"Full of it!" is the title of my new book – available now

This title "Full Of It!" is to capture the varied reasons for writing this book. It refers to our diets being full of gluten; to the world being full of gluten-sensitive people; to the medical practitioners who are so sceptical of adverse reactions to gluten; to the enthusiasm of people who are feeling vibrant again on a gluten-free diet; and to those who are brimming with hope that the problem of gluten has now been recognised.

The harm from gluten is greatly underestimated

This book is full of it! It is packed full of information that links gluten symptoms to brain and nerve damage. It is overflowing with information on gluten-sensitivity.

The shocking truth

The shocking truth about gluten is that gluten foods are causing tremendous damage – but currently this is unrecognised. Unfortunately, gluten grains have become our staple diet. The quantity of gluten in our food has been steadily increasing. And worse, official Health Policies endorse gluten grains as the foundation of our food pyramid.

Whilst we are eating our gluten breads, all of the time gluten is sapping the energy and wellbeing of countless millions. To date, the medical profession has turned a blind eye to gluten’s wider problems whilst focusing all of their attention on the narrow problem of coeliac disease.

Can gluten damage your brain?

Searching questions usually provoke yet more questions. Answers can be hard to find. The big question that I am probing is: "Can gluten grains damage your brain?"

I believe that gluten can damage your brain

I believe that the answer to this question is a resounding "Yes!"
I have come to this conclusion by the abundant circumstantial evidence from my observations of my patients who are gluten-sensitive. I have pondered the next questions: "Why do they have such an array of symptoms from gluten?" "Why do they recover so quickly when gluten is removed?" And "Why do they deteriorate so rapidly when only tiny amounts of gluten are eaten?"

Over the last fifty years, there has been a slow evolution of the understanding about gluten toxicity. But each time that a new clinical investigation has been developed this new information is merely added on to the current theory.

Seldom has the whole concept been re-examined. To this end, the focus of gluten has unwaveringly been on the small bowel. This is because coeliac disease is generally considered to be a gastro-intestinal disease, with some unexplained peripheral symptoms. Coeliac disease (also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is defined as bowel damage caused by the toxicity of gluten in susceptible people. Recent population studies around the world show that it occurs in about one in every one hundred people.

I now challenge this narrow perspective. I have described the clinical features of a much wider condition – that of gluten-sensitivity. I have calculated that gluten-sensitivity affects about one-in-ten people. Others claim that it is even more common. In my opinion, gluten has now been recognized as the cause of a vast amount of chronic ill health.

My hypothesis is as follows:

"The symptoms from gluten occur through its action on the nervous system".

In other words, I propose that gluten-sensitivity is a brain condition. I propose that gluten can injure the nervous networks that control the gut’s functions. This malfunction subsequently leads to all of the gut symptoms that have so well been described. In addition, gluten also directly affects the brain, which leads to the primary neurological symptoms that are so commonly seen with gluten-sensitivity.

Gluten can damage your nerves

What is new?

There are major new ideas in this book. They are based on circumstantial evidence. They give a unifying theory to the symptoms that are attributed to gluten toxicity.

1) A brain disease

I believe that gluten-sensitivity is mostly a neurological problem. A major contribution to this debate is the realisation that the brain has a central role in the expression of the symptoms that have until now been attributed to the local toxicity of gluten on the gut.

2) A nerve disease

I propose that gluten-sensitivity is also a nerve disease. There is a gigantic network of nerves that controls every function that your gut is programmed to do. There are as many nerve cells in your gut as there are in your head! About 25 billion nerve cells. I call it your tummy brain (or gut brain). Your tummy brain can be directly damaged by gluten reactions. This is the cause of so many sore tummies and bowel troubles.

3) A wide spectrum of neurological manifestations

For decades, there have been reports of unexplained brain and nerve symptoms, which are associated with coeliac disease. But, although these associations have been described, there has been no universal mechanism proposed. However, if gluten is regarded as a neurotoxin, then the explanation has been found.

Reactions to gluten have been documented to be extremely common. About one-in-ten people (as ascertained by blood donor studies) have high levels of gluten antibodies in their blood. My clinical studies have arrived at this same high number of gluten-sensitive people.

My hypothesis has been formed by my extensive dealings with gluten-sensitive children and adults, and from researching the medical literature.

You might ask, "Am I full of it?" Yes, I am full of excitement and hope for the future. So many people can be helped, if only this information can be widely distributed. I am full of ideas and full of enthusiasm. I hope that you are full of hope for your healthy and vibrant future.

The shocking truth is that gluten can damage your brain and that so many people are being encouraged to eat gluten-foods that might be steadily eroding their health and energy.

If you have any comments or questions we would love to hear from you through our webpage www.doctorgluten.com

Full of it! The shocking truth about gluten

Author: Dr Rodney Ford

Books can be purchased from the website www.doctorgltuen.com/books.htm

Dr Rodney Ford is a Paediatric Gastroenterologist, Allergist and Nutrition Consultant. He has been Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago. He runs a busy private allergy, gastroenterology and nutrition clinic in Christchurch. He has written over a hundred scientific papers including book chapters and books. This includes a series of five books on gluten: why it can make you ill and how to go gluten-free.

To read more about this subject purchase the book

FULL OF IT

Ford, R. P. K.*
rodney@rodneyford.co.nz
www.rodneyford.co.nz

Message: Many more children, other than coeliacs, warrant a gluten-free diet.

Conventionally, medical practitioners have only recommended a gluten-free diet for children with coeliac disease. Doctor Rodney Ford challenges this.

He did an audit of all the children who were referred to him for investigation of coeliac disease (during 2001-2005). Doctor Rodney Ford runs a gastroenterology and allergy clinic, Christchurch, New Zealand.

This group of children all had evidence of an immunological reaction to gluten – they had positive blood tests for IgG-gliadin antibody. Also, they all had an endoscopy to obtain a piece of bowel tissue (a small bowel biopsy).

Finally, they had blood tests to look for evidence of tissue damage (tissue transglutaminase (tTG) or endomesial antibody (EMA))

The novel part of this study was that all of these children with elevated IgG-gliadin antibodies were offered a gluten-free diet, whatever the small bowel histology appearance.

Results: There were 190 children. There were 96 males and 94 females. Their average age was 5.3 years. These children were divided into three groups depending on their test results:

1) 31 (16%) had a histology diagnosis of coeliac disease;

2) 31 (16%) were deemed possible coeliacs because of elevated tTG or EMA antibodies (they had normal small bowel histology);

3) The majority, 128 (67%), did not have any supportive evidence of coeliac disease – they were labelled "not-coeliacs.

The clinical and demographic features were similar across these three groups. Therefore, these groups could not be distinguished from each other by their symptoms.

Of the 128 not-coeliacs, 81 (76%) reported substantial clinical improvements on a gluten-free diet within three months. Of the remaining 47: 31 did not try a gluten-free diet, and 8 reported no benefit.

If the response was measured for only those who tried a gluten-free diet, then 89/97 (92%) of the not-coeliacs got better on a gluten-free diet!

Conclusions: Many children have symptoms that are consistent with coeliac disease. However, most have normal small bowel histology and no evidence of gut damage (normal tTG or EMA results). But they usually have high IgG-gliadin antibody levels.

Notably, these children responded very well to a gluten-free diet, with the great majority improving. – these children are "gluten-sensitive".

This audit shows that IgG-gliadin is a valuable test to detect these children.

Many more children, other than coeliacs, warrant a gluten-free diet.

"FULL OF IT"