Welcome. This section is for you if you are already familiar with gluten and the many issues surrounding your gluten-free lifestyle.
This is where you can find more in-depth information. You can also help others by offering your special knowledge.
The most effective way to learn is to communicate with others who find themselves in the same situation as you. The Doctor Gluten Expert Forum has been set up for you. We invite you to join and make you comments, and ask you questions there.
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Introduction You have already been “doing the gluten free thing” for some time. Helping other people is the best way of learning some more. There are hundreds on documents on this website that you can find by using the “search tool”. You will have to be a “member” to see most of these pages. But, when you become a “paid member”, there are even more benefits for you.
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This “Forum” is your opportunity to make a difference to the world. My goal is to tell the world about gluten and the harm that it can cause. I am asking you to participate in this project. The idea is for you to ask your question, answer other people's questions, and post your comments about the gluten issues that apply to you. Also please post your story. We need thousands of stories to convince the world (especially the doctors) that gluten causes havoc in so many people’s families. Be gluten aware. Please join in and get the Gluten Revolution underway. |
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Gluten can play havoc everywhere in your gut. If you are sensitive to gluten then this elegant gut mechanism can be disrupted in many places. This is the basis of the large number of possible symptoms. Every part of your gastrointestinal tract (your gut) can be affected – not only the small bowel. The damage is two-fold. - Gluten interferes with the way the nerves in the gut work. Gluten can disrupt the Autonomic Nervous System (the automatic nervous control of the gut muscles and glands).
- In Celiac Disease, the gluten is toxic to the gut. This causes the classic damage called “villus atrophy”.
But in addition, many other parts of your body, outside of your gut, can be involved. This is again from the neurological damage throughout your body. Also, with poor assimilation of foods and minerals, all of the symptoms of nutritional deficiency (from malabsorption) and immune deficiency can appear. Gluten can cause wide-ranging damage. |
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Gluten is the elastic protein that is left behind after starch is washed away from wheat flour. However, gluten is actually made up of two main groups of proteins: the gliadins and the glutenins. When these gluten proteins are digested, they are broken down into much smaller pieces (these are called peptide chains). Several of these peptide chains have been shown to be harmful to coeliac disease patients when these peptides are put directly into the small intestine. There are similar peptide chains in rye and barley proteins. However, oat proteins have similar, but slightly different peptide chains – so these may not be harmful to coeliac patients. When we talk about a "gluten-free diet," we are actually talking about our food being free of the harmful peptides from wheat, rye, barley, and (possibly) oats. This means eliminating virtually all foods made from these grains. This is regardless of whether these foods contain gluten in the very strict sense. |
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The "oats" question remains unanswered. There is often a very small amount of gluten in oats – this is from the cross-contamination of oats from the gluten-grains. This occurs in the planting, harvesting, transport and processing of oat. It is almost impossible to avoid some cross-contamination. There has been controversy for years as to whether it is okay, or nor okay, to eat oat if you have Coeliac Disease. Some people are extraordinarily sensitive to gluten, so that even the tiniest bit of gluten makes them feel unwell. On the other hand, other people can eat small amounts of gluten and get no symptoms, whatsoever. However, the gluten (in those without symptoms) could still be causing them damage. So, those people who do not get any symptoms when they eat gluten can usually take oat without a problem. However, there is still a question of is there enough gluten in oat to give subtle changes in the gut. |
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It may take 1 year, 2 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or even a lot longer before there is enough damage to the intestine (gut) by gluten, for it to show up as microscopic abnormalities. It is thought that with continued gluten intake, the gut damage becomes progressively worse. Thus you can get years of symptoms prior to the gut tissue damage occurring. It is my policy to try people on a gluten-free diet at the first symptom, rather than wait for the tissue damage to occur. When do symptoms first develop? This is a key question but perhaps the most difficult to answer. We first have to know what symptoms we are looking for. Until recently, Coeliac Disease was considered to be purely a gut (bowel) disease in the realm of the gastroenterologist. However, as you now know, Coeliac Disease is a disease in progress. If you have CD, can you answer the question: “When did I first get Coeliac Disease?” Currently, a gastroenterologist would only make a definitive diagnosis when there was evidence of microscopic bowel damage (that is: an abnormal small bowel biopsy). However, in my opinion, I would make a diagnosis of gluten sensitivity (the gluten syndrome) as soon as there are symptoms associated with rising gluten antibodies. This stage is often referred to as “potential Coeliac Disease”. Yes, Celiac Disease is a progressive condition. People slowly develop symptoms and slowly get worse and worse and as they continue to eat gluten. |
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