Gluten-free Archives - Hudson Valley Chiropractic & Wellness

Hudson Valley Gluten-free: Celiac disease vs. Gluten sensitivity

February 2, 2016 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Hudson Valley Gluten-free folks- are you eating gluten-free but still having symptoms such as joint or muscles aches, headaches, skin rashes, eczema or psoriasis, migraines, peripheral neuropathy, brain fog, inability to focus, hair loss, or weight loss resistance? Are you taking several long-term prescription medications to address any of the above symptoms or other chronic health conditions? Are you looking for a natural way to feel better, without more drugs?

Let’s start by addressing two common conditions that lead people to adopt a gluten-free diet- Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Despite common misconceptions, these are not the same thing. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where the ingestion of gluten causes antibodies to be made. These antibodies then mark & tag the cells of the small intestine for destruction by the immune system. Most of the symptoms of Celiac disease are related to the GI track- chronic diarrhea and or constipation, abdominal pain and bloating, even gas.

Gluten sensitivity on the other hand is a genetic predisposition, but not a full-blown autoimmune disease (though it can lead to the development of autoimmune disease!) In this case, ingestion of gluten creates inflammation in the gut. This causes microscopic holes to open in the gut that can let toxins and particles of undigested food cross into the bloodstream, causing more inflammation. And because it has now reached the bloodstream, this inflammatory response can show up in any vulnerable tissue- muscles, joints, thyroid gland, sinuses, even the brain. This is why there can be a such a wide range of symptoms of gluten sensitivity.

A key thing to know is that other grains contain gluten proteins as well. Gluten is a class of proteins as opposed to just one specific one. (The specific problematic protein in wheat is known as gliadin). Because of the similar structure in this class of protein, its common for there to be cross-reactions where the body reacts to other grains in the same way it reacts to the gluten in wheat.

This means that if you are eating gluten-free either because you have Celiac disease or have suspect you have gluten sensitivity, your symptoms will likely improve further by cutting out all grain products from you diet entirely. This can be achieved most readily by adhering to a Paleo diet type diet.

If you are in the Hudson Valley & gluten-free, struggling with Celiac disease or symptoms you believe are related to gluten sensitivity, a grain-free diet may be the solution. If you need help from someone experienced in working with people just like yourself, I invite you to call my office today at 845-687-6387 for your free 15 minutes consultation to learn how I can help you feel better, have more energy and lose weight.

Holistic Solutions for Celiac Disease in Kingston, NY

January 19, 2016 by drchrista 3 Comments

Whole-body wellness for Celiac disease in Kingston, NY

Are you living with Celiac disease in Kingston, NY (or anywhere, really)? Are you frustrated that despite strictly adhering to a gluten-free diet, you still suffer from bouts of diarrhea, constipation, stomach upset, bloating or abdominal pain? Do you frequently have other symptoms like constant fatigue, headaches, achey joints, or muscle pain that leave you feeling run down and unable to accomplish what you need to? Do you have trouble getting enough restful & restorative sleep to feel your best each day?

If you’re looking for better solutions to heal from Celiac disease, we can help!

While it’s true that there is no cure for Celiac disease, your body can heal from the damage caused by CD. Once gluten is completely removed from the diet, we know that cells of the small intestine can repair themselves to create a healthier gut, leading to a decrease in symptoms. However, it often takes more than just removing gluten to restore the integrity of the gut lining and limit antibody formation.

Other foods, particularly other grains, can cause cross-reactivity. This is when there is enough overlap between the protein structures that similar antibodies are made, even though gluten itself is not consumed. Therefore, even on a gluten-free diet, chronic inflammation of the gut can continue to be an issue. This often results in continued symptoms.

If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, the imbalance and inflammation in your gut has been occurring for a period of months, probably even years, before you started having the symptoms that lead to your diagnosis. In that time, other changes in gut function may have occurred that are also preventing you from healing from the symptoms of CD, such as gut flora imbalances or SIBO infections (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth). While a gluten-free diet is the first step in recovering from such imbalances, more may need to be done, including the removal of other types of foods that may be ‘feeding’ the bad bacteria in your gut.

Another reason why you may still have symptoms is that there is still an immune system imbalance. While removing gluten from your diet helps stop the damage of your intestine, it may not be enough to calm down the chronic inflammation of your immune system. Left unchecked, this chronic inflammation may lead to develop of other autoimmune diseases in the future.

In the meantime, this chronic inflammation can drive hormone imbalances that lead to poor sleep, chronic fatigue and malaise, muscle aches, joint pain, headaches or brain fog. The chronically elevated levels of cortisol in response to chronic inflammation can also cause depletion of hormones like progesterone and testosterone. This may result in low libido, mood swings, increased PMS symptoms or even infertility.

The symptoms and problems caused by Celiac disease can show up in all parts of the body. That’s why it takes a holistic solution to find true wellness. If you’d like to learn more about a functional medicine approach to Celiac disease, please read this article. You can also learn more about why a gluten-free diet may not be enough of a solution here.

If you are suffering with Celiac disease in Kingston, NY there is a better solution. I work with patients regularly just like you, to help them find the diet and lifestyle based solutions to feel better and have more energy. I offer a free 15 minute consultation if you would like to find out more about how I can specifically help you. Call me at 845-687-6387 to find out how I can help you live better with Celiac Disease in Kingston, NY.

Celiac disease: What your doctor hasn’t told you

November 24, 2015 by drchrista 3 Comments

It can be difficult to adjust to a gluten-free life after being diagnosed with Celiac disease, especially if the only thing your doctor has told you about your new diagnosis and lifestyle is “don’t eat gluten.” Thankfully, now there are many groups and organizations to help the newly diagnosed find the information they need. There are also many more food choices available in the marketplace and they are more accessible now than ever. Even most large chain grocery stores have a gluten-free section now.

It wasn’t always this way. I remember when my mom was first diagnosed with Celiac disease. There were only one or two organizations providing reliable information. The ‘can have’ and ‘can’t have’ lists changed rapidly, especially regarding certain food additives like ‘modified food starch’ and its ilk. But the worst was the few gluten-free foods available. Pastas and breads made with brown rice flour that tasted like eating sand. I still remember attending a meeting of a local Celiac support group and a woman holding a gluten-free product in her hands, exorting the group “this is not a health food.” That stuck with me.

As I started to study more functional medicine, and learn more about leaky gut- what causes it and how to heal it, and why its such a key part of addressing all autoimmune disease, including Celiac disease- I finally started to understand what this woman meant.

If you have Celiac disease, going gluten-free may be enough to make your GI symptoms go away. You might not feel the bloating or have the constant diarrhea that you experienced before, but that doesn’t mean its enough to heal the damage caused by the Celiac disease in the first place. That’s the part your doctor probably left out. So if you really want to heal- to get to the root cause of the issue- these are a couple things you need to keep in mind.

Other grains can cause cross-reactions of the immune system that still lead to antibody formation.

In fact, its not uncommon to see patients on gluten-free diets develop sensitivities and intolerances to other grains. I’ve seen patients become sensitive to corn, amaranth, tapioca, even rice. In general, when I have a patient with Celiac disease report to me that they are stilling having symptoms of inflammation, even on a gluten-free diet, I have them do a trial elimination of ALL grains right away.

Gluten-free processed foods are no healthier for you than their wheat-laden counterparts.

I’m sure you’ve looked at the ingredients on the package of a gluten-free bread or pasta. (You do still read the ingredients even though its labeled gluten-free, right?) Potato starch and tapioca starch are often used because they have a finer texture than rice flour- which often gives the product that aforementioned ‘sand’ texture. The problem with these starches though, is that they are highly processed- most of the nutrients are processed out and what is left is the pure carbohydrate. This changes the speed at which the carbohydrate is digested and usually leads to a high blood sugar spike afterward. The higher the blood sugar goes, the higher insulin needs to go. Over time, this mechanism leads to insulin-resistance or what many refer to as “pre-diabetes.” Along the way, this increase in insulin may make it harder to maintain your weight, lead to increased cortisol production and belly fat, and cause imbalances in several hormonal pathways. It doesn’t matter that these products are gluten-free. Gluten is a protein; the refined and processed starches in these products are the often the real problem.

Your Celiac diagnosis is the end stage of a long process that has been going on in your body for years.

It is now accepted that gluten-intolerance and its symptoms are better represented by a spectrum. There are folks in the middle who have various negative symptoms when they eat gluten and feel much better when not eating it, but have not yet reached the threshold for a diagnosis of Celiac disease. Current research from Dr. Alessio Fassano’s lab (he’s the guy publishing a bulk of the research on Celiac disease today) suggests that if these people continue to eat gluten despite their reactions to it AND have the gene the express Celiac disease, they will eventually express full-blown Celiac disease. (Note here that even if they don’t have a gene for CD, but for perhaps another autoimmune disease, this gene may be triggered the same way). If you look back at your own health history, its pretty likely that you’ve known something wasn’t right for years before your diagnosis. Chronic depression, severe PMS, chronic diarrhea or stomach upsets, anxiety about eating out or whether there would be a bathroom nearby when you needed it, acne or chronic skin issues, headache or brain fog, unexplained neurological symptoms- you’ve known these things weren’t ‘normal’ but nobody could tell you what they were. Once you were diagnosed with Celiac disease, a lot of those chronic symptoms began to make sense. They were subtle ways your body was telling you something was wrong.

Because this has been a drawn-process, happening over years, true healing is going to take time to work through. And very likely it will take more than just going gluten-free. The damage in your gut has lead to poor nutrient absorption and there may have even been negative compensations that have developed over time in response to the lack of key nutrients. Vitamins and minerals will need to be replaced. They will need to be replaced in a smart and efficient way, not by just taking a multi-vitamin pill and calling it a day.

The best way to go about this is to work with a functional medicine practitioner who understands Celiac disease and will help you find an integrative, whole-body solution to healing. If you’re ready to start the journey to a deeper level of healing and want some experienced guidance, give me a call at 845-687-6387. I work with patients locally in the Hudson Valley region, but I am also available to consult with non-local patients via telephone or Skype.

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Why going ‘gluten-free’ is not enough

September 22, 2014 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Gluten-free is all the rage now with major restaurant chains offering gluten-free menus and even the smallest grocery stores having aisles dedicated to gluten-free products. With the proliferation of gluten-free offerings, one might be tempted to think we are making healthier choices.

This is not the case.

I remember when I first started working with Hashimoto’s patients. After delivering the news that their thyroid condition was in fact an autoimmune condition, I informed them that they needed to go gluten-free in order to prevent their bodies from making antibodies that attacked and destroyed their thyroid gland. Knowing that this can be quite a drastic change for some people, I tried to encourage them by reminding them that this was an opportunity to eat healthier by filling out their diets with vegetables instead of processed wheat products. What quickly became apparent though, is that people simply started swapping their processed wheat products for processed gluten-free products.

Let me be plain: Gluten-free foods are NOT health foods.

Gluten-free products are highly processed. It takes the marvels of modern machinery to make something made of rice flour to not taste gritty and chalky.
Gluten-free foods are high in sugar. What’s the best way to cover-up that chalky taste? Sugar. Lots of it!
Gluten-free foods are terrible for blood sugar regulation. Another way to improve the taste & texture of a gluten-free food, besides adding a lot of sugar, is to using highly refined starches like cornstarch, potato starch & tapioca starch. These are very fine powders that are often a solution to that ‘gritty’ texture of rice flour. The problem is that they are so refined, there is nothing to digest and their carbohydrate content hits the bloodstream very quickly, provoking an insulin spike. This is very hard on the pancreas and is the same mechanism that leads to the development of Type II diabetes.
Gluten-free foods use refined vegetable oils. Fats are another way to cover up the chalky taste & texture. This wouldn’t be so problematic if we were using heat-stable, traditional fats like coconut oil or butter. However, most refined foods have refined fats in them like canola and soybean oil. These oils are not stable at high temperatures and have gone through a complex treatment process to deodorize and clean them before they are even sold to you. Why would they have to go through this process? Because they are so delicate, they become rancid just going through the extraction process. They have to be cleansed and deodorized or they would be too disgusting to eat. While the smell may be gone, the artery-destroying free radicals and inflammation-promoting omega 6 fats are not. Avoid these.
Gluten-free foods are not a good source of nutrients. This is a problem with any processed food. Processing removes and/or destroys the nutrient content. The more highly processed, the more of the nutrients that have been destroyed. Compared to vegetables, grains aren’t that great a source of nutrients to begin with. Refining them further into flours and even starches, removes what little there was to begin with. If health is really your goal, its best to swap out gluten-free wanna-be foods for real, whole foods that are naturally gluten-free. Like vegetables 🙂

It’s for the above reasons that I started recommending a Paleo-type diet when I need my patients to go gluten-free. Paleo is about whole, real foods. It’s also about healing the gut. Because here’s the other thing I began to notice when my patients just started swapping their processed wheat products for gluten-free processed products: they started developing sensitivities to other grain products- particularly the ones that they started consuming more often in the processed gluten-free foods. In the scientific literature this is known as ‘cross-reactivity.’ This occurred because the underlying problem- often a leaky gut- was not fully healed by simply switching to a ‘gluten-free’ diet.

I also noticed this pattern in my Celiac patients. Their symptoms greatly improved on a gluten-free diet, but they still didn’t feel fully well or healthy until they started eating more whole foods and less processed food. Again, years and years of irritation and inflammation in the gut could not be fixed simply by going gluten-free. All grains needed to be eliminated and more nutrient-dense foods like vegetables and bone broth needed to be added.

If a product has to be labeled ‘gluten-free,’ its probably not healthy for you. If health is truly your goal, you would be better off investing in naturally gluten-free foods like animal products, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Could your symptoms be caused by leaky gut syndrome?

May 27, 2014 by drchrista 1 Comment

Leaky what?

Leaky gut. Also known in the scientific literature as increased intestinal permeability, this syndrome is more common then most people think and has been the subject of many recent scientific studies. As our knowledge of this syndrome grows, more and more people are hearing of this condition.

Leaky gut can manifest in a variety of ways, which can make it tricky to diagnosis. Irritable bowel syndrome, SIBO, food intolerances, Candida infections, depression, memory loss and even autoimmune disease, may all start with a leaky gut.

The GI tract, including the intestine, is the primary place where your inside environment meets the outside environment. Because the outside environment can be full of bacteria, fungi and viruses, up to 70% of our immune system actually resides in the gut as GALT (gut-associated lymphoid tissue), ready to protect us from the potential foreign invaders that have hitched a ride in our food or drink.

One primary cause of leaky gut appears to be gluten ingestion. Gluten is a protein that is found primarily in wheat and other grains like barley and rye. Gluten increases the production of a protein in the cells of the small intestine called zonulin. One thing we know zonulin does is open up the spaces between the cells of the small intestine. As these spaces open, bigger pieces of protein, fat or carbohydrate can cross through the lining of the gut. Once within the wall of the gut, the immune cells that reside there, the GALT, don’t recognize the larger pieces of food and mount an immune response. This creates an inflammatory response that can lead to a feeling of swelling or bloating around the gut. Inflammation can be non-specific, so it can also lead to feeling just plain ‘ick,’ particularly after a meal.

This kind of chronic inflammation can lead to the development of more serious health conditions. According to research by Dr. Aristo Vjadani at the University of Maryland’s Celiac Research Center, leaky gut and the resulting chronic inflammation may lead to the development of autoimmune diseases as the cells of the gut’s immune system begin to become confused and start attacking the body’s own tissues instead of the foreign invading proteins. In short, any inflammatory condition may have leaky gut either has an accompanying problem or even as the cause.

leaky gut may be linked to the development of autoimmune disease

So what to do if you think your symptoms may be caused by leaky gut?

Modify your diet. This maybe the only thing you need to do to start feeling much better! Elimination diets are a gold standard for diagnosing food allergies and intolerances and are also the best way to begin healing the gut. Start by eliminating all grains, legumes and dairy for one month. It takes about 21 days for the cells of the intestine to replace themselves, so after a month of following the elimination diet closely you’ll have a brand new gut! After the month, reintroduce one new food group every third day and observe for the return of any symptoms. Permanently eliminate any foods that cause your symptoms to return.
Get tested. There are few tests available to confirm a leaky gut. An older one is the lactose-mannitol challenge. This test is more widely available, but a positive is not necessarily specific for leaky gut. There is one commercial company with a more specific test on the market, available from Cyrex Labs. Unfortunately, this test is not as widely available as the lactose-mannitol challenge.
Find the right doctor. If you google ‘ leaky gut’ you may find official looking sites that say that it doesn’t exist. Some doctors still don’t believe it is real. However, I am sure that the hundreds of research scientists writing papers about it and getting grants to study it would beg to differ! Your best bet is to find and work with a functional medicine doctor who understand and can recognize the signs and symptoms of leaky gut syndrome, order the cooperating lab tests, and then help coach you through the appropriate dietary changes. Many of these doctors can also recommend nutritional supplements that can help your gut heal faster, especially if you have had the problem for a long time.

Hashimoto’s hypothyroid & diet

April 28, 2014 by drchrista 1 Comment

For more information about what do if you have been diagnosed with hypothyroid or if you suspect your may suffer from hypothyroidism, check out these related articles:

5 things you should know if you’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism

How you can have hypothyroid symptoms with a perfectly ‘normal’ thyroid

The Effects of Hashimoto’s and Hypothyroidism on Brain Health

7 reasons I recommend a Paleo diet to all my patients

October 28, 2013 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Diets fads certainly come and go and it would be easy to consider the Paleo diet another one such ‘fad’ diet. I often hear people argue that ‘everything is healthy in moderation’ and ‘eliminating whole groups of foods is never a good idea.’

Whereas the name ‘Paleo’ may be new, the diet is anything but a fad. I like to think of it as ‘optimum human nutrition;’ it’s the diet our bodies adapted to eating a million years ago. We like to think that cavemen lived ‘short, brutish lives,’ but if the lifestyles of modern hunter-gatherer cultures are any indication, our ancestors enjoyed vibrate health; had lean, strong bodies (this is true according to anthropological data); and enjoyed plenty of leisure time, spending the equivalent of 15-20 hours a week hunting or gathering for their basic needs.

Rhetoric aside, I started recommending a Paleo diet to my patients after seeing the research- indications of how modern foods were eroding way our health and leading to chronic disease. At first, I didn’t know it even had a name, let alone a following. It was just the best foods to eat to facilitate health. When I first read about the Paleo diet, it all ‘clicked’ together and now I had a direction to send my patients in for recipes, meal sharing ideas, and community. More specifically though, here’s my list of the top 7 reasons I recommend a Paleo diet for my patients.

It’s gluten-free, without all the junk. Before discovering Paleo, I prescribed a gluten-free diet for many of my patients. The problem was, they would eat the same foods, just gluten-free versions of them. Instead of swapping breads & pastas for more nutrient dense veggies and animal foods, they would simply fill up on gluten-free breads and pastas. Worse still, several thought that being ‘gluten-free’ made certain junk foods somehow healthier. Not only are these foods often even more heavily processed then their wheat-containing counterparts, it was missing the whole point of the gluten-free diet AND it was much more expensive for them. Paleo has been useful in teaching my patients to eat a more whole-foods diet.
It eliminates cross-reactive foods. I’ve had several patients with Celiac disease who definitely felt better after going gluten-free, but still weren’t 100%, even after years on a strict gluten-free diet. Since other grains can cause gluten cross-reactivity, these folks found that they did much better not just eliminating gluten, but all grain products.
It’s the ultimate elimination diet. When it comes to food allergies, the gold standard for testing is still an elimination diet. I hope one day we have easier & more convenient testing, but at the moment, this is not the case. One thing the food allergy testing via blood doesn’t take into account is that if your immune system is not functioning properly, you may or may not make the antibodies that will show up on the blood test. Some people are over-reactive. When I see an allergy test that has someone reacting to a lot of ‘normal’ foods like green beans or blueberries, I often suspect a leaky gut situation where the immune system is reacting to everything because the gut is not working properly as a barrier system. The Paleo diet eliminates all the common foods that would lead to a leaky gut, thereby facilitating gut healing. Since the gut lining will replace itself in 21 days (in a fairly healthy person), after a month of Paleo, we can reintroduce certain foods and usually get a pretty clear indication of which ones a person has an allergy, intolerance or sensitivity too.
It can help balance blood sugar. Some people think Paleo is the same as low carb or Atkin’s. It’s not. You can do carbs on Paleo, the key is to find the right amount for you based on your health history and activity level. That being said, because carbs on the Paleo diet come from minimally processed, whole foods sources, its much harder to eat the same amount of carb contained in the S.A.D (Standard American Diet). A S.A.D., following the USDA food pyramid guidelines of 8-11 servings of ‘whole-grains’ a day, will have upwards of 300g of carb a day. Unless you are a marathon runner, this is probably way too much carbohydrate for you, especially if you have a job that has you seated most of the day. Conversely, a typical Paleo eater will take in an average of 75-100g of carb a day without paying too much attention to it. By lowering carbohydrate levels, the need for insulin and the dramatic swings in blood sugar are reduced. This helps most people have even energy throughout the day, without the typical after lunch food coma or the need for excessive amounts of coffee and caffeine to keep you going. Lowering carbohydrate intake and getting carbohydrate from whole food, vegetable sources can also reverse insulin resistance and even Type 2 diabetes, especially when coupled with appropriate exercise.
It’s nutrient dense. We’ve all heard of people who have done crazy diets like an all Twinkie diet or all McDonald’s food diet and lost weight, but at what cost? These foods contain very little in the way of micronutrients and even if the body isn’t starving for calories, it will be starving for these missing nutrients. Since a Paleo diet focuses on eating the most nutrient dense of whole foods, many people easily meet their body’s need for micronutrients in far fewer calories then with a diet based on processed foods.
It doesn’t require a bunch of fancy or hard to find super foods. ‘Superfoods’ have become quite the fad lately and many of us seem to think that adding some acai or goji berry to our daily smoothie will forgive a multitude of nutritional ‘sins.’ Variety is key however, especially when it comes to plant foods. It is also helpful to remember that antioxidants, especially those in so called ‘super foods,’ follow a dose-response curve- too little isn’t good for you, but neither is too much. Overloading on super foods not only hurts you by luring you into a false sense of security about the quality of your diet, but also potentially hurts your wallet as you pay more for the marketing and fancy package then actual nutrition. It’s best to stick with nature’s original ‘super foods,’ grass fed butter or ghee and organ meats from grass fed animals.
It’s easier to stick to then a starvation diet. I encourage my patients to eat!!! If it’s a whole food, eat as much as you want. You have to feed your metabolism, both for healing and for fat loss. The main reason typical ‘diets’ (such as calorie-restricted, starvation type diets) fail is that the body’s response to calorie-restriction is to slow metabolism down, ensuring that while you may lose weight temporarily, this effect won’t last. Aside from yo-yoing numbers on the scale, this is not the way to build true health. By feeding the body nutrient dense, whole foods, not only does it keep metabolism humming along, but it gives you freedom- freedom from counting calories, obsessing over food grams and the like.

In the end, I have yet to have a patient who gave it an honest go tell me, “Doc, this Paleo diet thing sucks. I’m quitting.” More often then not, my patients tell me “I feel fantastic! I wish I would have listened to you before and started this Paleo gig sooner!” Which I guess could be reason #8 why I recommend a Paleo diet to my patients- it works!

If you’re local to the Hudson Valley and already a Paleo enthusiast, I’ve started a Paleo Meet-up group just for you! Come join us over here!

5 things you should know if you’ve been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism

July 19, 2013 by drchrista 1 Comment

In the U.S., the most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid. It is estimated that this autoimmune disorder is the cause of 80-90% of hypothyroid cases. This means that in most cases of hypothyroidism, the health of the immune systems must be addressed in addition to the function of the thyroid gland itself!! If you are only taking thyroid medication, you’re missing the actual problem.
You can have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism and still have blood work that comes back as ‘normal.’ The lab ranges for ‘normal’ TSH are based on a statistical average and do not represent what is an optimal range for health and feeling good. It is quite common for people to have all the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and yet, be told it can’t be that because their lab work is ‘normal.’ If this is your case, you should seek out a functional medicine doctor who can help you understand what is really going on with your thyroid gland.
You can have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism without anything being wrong with your thyroid gland itself. The thyroid gland doesn’t function in isolation. To begin with, it is controlled by the brain. The gland itself only makes thyroid hormone, which then has to travel to every cell in the body, enter that cell, and then travel into the nucleus of the cell where it has its effect. Just like a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, if there is a problem anywhere along the line, the whole process breaks down and results in the same symptoms. If you have hypothyroidism, you need to have a full thyroid panel done periodically, including TSH, T4, T3, T3 uptake and TPO antibodies at the very least.
Diet can be an important part of managing your symptoms. Especially if you do have Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid, adoption of a gluten-free diet can have a big impact. Eating gluten actually causes more antibodies to be made to the thyroid tissue, causing more destruction of the gland over time. This can be a common reason why you have to keep upping the dosage of your thyroid medication. Eliminating gluten and adopting an anti-inflammatory diet can go a long way toward helping you keep your thyroid gland intact as well as managing your hypothyroid symptoms.
You can do more to take charge of your hypothyroidism other than just take another pill. While ditching the medication altogether may not be in the cards for you, by managing your immune system through proper diet and lifestyle changes, you can control your symptoms and slow the development of the disease. Using a more holistic strategy may also help prevent the future development of other autoimmune diseases.

Is Gluten-free right for me? (Part 1)

May 14, 2012 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Gluten-free diets are becoming quite popular these days, causing a debate to rage on about who should be on one and why. On one end of the spectrum are those who argue that eating grains is evolutionarily novel in human history and that for the most part our intestines have had insufficient time to adapt to eating them. Therefore, to be healthy, grains and more specifically, gluten, should be removed from the diet. On the other end of the spectrum are those who have suggested that by leading to nutrient deficiencies, they are downright dangerous unless you are a diagnosed with Celiac disease. So in the interest of cutting though conflicting opinions and getting down to answers that can be supported by scientific literature, here as some conditions when a gluten-free diet may be appropriate and why.

Diagnosed cases of Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. These are a somewhat of a no-brainer. If you’ve had testing done that confirms your body makes antibodies to gluten, DO NOT eat gluten. In these cases, your body is reacting to gluten at an immunological level. You may or may not have symptoms right away and depending on what tissues these antibodies react with, your symptoms may or not be tolerable. If you get any negative side-effects from eating gluten, you are in all likelihood destroying tissue through this immunologic reaction. The only way to stop that reaction and preserve the tissue is to not eat gluten, in any amount.
Diagnosed cases of Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis. A little known fact, but in the U.S., nearly 90% of hypothyroidism cases are caused by Hashimoto’s. In this case, the body makes antibodies to its own thyroid gland, causing the destruction of thyroid tissue and decreased function of this important gland. Prescription thyroid hormone replaces what is lost in terms of thyroid hormone itself, which is necessary to stimulate metabolism in cells, but it doesn’t prevent or stop the immunologic attack on the thyroid tissue from the body’s own immune system. Enough evidence links gluten ingestion to these attacks that patients with Hashimoto’s should go gluten-free in addition to continuing their prescription. If you are currently taking replacement thyroid hormone, but don’t know if you have Hashimoto’s or not, talk to your doctor about a simple blood test that can determine if you do.
Diagnosed cases of autoimmune disease. New research coming out of the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Disease Research indicates that three things may be necessary for an autoimmune disease to develop- a gene for the disease, a genetic trigger and a leaky gut. The number one cause of a leaky gut is gluten. Gluten up-regulates the production of a protein called zonulin. Zonulin dissolves the tight junctions between the cells of the intestine, allowing intestinal contents to ‘leak’ through the intestine into the body. The problem with this is that many of these things, like toxins made by bacteria in the gut, don’t belong in our systems or they need to be digested first, like chunks of proteins the need broken down into amino acids first. Since they don’t belong, the immune system in our gut attacks them and tries to keep them out. Unfortunately, this chronic, low-grade inflammation leads to a lot of other problems in the body. One thing that can happen is that the immune cells get their wires crossed and start attacking the body’s own tissue instead of the foreign invader. This is the definition of an autoimmune disease. Many people with autoimmune diseases from MS to RA to Type I diabetes, find they have a lot better control over their symptoms when they adopt a gluten and grain free diet.

Proper testing is of course, key. Stay tuned for the next installment, where I’ll discuss proper testing to determine if a gluten-free diet is right for you.