, sweet potato, yams, potato, etc.) or whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, barley, etc.). This link provides great recipes and a searchable database for you to find exactly what you need, even if you have food allergies.
• Eat protein at every meal; if you are following the suggestion above this will help. This is especially important at breakfast and lunch to help curb cravings later in the day.
• Eat within 60 minutes of waking; this will help curb cravings. Smoothies work great!
• Eliminate sugar and artificial sweeteners. If you want to end cravings, you must reset your brain and the only way to do that is to give it new information. Clear anything that contains sugar (including corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup) in the first six ingredients out of your house and don’t buy it at the grocery store. Same goes for ‘diet’ goods and artificial sweeteners.
• When you have sugar craving, drink water and have a snack, like a piece of fruit along with a palm-full of nuts. Get active with something and the craving will pass.

• Determine if you have any underlying food allergies or intolerances. We often crave foods that we are allergic to. Specific laboratory testing can help you pinpoint your exact hypersensitivities. Eliminating your allergic foods can help reduce cravings immensely!
• Get more sleep. Lack of sleep intensifies cravings. Aim for 8 hours/night with as much before midnight as possible.
• Talk to a health care professional about supplements. There are many supplements that act as natural appetite suppressants and can reduce cravings or modulate dopamine receptor function to regulate appetite. This can make all the difference in the world to ease withdrawal, eliminate cravings and establish new habits that allow you to kick the sugar-habit.

Sugar addiction is very real and it can make achieving vibrant health seem almost impossible. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to break the sugar addiction cycle and retrain your brain to crave healthy foods. If you’d like more support and guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us – we’d love to help you free yourself from sugar addiction and lead the life you’ve always wanted.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

Houston, we have a problem

Not only do sweet foods increase dopamine levels, but over-consumption of sweet foods can actually cause a breakdown in brain chemistry. According to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, “common mechanisms may underlie obesity and drug addiction.” (3) Researchers found that when animals were given a diet of high calorie foods, there was a significant reduction in the activity of their dopamine receptors. This is very similar to the affect that cocaine or heroin has on the brain. (3)

What does decreased receptor activity mean? It means that the brain becomes tolerant to dopamine signals. This is similar to what happens when you go to a concert. When you first get there, the music seems very loud. But as the concert goes on, you get used to the noise level, and it no longer seems as loud as it did when the band started playing – you become tolerant to the noise level. That’s exactly what happens with dopamine in the brain. If you are constantly eating or seeing sweet, high-calorie foods, your dopamine levels are always high, just like the music at the concert is always loud. Your brain gets used to the high dopamine levels and starts tuning them out. The signal does not seem as strong anymore. This means that you will need more dopamine to feel any effect, just like the music would have to be turned up for you to notice any change in volume.

For someone with constantly high dopamine levels, more and more sweet, high-calorie foods are needed to get the same kind of pleasure. This sets many people up for a catch-22 situation – they remember how great something a certain food made them feel and expect it to bring them the same amount of pleasure. However, when they eat the food they aren’t as satisfied as they expected to be, so they eat more and more in hopes of regaining that original feeling (or ‘high’). This often becomes a cycle of constantly elevated dopamine levels, leading to decreased dopamine receptor response, causing decreased pleasure and constant attempts to achieve more pleasure (by raising dopamine levels even higher) by eating more and more super-sweet, high calorie foods. (4) This should start to sound a lot like addiction.

Sugar addiction

Studies have shown that people with addictive-like eating behaviors – which includes addiction to sweet, high-calorie foods, insatiable cravings and binge eating – have greater brain activity in regions associated with substance dependence and abuse. They also have increased activity in their reward circuitry and less activity going on with inhibitory regions of the brain (5). This means that they are more prone to seek out pleasure-inducing experiences and less likely to be able to stop themselves in the process. Their reward systems are being triggered at a higher rate than people who don’t have addictive-like eating behaviors, and they are less able to keep themselves from acting on their desires.

Some professionals have questioned whether sugar addiction, and addictive behavior in general, is due more to willpower or genetics. We know that there are a decreased number of dopamine receptors in the brain in both drug addicts and in obese people. The question is whether the decreased number is due to the brain trying to compensate for the abnormally high levels of dopamine or just because those people were born with lower levels of receptors. (2) The evidence to date seems to indicate that it could be a bit of both, with the compensation piece playing a much larger role. For instance, research has shown that the more obese a person is, the fewer dopamine receptors they have (2). This seems to suggest that the brain has built up a tolerance to the high levels of dopamine. Regardless of cause, a person with a decreased number (or function) of dopamine receptors would require more stimulation than the average person to feel the same amount of pleasure, putting them at greater risk for addictive behaviors. (6)

Withdrawal

The final criterion for addiction is evidence of withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms from sugar addiction can occur within a few hours to several days after discontinuation depending on the person and severity of sugar use. Carvings, often moderate to severe, are the most common withdrawal symptom; people often also have an increased appetite, especially for sweet foods. However, some people have much more severe symptoms, including depression, anxiety, mood swings and an extreme drive to continue eating sugar despite the significant harm it is causing them. People that experience these types of symptoms usually have very low levels (or very low functioning) of dopamine receptors due to years and years of sugar use. Once the sugar is discontinued, there is not enough dopamine to help them feel ‘normal’ and they can feel like their world is crumbling around them. This is why many people need guidance and support to help them break their sugar addiction.

The final part of this three part series will detail how you can break your sugar addiction and free yourself from the daily cravings and binges that can thwart even the best-laid intentions.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

Many people feel like they are ‘addicted’ to sugar. New research is providing clues as to how this may happen and what can be done about it. In this three part series, we will look at the reasons why some people can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to sugar/sweets and exactly what you can do to break the sugar addiction cycle.

There has been a lot of research and disagreement in the health/medical world lately about sugar and whether or not a person could be truly “addicted” to it. Sure, we all like to eat sweets, and sometimes we find ourselves craving and overindulging in sweet treats. But there are people who have an insatiable sweet tooth; people who “can’t live without chocolate” or it ends up affecting how they feel, their mood and their actions. Could these people actually be addicted to sugar? New research indicates that they could.

Sugar Addicts

First, some background. Medically speaking, an addictive substance is something which induces a pleasant state or relieves distress, leads to adaptive changes in the brain that triggers tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings and causes dependence to such an extent that abstaining is difficult (1). Using these criteria, it doesn’t sound so far-fetched that sugar addiction could exist. People are usually happy after they eat cake or some other treat. Some people will eat sweet things to relieve distress; think stress eating or eating chocolate to ease PMS symptoms. And, there are people out there who have such intense cravings for sweets that willpower is literally not enough to abstain – they have to have something sweet every day or they have a very, very bad day. So what are these ‘adaptive changes in the brain that trigger tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings’? The answer lies with brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

“I gotta have that!”

Before we get into the science of neurotransmitters and brain responses, we need to talk about some biology and evolution. Back when humans were hunter-gatherers, food was not always in abundance. You could go through a food-drought at any time, so our bodies were designed to build energy stores out of excess calories whenever possible. That way, when there was an unexpected period of time without enough food, we could survive off of what our bodies had stored as fat. Sweet, sugary foods are often high-calorie foods. So when we are presented with something sweet our body says, “That tastes good. Eat a lot of that so I can build up energy stores for the food-drought.” We are biologically wired to enjoy and seek out sweet, high calorie foods because from an evolutionary standpoint, they provided us the best chance to survive a food-drought. We can’t help it.

However, in today’s world we very seldom (never!) experience a food-drought, as there is an abundance of food (and processed goods that slightly resemble food) wherever we go. This causes our own instincts to lead us astray and be drawn to sweet, high calorie foods when we, from a biological standpoint, don’t need them.

Now, on to brain chemistry. When we eat sweets, our brain levels of dopamine increase. (1) Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that controls the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. In essence, when our dopamine levels are high we feel happy. Dopamine also tells you to get into action to achieve a goal that will bring a reward or pleasure (such as eating a cookie). It motivates us to do things that bring us pleasure and it is a very powerful neurotransmitter. This means that the signals it sends can be very hard to overcome with willpower. (2)

It gets worse. Research shows that we don’t even have to eat these high-calorie foods to rev up our motivation to have them; all you have to do is see a high-calorie food and your dopamine levels will rise. (2) This means that just looking at a picture of an ice cream sundae will get you thinking about how much you want to eat it and wondering where you can get one – right now. For others, simply thinking about a food can elicit a rise in dopamine and increase their desire for immediate gratification. For many people, this urge is enough to make them feel like they have to act on it, so they run out and get the food or some other high-calorie alternative.

Marketers know this; why do you think that every TV, billboard or magazine ad has beautiful pictures of tantalizing high calorie foods? They know that just by seeing those ads, you’ll want that food, and want it now. This is also the reason so many fast food ads run at night and during sporting events – people see them and order.

This is just part of the story however; the next post will detail how eating sugar and highly sweetened foods can actually change how your brain processes information, making you crave and eat more, setting up a cycle that is hard to break.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

If you have symptoms of depression, anxiety, migraines, insomnia, OCD, ADD/ADHD, trichotillomania, compulsivity, food cravings/binges, drug or alcohol addiction, memory or concentration issues, Parkinson’s disease or restless leg syndrome, you have a neurotransmitter imbalance. This means that serotonin (the main inhibitory neurotransmitter) and dopamine (the main excitatory neurotransmitter) are out of balance with one another, which causes you to experience one or more of the symptoms above.

One of the products we use to help bring those neurotransmitter levels back into proper balance is called NeuroReplete. NeuroReplete was developed by Martin Hinz, MD, and is sold exclusively through CHK Nutrition to licensed health care professionals. It provides the amino acids 5-HTP and L-tyrosine along with the necessary co-factors (vitamins, minerals and amino-acids) to give the body everything it needs to make serotonin and dopamine in a balanced fashion. This is extremely important, as research has shown that administering only 5-HTP or L-tyrosine will lead to depletion of neurotransmitters, creating further imbalances.

Providing only 5-HTP will increase the amount of serotonin in the brain. In response to this, the body increases the amount of enzymes to break down some serotonin to maintain balance. However, these enzymes also breakdown dopamine, which is the main excitatory neurotransmitter that needs to be kept in balance with serotonin in order to keep everything working well. Because no dopamine precursor was given (i.e., L-tyrosine), relatively more dopamine than serotonin is broken down, so the imbalance between them becomes greater. This often leads to additional issues over time.

It works something like this: let’s say I have two bank accounts, both with $100 in them. I put $1,000,000 in one of them (which is like taking just 5-HTP), but leave the other one where it is. Now let’s say I take $90 out of both accounts (which is equivalent to the enzymes breaking down serotonin and dopamine non-selectively). The account with $1,000,000 isn’t affect much, but the account with only $100 in it is affected a great deal. Moreover, the imbalance between the two accounts has also gotten a lot more lopsided. This is similar to what happens if one takes only 5-HTP with no l-tyrosine (or vice versa, taking only l-tyrosine and no 5-HTP) – it can create greater imbalances over time and really deplete the competing system.

The bottom line is that net effect of giving improperly balanced amino acids is neurotransmitter depletion and further neurotransmitter imbalance. Even though some people may initially see some positive results due to the increase in either serotonin (if 5-HTP is given) or dopamine (if L-tyrosine is given), they will eventually develop other symptoms as the two systems become imbalanced. Creating more problems is definitely not going to help you over the long haul.

NeuroReplete contains the precise amounts of 5-HTP and L-tyrosine to assist the body in achieving proper neurotransmitter balance. For many people, NeuroReplete provides all the building blocks their bodies need to achieve a complete resolution of symptoms. Even for those that do not achieve a complete resolution of symptoms with NeuroReplete alone, taking it establishes the foundation necessary to attain proper neurotransmitter balance in the future.

The media has been buzzing about the negative health impact that trans-fat (a.k.a. partially hydrogenated oils) can have on the human body. Some cities, such as New York have even gone as far as to require all restaurants to go trans-fat free. This is a very drastic measure and upon further investigation it seems necessary to protect our health.

Trans-fats are produced when a hydrogen molecule is added to vegetable oil. The hydrogenation process makes liquid oil solid at room temperature. Companies choose to use trans-fats because they are cheap, increase shelf life and create flavor stability.

The increased intake of trans-fats does not come without a price. Trans-fat consumption is directly related to increased LDL (less desirable form of cholesterol) and decreased HDL (the “good” cholesterol) cholesterol. This can be linked to the increase in heart disease over the last 30 years.

Other chronic conditions such as cancer and diabetes are also related to high trans-fat intake. Hydrogenated oils interfere with the insulin receptor sites on cell membranes that can trigger type II diabetes. They also interfere with the enzymes the body produces to protect itself against cancer. If this information is not convincing enough, one study showed that women who consume trans-fats weighed more than women who did not consume any trans-fats, even though their caloric intake was the same.

Following are some simple steps you can take to cut the trans out of your fat intake:

• Eat whole foods – this means choosing food as close to nature as possible. The most common foods that hydrogenated oils are found in are highly processed (margarine, cookies, candy, cakes, crackers, baked goods, breads, fried potatoes, chips, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, and salad dressing) and restaurant foods that are cooked in hydrogenated oils, including all deep fried foods. Focusing on eating fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and high-quality proteins will greatly reduce exposure to trans-fat.
• Read labels – check the back of food packages for the words ‘partially-hydrogenated’ oil or ‘hydrogenated’ oil. You can not count on the new labeling law to tell if a product is trans-fat free because the government allows 0.5g per serving to be considered trans-fat free. Many companies are simply changing their serving sizes to get below this limit. In other words, just because the trans-fat number is “0″ on the label does not mean that the food is free of trans-fat.
• Home cook’ in – try to prepare as many meals as possible at home. This allows control of the products and oils that are used.
• Ask – when dining out, ask the server what type of oil is used for cooking various dishes or if there is trans-fat in their baked products. If they don’t know, don’t eat it. Trans-fat can also be avoided if food is cooked in chicken or vegetable broth instead of oil. Most chain restaurants provide ingredient information on their website.

The bottom line – reducing intake of trans-fat not only helps your heart and waistline, it will also increase YOUR shelf life.

Resources:

Trans fatty acids in the food supply: A comprehensive report covering 60 years of research Enig, Mary G, PhD, 2nd Edition, Enig Associates, Inc, Silver Spring, MD, 1995.

Our post today comes from Dr. Mark Hyman.  You can view the original post here.

SOMETHING YOU’RE EATING may be killing you, and you probably don’t even know it! If you eat cheeseburgers or French fries all the time or drink six sodas a day, you likely know you are shortening your life. But eating a nice dark, crunchy slice of whole wheat bread–how could that be bad for you? Well, bread contains gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats. It is hidden in pizza, pasta, bread, wraps, rolls, and most processed foods. Clearly, gluten is a staple of the American diet. What most people don’t know is that gluten can cause serious health complications for many. You may be at risk even if you don’t have full blown celiac disease. I want to reveal the truth about gluten, explain the dangers, and provide you with a simple system that will help you determine whether or not gluten is a problem for you.

The Dangers of Gluten

A recent large study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and “latent” celiac disease or gluten sensitivity had a higher risk of death, mostly from heart disease and cancer. (i)

This study looked at almost 30,000 patients from 1969 to 2008 and examined deaths in three groups: Those with full-blown celiac disease, those with inflammation of their intestine but not full-blown celiac disease, and those with latent celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (elevated gluten antibodies but negative intestinal biopsy).

The findings were dramatic. There was a 39 percent increased risk of death in those with celiac disease, 72 percent increased risk in those with gut inflammation related to gluten, and 35 percent increased risk in those with gluten sensitivity but no celiac disease.

This is ground-breaking research that proves you don’t have to have full-blown celiac disease with a positive intestinal biopsy (which is what conventional thinking tells us) to have serious health problems and complications–even death–from eating gluten.

Yet an estimated 99 percent of people who have a problem with eating gluten don’t even know it. They ascribe their ill health or symptoms to something else–not gluten sensitivity, which is 100 percent curable.

And here’s some more shocking news …

Another study comparing the blood of 10,000 people from 50 years ago to 10,000 people today found that the incidences of full-blown celiac disease increased by 400 percent (elevated TTG antibodies) during that time period. (ii) If we saw a 400 percent increase in heart disease or cancer, this would be headline news. But we hear almost nothing about this. I will explain why I think that increase has occurred in a moment. First, let’s explore the economic cost of this hidden epidemic.

The most serious form of allergy to gluten, celiac disease, affects one in 100 people, or three million Americans, most of who don’t know they have it.

Undiagnosed gluten problems cost the American healthcare system oodles of money. Dr. Peter Green, Professor of Clinical Medicine for the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University studied all 10 million subscribers to CIGNA and found those who were correctly diagnosed with celiac disease used fewer medical services and reduced their healthcare costs by more than 30 perecnt. (iii) The problem is that only one percent of those with the problem were actually diagnosed. That means 99 percent are walking around suffering without knowing it, costing the healthcare system millions of dollars.

And it’s not just a few who suffer, but millions. Far more people have gluten sensitivity than you think–especially those who are chronically ill. The most serious form of allergy to gluten, celiac disease, affects one in 100 people, or three million Americans, most of who don’t know they have it. But milder forms of gluten sensitivity are even more common and may affect up to one-third of the American population.

Why haven’t you heard much about this?

Well, actually you have, but you just don’t realize it. Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity masquerade as dozens and dozens of other diseases with different names.

Gluten Sensitivity: One Cause, Many Diseases

A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 “diseases” that can be caused by eating gluten. (iv) These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, (v) and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, (vii) schizophrenia, (viii) dementia, (ix) migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). (x) It has also been linked to autism.(ix)

We used to think that gluten problems or celiac disease were confined to children who had diarrhea, weight loss, and failure to thrive. Now we know you can be old, fat, and constipated and still have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Gluten sensitivity is actually an autoimmune disease that creates inflammation throughout the body, with wide-ranging effects across all organ systems including your brain, heart, joints, digestive tract, and more. It can be the single cause behind many different “diseases.” To correct these diseases, you need to treat the cause–which is often gluten sensitivity–not just the symptoms.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that ALL cases of depression or autoimmune disease or any of these other problems are caused by gluten in everyone–but it is important to look for it if you have any chronic illness.

By failing to identify gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, we create needless suffering and death for millions of Americans. Health problems caused by gluten sensitivity cannot be treated with better medication. They can only be resolved by eliminating 100 percent of the gluten from your diet.

The question that remains is: Why are we so sensitive to this “staff of life,” the staple of our diet?

There are many reasons …

They include our lack of genetic adaptation to grasses, and particularly gluten, in our diet. Wheat was introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages, and 30 percent of people of European descent carry the gene for celiac disease (HLA DQ2 or HLA DQ8), (xii) which increases susceptibility to health problems from eating gluten.

American strains of wheat have a much higher gluten content (which is needed to make light, fluffy Wonder Bread and giant bagels) than those traditionally found in Europe. This super-gluten was recently introduced into our agricultural food supply and now has “infected” nearly all wheat strains in America.

To find out if you are one of the millions of people suffering from an unidentified gluten sensitivity, just follow this simple procedure.

The Elimination/Reintegration Diet

While testing can help identify gluten sensivity, the only way you will know if this is really a problem for you is to eliminate all gluten for a short period of time (2 to 4 weeks) and see how you feel. Get rid of the following foods:

• Gluten (barley, rye, oats, spelt, kamut, wheat, triticale–see www.celiac.com for a complete list of foods that contain gluten, as well as often surprising and hidden sources of gluten.)
• Hidden sources (soup mixes, salad dressings, sauces, as well as lipstick, certain vitamins, medications, stamps and envelopes you have to lick, and even Play-Doh.)

For this test to work you MUST eliminate 100 percent of the gluten from your diet–no exceptions, no hidden gluten, and not a single crumb of bread.

Then eat it again and see what happens. If you feel bad at all, you need to stay off gluten permanently. This will teach you better than any test about the impact gluten has on your body.

But if you are still interested in testing, here are some things to keep in mind.

Testing for Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease

There are gluten allergy/celiac disease tests that are available through Labcorp or Quest Diagnostics. All these tests help identify various forms of allergy or sensitivity to gluten or wheat. They will look for:

• IgA anti-gliadin antibodies
• IgG anti-gliadin antibodies
• IgA anti-endomysial antibodies
• Tissue transglutaminase antibody (IgA and IgG in questionable cases)
• Total IgA antibodies
• HLA DQ2 and DQ8 genotyping for celiac disease (used occasionally to detect genetic suspectibility).
• Intestinal biopsy (rarely needed if gluten antibodies are positive–based on my interpretation of the recent study)

When you get these tests, there are a few things to keep in mind.

In light of the new research on the dangers of gluten sensitivity without full blown celiac disease, I consider any elevation of antibodies significant and worthy of a trial of gluten elimination. Many doctors consider elevated anti-gliadin antibodies in the absence of a positive intestinal biopsy showing damage to be “false positives.” That means the test looks positive but really isn’t significant.

We can no longer say that. Positive is positive and, as with all illness, there is a continuum of disease, from mild gluten sensitivity to full-blown celiac disease. If your antibodies are elevated, you should go off gluten and test to see if it is leading to your health problems.

So now you see–that piece of bread may not be so wholesome after all! Follow the advice I’ve shared with you today to find out if gluten may be the hidden cause of your health problems. Simply eliminating this insidious substance from your diet may help you achieve lifelong vibrant health.

References:(i) Ludvigsson JF, Montgomery SM, Ekbom A, Brandt L, Granath F. Small-intestinal histopathology and mortality risk in celiac disease. JAMA. 2009 Sep 16;302(11):1171-8.

(ii) Rubio-Tapia A, Kyle RA, Kaplan EL, Johnson DR, Page W, Erdtmann F, Brantner TL, Kim WR, Phelps TK, Lahr BD, Zinsmeister AR, Melton LJ 3rd, Murray JA. Increased prevalence and mortality in undiagnosed celiac disease. Gastroenterology. 2009 Jul;137(1):88-93

(iii) Green PH, Neugut AI, Naiyer AJ, Edwards ZC, Gabinelle S, Chinburapa V. Economic benefits of increased diagnosis of celiac disease in a national managed care population in the United States. J Insur Med. 2008;40(3-4):218-28.

(iv) Farrell RJ, Kelly CP. Celiac sprue. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jan 17;346(3):180-8. Review.

(v) Sedghizadeh PP, Shuler CF, Allen CM, Beck FM, Kalmar JR. Celiac disease and recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a report and review of the literature. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2002;94(4):474-478.

(vi) Margutti P, Delunardo F, Ortona E. Autoantibodies associated with psychiatric disorders. Curr Neurovasc Res. 2006 May;3(2):149-57. Review.

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