Celiac disease is a serious auto-immune disorder that leads to infertility and cancer. Being Celiac means that it is impossible to digest wheat protein and gluten in grains. The only cure is eating a gluten-free diet which is not easy in this white flour society. There are no pharmaceuticals or herbs that will cure gluten intolerance. Celiac disease is not easy to diagnose and tests are not always correct, I had to figure it out for myself.
Celiac disease gets grouped in with other syndromes such as IBS, Crohn’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, heartburn, acid reflux disorder, fibromyalgia and digestive disorders and gets misdiagnosed. Symptoms are different from person to person and may manifest as skin rashes, fatigue, pain, anemia, heartburn, digestive cramps, but in all cases it weakens the immune system and makes people vulnerable to getting infections, colds and leads to infertility and Cancer. Wheat also causes obesity in some people and wheat allergies are different than gluten intolerance. Read my blog the difference between a wheat allergy and celiac here >
In people with celiac it is hard to gain weight because the gluten binds the villa in the small intestine which makes it impossible to absorb any nutrients from food. Malnutrition leads to fatigue, illness and manifests as other syndromes, and can even lead to cancer and death.
Glutinous grains include wheat, semolina, kamut, triticale, bulgur, couscous, rye, spelt, oats, barley and barley malt. Some people may tolerate oats but need to buy gluten free oats to eliminate the cross contamination because it is usually grown with wheat. Stay away from modified food starch, processed meats, beer and desserts that contain barley malt.
Alcoholic drinks that do not have gluten are tequila and rum. Vodka can be made with potatoes but it is mostly made with gluten grains like wheat.
Other foods to avoid are bouillon, soup broth powders, soy sauce (only buy tamari gluten-free soy sauce), Worcestershire sauce, MSG and any gravy thickening sauces.
Stay away from body-care products like soaps, lotions and creams that contain wheat products.
There is also cross-contamination to consider. I knew my doctor knew nothing about my disease when she said I should just go to the bakery across the street and ask them to make me gluten-free bread. If you are the one educating your doctor about your illness, switch doctors like I did. Bread needs to be baked in a gluten-free bakery to avoid cross-contamination.
In Victorian times the mill where the wheat was ground started separating out the bulk of the grain which is the nutritious part and started using the fine powder to bake bread with. The people in Victorian times started noticing a decline in health due to malnutrition. They figured out the malnutrition and illness were due to the bread change and had to petition to put nutrients back into the bread. Today flour is still processed to a fine powder, bleached and ‘fortified’ which means vitamins and nutrients are put back into the bread. Also the gluten content has increased 200 times! Gluten makes bread rise more which makes it look like you are getting more for your money and it looks more appealing and fills you up more. This could be the reason that so many people today have wheat intolerances, allergies and digestive problems. I don’t call it a disease because wheat has been genetically modified to increase gluten content which binds nutrients.
Not all people who have wheat intolerance are Celiac, but if you have any digestive symptoms or an autoimmune disorder try a gluten-free or wheat free diet and see if that helps. Eating a gluten-free diet will also help with weight loss as long as you don’t over eat gluten-free junk food. Wheat allergies cause obesity. Celiac gluten intolerances cause weight loss.
Grains with less gluten content are rice, corn, quinoa, millet and amaranth. Buckwheat is confusing because it is not a member of the wheat family and is a gluten free food even though it has the name wheat it in. Seeds like chia, sesame, hemp and flax are a good protein and nutrient source without the gluten content.
Eating a gluten-free diet is challenging especially if you travel and eat out a lot, but more and more people are eating a gluten-free diet for health reasons and society is now offering more choices which are refreshing changes from when I started. It is hard in the beginning until you read all the labels in the supermarket and educate yourself on what you can eat.
I believe all illness is due to some form of malnutrition which is prevalent is our over-processed synthetic packaged society. Eating what I call a natural diet filled with high energy plant foods will improve health on all levels. Improving bowel flora health is of course important with prebiotics and probiotics, bentonite clay and other herbs will greatly improve digestion and help autoimuune disorders with leaky gut syndrome.
