Celiac.com 09/12/2020 - In order to understand how inflammation impacts those of us with celiac disease, we must first understand what role it plays in the body’s defense system. In many cases, inflammation is a good thing. It’s a non-specific, protective response by the immune system against infectious agents, toxic irritants, abrasions, tissue injury, and even extreme temperatures. It’s our natural and desirable attempt to protect, repair, and maintain healthy tissue — both inside and outside the body. 

I’m sure you’ve experienced a nasty burn or cut on your finger and have watched the body’s response to the injury. Within seconds various internal “first responders” are called upon and the characteristic signs of inflammation quickly appear — redness, pain, heat, and swelling. Depending on the severity of the injury and where it occurs, inflammation can also cause a loss of function. Because inflammation is a general and non-specific protective mechanism, the response is similar whether the damage is caused by invading cooties or a misdirected hammer. These symptoms are part of the healing process and under normal conditions are indications that the immune system is doing its job. 

When is inflammation a bad thing?

When the response is misdirected, never shuts off, targets healthy tissue, or results in chronic and ongoing inflammation. Rather than playing a protective role, an overly active immune response can result in tissue injury and disease. Celiac is a genetically predisposed autoimmune disease triggered by the ingestion of gluten and is an example of how immune-mediated inflammation can cause damage, in this case to the small intestine. Left untreated, it can cause nutrient malabsorption, systemic inflammation, and a cascade of associated autoimmune conditions. We don’t want that. 

So, what can be done to put the fire out and enhance overall health? Make anti-inflammatory foods part of a sound nutrition plan and whether you have celiac disease or not, you and your family will benefit.

Here are 10 anti-inflammatory tips to get you started:

1. Eliminate or minimize processed and “junk” foods and avoid products that contain trans-fats, partially hydrogenated fats, or high-fructose corn syrup.
2. Choose healthy fats such as extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, walnuts, pecans, almond butter, and flax seeds.  
3. Skip the soda pop. Have water or green tea instead. If you choose to drink alcohol, an occasional glass of red wine has been shown to be beneficial to overall health. 
4. Choose a wide variety of fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables—organic if possible and strive for 9 servings per day, 5 servings of vegetables and 3 to 4 servings of fruit.
5. Eat healthy non-gluten grains like teff, quinoa, amaranth, and brown rice. Add legumes (beans, peas, lentils) to your diet, as they are a rich source of high-quality plant protein. 
6. Choose nuts, seeds, raisins, and dates for snacks or an occasional small serving of dark chocolate when you need a “sweet fix.” 
7. Season foods with health-enhancing herbs and spices like garlic, capsicum (chili), turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and cilantro.  
8. Eat cold-water fish such as wild salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, or anchovies. These choices are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce inflammation. 
9. Grass-fed bison, lean meats, skinless chicken, and eggs are good protein choices. 
10. Think positive, reduce stress, get adequate sleep, and exercise regularly. I know, easier said than done, but well worth it in the long run! 

Celiac.com 09/03/2020 - Reading Ron Hogan’s article on ‘A Changing Paradigm’ touched my heart and fueled once again, my frustration with the state of our Health Care System. It’s not that the doctors in Ron’s article didn’t think of celiac disease that makes it so distressing; it’s the arrogant disdain for what might have been a rational, logical, scientific cause of unnecessary suffering, the rigidity about turf that is frustrating. Where is the Community when needed?

Learning to care for each other as a Community where the welfare of each individual is a priority for everyone is one of the hallmarks of an advanced society. One can argue whether our current society is an advanced society. We certainly have the hallmarks of being ‘advanced’. We spend more in the US on health care than any other country in the world. And yet, according to Barbara Starfield, MD, PhD., of Johns Hopkins, in an article entitled “Is US Health Care Really The Best in The World?” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “of 13 countries in a recent comparison, the US ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom) for 16 available health indicators.” Countries in order of their average ranking on the health indicators (with the first being the best) are: Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain , Finland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, The United States, and Germany.

US estimates of the combined effect of errors and iatrogenic damage not associated with recognizable error include:

• 12,000 deaths/year from unnecessary surgery
• 7,000 deaths/year from medication errors in hospitals
• 20,000 deaths/year from other errors in hospitals
• 80,000 deaths/year from nosocomial (in hospital) infections
• 106,000 deaths/year from non-error adverse effects of medications

“These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. Three caveats should be noted. First most of the data are derived from studies on hospitalized patients. Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include adverse effects that are associated with disability or discomfort. Third, the estimates for deaths due to error are lower than in the World Health Report.” (1)

And Dr. Joe Mercola, summarized this data with the caption “Doctors are the Third Leading Cause of Death in This Country Behind Heart Disease and Cancer”. (2)

So I believe most would agree with me that we could have long and possibly heated discussions about how ‘Advanced’ a society we have if we use Health Care results as a marker of being ‘Advanced’.

But one group that demonstrates being an “Advanced Society” is active, elder widows. These gals call each other regularly, check in and make sure that all are OK. Movie outings, rides to the Dr.’s office and church socials.  They recognize the value of caring for each other and allowing themselves to be cared for. It’s community. Life expectancies increase, and perhaps more importantly, quality of life increases. We all know the more activity one has, the more the elderly “get out”, the better they feel about themselves and those around them.

So here’s a Case History for you. “The Gals” came to pick up Nellie, an 80-year old widow and member of the Tuesday-night-Bingo group. They beeped the horn-she didn’t come out. They rang the doorbell-no answer. They saw that her car was in the garage so they called the police. When the police arrived and did a forced entry, they found Nellie incoherent and slurring her words (sounds like a stroke to me). An ambulance rushed her to the ER. Standard protocols were begun to minimize the damage from the apparent stoke.

By the time I traveled the 6 hours to get to her and reached the hospital, I found my Mother admitted, in a hospital bed, slurring her words and not recognizing me. She was hallucinating-seeing people walking in the walls, and a burning bush. THIS DID NOT LOOK GOOD.

The Dr. comes in and explains to me that there is no evidence of any brain damage. As a matter of fact there is no evidence of a stroke. MRI’s and CT’s negative for any evidence of a problem, or that she had had a stroke. As a matter of fact, he tells me that my Mother has Toxic Metabolic Encephalopathy (a good Scrabble term that means toxicity causing the brain to not function properly) and that her brain “has just gone”. We’ll have to commit her to an assisted living facility, she’ll never be the same, and we just want to make her comfortable for her remaining time. As a matter of fact, his Mother is going through the same thing and “we just have to make them comfortable”.

Well obviously I was in shock, seeing my Mother in that bed, helpless and dysfunctional.  Tears came into my eyes.

WAIT A MINUTE. My Mother was fine two days ago when she called me. Upset and as vocal as any good Italian widow would be that her son had not called in a few days (Mea Culpa), and now you’re telling me she is doomed to a non-functional hallucinatory state for the short time she has left.  And there’s no evidence of damage anywhere that would cause this? I don’t think so.  Am I a Functional Medicine Practitioner or not!

We checked my Mother out of the hospital, put her in a car and drove her to Chicago. Finally, I was able to run the tests on her that I’ve wanted to run for years (“Mom, I need to do a blood test on you to check you for allergies”. Oh Tom, I don’t have allergies. If I did Dr. X would have told me and checked it. He’s such a nice Dr…..”). Many of you have heard this type of story from your loved ones.  After all, their “good Dr. X “is such a nice man, he would certainly have tested me if it was necessary.” You would think Marcus Welby is still with us!

Well now I could run my tests. Not only was she malnourished and dehydrated, her Gliadin and Transglutaminase antibodies were elevated (hallmarks of gluten allergies initiating an auto-immune reaction). And she was positive for the HLA-DQ2 gene (genetic marker of celiac disease). 

My Diagnosis? Toxic Metabolic Encephalopathy secondary to Malnourishment, Dehydration and Anemia complicated by Gluten Intolerance and likely celiac disease. 

My Recommendation? A Modified Mediterranean Diet, 5 meals per day (eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar and caffeine) with a ‘Medical Food’ protein drink mid-morning and mid-afternoon, a few brain nutrients, 3 grams of Omega 3’s, and 5 glasses of filtered water per day. Nothing too sophisticated. Not rocket-science technology here. Just the basics to start with.

My Prognosis? Let’s pray it helps.

Her results?  Full Cognitive Recovery in 3 weeks! Weakened from the entire ordeal (any 30 year old would be, let alone an 80 year old). Within 8 weeks she went back to her “good Dr. X” and received his “startled” OK to drive again.

How many years had her gluten sensitivity been taxing her brain with no gut symptoms producing such a vulnerable state just waiting for the straw that broke the camel’s back? How many hundreds of thousands of neurons, axons, cerebellar fibers, have been destroyed by the continual onslaught of a food allergen that demanded an immune system response (inflammation and eventual tissue destruction)? How many years of borderline malnourishment? How much suffering? 

How many people have to die unnecessarily? How many seniors receive a doom diagnosis unnecessarily? When will we start “looking with eyes that see” and “listening with ears that hear?” When will our doctors think “gluten” as a possibility to be checked when signs and symptoms don’t add up? (3) Why do we have such a poor-performing Health Care System?

No one has ever looked at this in totality. But Dr. Starfield summarizes it well when she said 

“The perception is that the American public ‘behaves badly’ by smoking, drinking, and perpetrating violence. The data shows otherwise…although tobacco use and alcohol use in excess are clearly harmful to health, they do not account for the relatively poor position of the United States on these health indicators...common explanations for this poor performance fail to implicate the health system”

Sometimes the most “advanced overview” does not require rocket-science technology. As my mentor, Dr. George Goodheart would say ”the body is simply intricate and intricately simple”

As you read the informative articles in this publication, if you suspect you or your loved ones of having a sensitivity, by spending the dollars testing them (whether insurance approves or not) you may prevent a diagnosis of “We’ll have to commit her to an assisted living facility, she’ll never be the same, and we just want to make her comfortable for her remaining time.”

1. Starfield, Barbara, Is US Health Care Really the Best in the World, JAMA July 26,2000, Vol.284,483-485.
2. Mercola, J. Townsend Letter For Doctors & Patients, October 2000.
3. Lurie, Y Celiac Disease Diagnosed in Elderly, J Clin Gastroenterol  Vol. 42, No. 1,  Jan. 2008

Celiac.com 08/28/2020 - Have you checked your grocery bill lately?  Chances are you are experiencing sticker shock.  Food, like everything else, is costing more.  

Have you been inundated with articles and news snippets about eating healthier and the need to get more fiber in your diet?

So now you are trying to save on your grocery bill… and eat healthier… AND adhere to a gluten-free diet.  Like all problems in life, this one is not insurmountable.  There are always viable, wise choices.  With a little pre-planning, you can cut that grocery bill and eat healthier and stick to your diet.  

First, make a weekly menu plan.  It will reduce trips to the grocery store (saving both time and petro) and help reduce impulse spending.  As you make your menus, check out the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to see what foods you can use that you already have on hand (cutting food cost for the week).  Planning menus ahead gives you time to incorporate healthier foods.

Once you have a list of foods you already have on hand, scour the grocery store ads in your local newspaper and build your meals around the weekly specials.  Then take a look at your calendar.  Plan to make the longer-cooking items (roasts for example) on the days you will be home all afternoon and think of quicker meals on the days you walk in the door at 5:30 p.m.  

Figure out a novel way to use up leftovers for dinner one night a week.  If you have 8 meatballs, 6 chicken wings, a partial bowl of leftover peas (or green beans, or asparagus, or most any vegetable), and some rice left over, you can serve this ‘as is’ like a picnic, or you can spread the rice in a casserole, sprinkle the peas over the rice, lay the chicken wings and meatballs on top, then stir together 1 tablespoon of Just Like Lipton Onion Soup Mix with a can of Progresso Creamy Mushroom Soup and spoon in over the top – bake, and voila!  You have a ‘new’ dinner from leftovers.  Planning leftovers once a week will save money, but it will also save you the hassle of cooking from scratch one night.

Below are meal suggestions that are both lower in cost and higher in nutrition.

Healthier Lower Cost Breakfasts

Gluten-free breads are pricey, so ration their use.  Save them for packing lunches and find other alternatives for breakfast.  Make a breakfast burrito with a corn tortilla, scrambled egg, grated cheddar cheese and a little salsa (adding bacon, ham or sausage adds to the cost and to the fat content).  Fold cut-up fresh or juice-packed fruit into plain yogurt (this is healthier and less expensive than pre-packaged fruit yogurt).  Make a smoothie with frozen or fresh strawberries (which are less expensive than raspberries or blueberries), milk, yogurt, and a dash of vanilla.  For kids, spread a banana with peanut butter and serve with a muffin.  Chi Chi’s makes a Sweet Corn Cake Mix (cornbread or corn muffins) that is gluten-free, cost-effective and sold in regular grocery stores.  (While Chi Chi’s Restaurants are out of business, their food line is still being produced.)  When making homemade muffins, add the following to your batter:  2 tablespoons ground light flaxseed meal dissolved in 2 tablespoons water and shredded “something” for fiber and nutrition (shredded carrots, apples, pears or zucchini, chopped walnuts, unsweetened coconut, or chopped dried fruit).  If you opt to make homemade pancakes, add something for nutrition (flaxseed meal, shredded fruits, mashed bananas) and top with fruit topping or all-fruit jelly instead of sugar-rich maple syrup.

Healthier Lower Cost Lunches

Low fat, low sodium turkey breast costs far more at the deli than it does to roast turkey tenderloin at home and slice it thin for sandwiches.  It only takes an hour to bake or 25 minutes to grill – the time spent cooking it is worth it.  You will be eating a healthier sandwich at about half the cost.   Tuna salad sandwiches are popular; chop in plenty of green pepper, onion, celery, and carrots, use just enough mayonnaise to hold the mixture together, then top with lettuce and sliced tomatoes for a healthier version of an old stand-by.  If you cook a beef roast, pork roast, or meatloaf the night before for dinner, reserve a few slices for tomorrow’s lunch.  Kids love pizza – Make their pizza on a corn tortilla with chopped veggies on top instead of sausage or pepperoni, and use half the cheese to cut back on fat and cost.  Season a small can of tomato sauce for the pizza instead of using pricier, higher sodium, prepared pizza and spaghetti sauces.  Think salads… Put some lettuce in a plastic container and top with last night’s vegetables, sliced meat, and a few strips of cheese.  Again, you will be recycling what you already have on hand.  A little steamed quinoa goes a long way when making a healthy tabouleh salad.  Boil a small amount of gluten-free elbow pasta then slice in lots of fresh veggies (carrots, green onions, broccoli, beans, celery, cauliflower, peas) and you have a healthy pasta salad.  Tacos can be as healthy or unhealthy as you choose to make them.  A half pound of lean ground meat can easily make 4 corn tacos so it stretches your grocery dollar and lowers your fat consumption.  Top the meat with a little bit of grated cheese and a lot of shredded lettuce and chopped tomato or low sodium salsa.  Skip the sour cream – it costs money to buy, adds fat calories, and a taco can still taste great without it.  One cup of gluten-free flour mixture will go a long way when you add chopped green onion, minced green pepper and shredded cheddar cheese to make waffles to use as a base for sloppy joes instead of expensive gluten-free buns.

Healthy Lower Cost Dinners

Remember that beef roast you made for dinner last night and those leftover vegetables?  Chop them up; thicken some gluten-free beef broth with a little cornstarch, then make a pie crust for a beef pot pie.   Or shred the remains of the roast, add a little barbeque sauce and spoon over the cheese waffles mentioned above.  If a typical serving of meat in your household is 6-8 ounces, reduce that to 5 ounces.  Eating less meat is healthier and will save on the grocery bill.  You can stretch meat by adding lots of fresh veggies to stews, soups, stir-fries and casseroles.  The white meat of a chicken is healthier for you than the dark meat, so stock up on chicken breasts when they are on sale.  Don’t pay extra for skinless breasts; remove the skin yourself and save a few cents.  Other meals that are both cost-effective and healthy include shepherd’s stew, baked chicken with vegetables, meatloaf (filled with shredded veggies), soups and stews, veggie chow mein served over rice noodles, tuna quesadillas or tuna rice casserole, and canned salmon casserole (fresh salmon can be quite costly).  Make a large pot of chili, and then freeze the leftovers to use over hot dogs or hamburgers, on top of spaghetti or rice, over corn pancakes, to stuff a baked potato, or to use in tacos or taco salad.  

Healthy Lower Cost Side Dishes

Brown rice is far healthier for you than processed pasta and costs less per serving than gluten-free pasta, so use the pastas sparingly.  One night, make red beans and rice; the next night add salsa to make Mexican rice.  Potatoes and beans are two of the least expensive items at a grocery store and both are tasty and filling and healthy.  Add an extra can of beans to a pot of chili to make it stretch further and add extra fiber.  Add beans to salads, casseroles, and rice dishes.  Instead of serving baked beans which are high in sugar, bake your own Creole beans.  Potatoes are good for you – it’s what we add to the potatoes that can be the problem.  Roasting potatoes that have been sprinkled with dill, salt, pepper and a little olive oil costs far less and is more nutritious than topping potato slices with heavy cream and cheddar cheese and baking.  If you roasted too many potatoes and have some left over, recreate them into a potato salad for tomorrow’s side dish or mash them with a little milk, butter and parmesan cheese to make mashed potatoes.  If you have mashed potatoes left over, stir in some shredded zucchini, carrots, green pepper and green onions to make latkes.  Cabbage is usually a bargain, so stuff it, boil it, add it to salads, stews, soups, and shred it for cole slaw.  In the fall, zucchini is a good buy, so that’s the time to make a zucchini tomato casserole, zucchini bread, ratatouille, and grilled zucchini slices.  If your family loves French fries, serve them healthier fries -- Make them from sweet potatoes and bake them instead of deep frying.

Healthy Lower Cost Desserts

One box of tapioca can provide dessert for multiple evenings when you make homemade tapioca pudding.  The homemade version is healthier and less expensive than pre-packaged mixes.  Baked custard is another inexpensive and healthy dessert if you cut back on the sugar just a bit.  Less expensive yet is homemade rice pudding; make it with brown rice and 2% milk for added health benefits.  In the fall, round up the family to go apple picking (apples cost must less this way).  Make baked apples for dessert one night.  Slice a few to make Dutch apple pie – instead of using a fattening pie crust, opt for a deep dish pie with the healthier pure oats granola-type topping.  If you picked too many apples and they are starting to go soft, chop them up and make a pot of homemade applesauce.  Layer frozen yogurt, cut-up fruit, and crushed gluten-free cinnamon-flavored cereal in parfait glasses.  Use up those slices of gluten-free bread that crumbled or dried out by making bread pudding; add diced peaches or apples to the pudding when they are in season.  Puree juices or fruits you have left in the refrigerator and make homemade popsicles.  Make a sweet potato pudding (it tastes very much like pumpkin pudding).  

The healthy choices are endless.  The budget choices are out there but you have to shop for fresh products that are in season and watch the paper for sales.  Online, there are many sites that offer money-off coupons.  Eating can still be fun, safe, healthy and cost-effective with just a little bit of planning.

Gluten-Free Baked Stuffed Zucchini

This recipe is from the “Wheat-free Gluten-free Reduced Calorie Cookbook” by Connie Sarros.  The stuffed zucchini may be assembled ahead of time and frozen without the cheese topping.  Thaw before baking.

Ingredients:

• 4 small zucchini
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 onions minced
• ½ pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon mint
• ¼ cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon milk
• Paprika

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out the pulp, leaving the shell intact.  Chop the pulp.  Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet.  Add the onion and ground beef; sauté, breaking up the meat with a fork.  When the meat is browned, drain off any fat.  Stir in the zucchini pulp, parsley, salt and pepper, mint, and spaghetti sauce; simmer for 5 minutes.  Spoon the filling into the shells and place the shells in a baking dish.  Bake 35 minutes or until shells are soft but still hold their form.  Preheat broiler.  Mix the eggs, cheese, milk and a dash of salt and pepper; spread on top of the stuffed zucchini.  Sprinkle each with paprika.  Place under the broiler for 3 minutes to brown.  Serves 8 as a side dish; serves 4 as a main entrée.

Celiac.com 08/22/2020 - You may have read about "No-Knead Bread" in Mark Bittman's column in the New York Times a couple of years ago or you may have seen more recent discussions in Cook's Illustrated magazine. Originally designed for traditional gluten breads, I discovered that this technique is extremely well-suited to gluten-free bread-baking.

Inspired by well-known baker Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan, the technique involves mixing a fairly wet dough, storing it in the refrigerator so it is ready to bake anytime in the next few days, and then baking as much (or as little) as you want, when you want. The reward is that you only mix once, yet enjoy fresh-baked bread throughout the week with minimal fuss. Instead of days-old bread or frozen gluten-free bread that has to be rejuvenated in the microwave oven, you enjoy it hot from the oven. 

As it turns out, this technique is perfect for gluten-free bread. Just like our gluten-free dough, the dough is fairly wet and not kneaded. After some experimenting, I devised my own version and we made room for it in my latest cookbook, 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes because my editors and I thought it was important to include this cutting-edge approach. We named it "Breakthrough Ready-to-Bake Bread." 

The beauty of this approach is that it is so adaptable to a number of uses. If you live alone or cook for two, you could bake a single roll in a custard cup or a mini-loaf in a small loaf pan. For entertaining larger groups such as dinner parties or holiday gatherings, mix the dough early in the week and it's ready to bake two big French bread loaves by the weekend, saving you precious time on party day. 

You may have some questions about this approach. If you're worried about the safety of dough that sits in the refrigerator for several days, don't be. I use flaxmeal instead of eggs for binding, and the vinegar provides an acidic environment. Most of us are accustomed to baking dough right after mixing it, so you may wonder what the baked bread looks like. The answer is that it looks remarkably like real bread; the air holes are a bit larger and somewhat uneven which is more appealing than the typical dense, cake-like texture of most gluten-free yeast breads.  

The following recipe gives you exact instructions on how much dough to use for French breads, baguettes, and mini-loaves.

Breakthrough Ready-to-Bake Bread Recipe

Reprinted with permission from 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster (Wiley, 2008)

Makes two French bread loaves (10 one-inch slices per loaf); three French baguettes (7 one-inch slices per loaf); or four 5x3-inch loaves (5 one-inch slices per loaf)

This ready-to-bake bread dough was inspired by New York baker Jim Lahey's "no-knead" technique. Mark Bittman wrote about Lahey's technique in the New York Times and it was also featured in Cook's Illustrated magazine. The dough in my gluten-free version keeps up to 5 days in your refrigerator. When you're to bake, remove enough dough for as many loaves as you wish. Shape the dough in a nonstick (gray, not black) pan, let it rise, and then bake it in a preheated oven. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm (110°F) milk (cow's milk works best)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon golden flaxmeal (stir in ½ cup boiling water, then cool to room temperature)
• 2 cups potato starch 
• 1 cup Carol's Sorghum Blend (see below)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt (1 ½ teaspoons if using canola oil)
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon guar gum
• ¼ cup unsalted butter or buttery spread by Earth Balance
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm milk. Set aside 5 minutes.
2. In bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer, beat all ingredients (except sesame seeds) on low speed just to blend ingredients. Increase speed to medium and beat 30 seconds, stirring down sides with spatula. Dough will be soft. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for up 5 days.
3. When ready to bake, line French bread pan or French baguette pan with parchment paper, or generously grease up to four mini 5x3-inch pans.
4. Using #12 metal spring-action ice cream scoop or well-greased one-third cup measuring cup, place dough in chosen pan(s) and shape with wet spatula as follows:
   4 level scoops bread dough per French bread loaf, shaped to 10-inch log(s)
   2 heaping scoops bread dough per French baguette loaf, shaped to 10-inch log(s)
   2 level scoops bread dough per 5x3-inch loaf, top of loaf smoothed flat
   Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place dough in warm place (75-80°F) to rise until level with top of pan. With sharp knife, make 3 diagonal slashes (⅛-inch deep) in loaf so steam can escape during baking.
5. Position rack in middle of oven. Set oven to 400ºF. Bake French bread 30 to 35 minutes; French baguette 25 to 30 minutes; or mini 5x3-inch loaf 20 to 25 minutes, or until nicely browned. Cover loaves with aluminum foil after 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.   
6. Remove bread from pans; cool 15 minutes on wire rack before slicing with electric knife or serrated knife. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Carol's Fenster's Sorghum Flour Blend

• 1 ½ cups sorghum flour
• 1 ½ cups potato starch (not potato flour) or cornstarch 
• 1 cup tapioca flour

Whisk together thoroughly; store in a tightly covered container in a dark, dry place or refrigerate or freeze. Bring to room temperature before measuring.

Celiac.com 08/20/2020 - I am afraid that the following article might not make me very popular—if I had any popularity remaining after my last one!  If you saw “The Paleo Template” here on these pages, you’ll recall that its ideas rest upon the theory that humans are healthiest when eating the types and classes of foods we’ve been consuming for the overwhelming majority of the roughly two and one half million years we’ve been on this earth.  It wasn’t until very, very recently, in the grand scheme, that we’ve been consuming the products of agriculture: wheat; dairy; beans; and any foods that required more than the bare minimum of processing to make them edible.  To greater or lesser degrees consuming these new foods isn’t good for us.  As paleo nutritionist Ray Audette put it in his book Neanderthin (St. Martin’s Press, 2000), historically we’ve only consumed those items we could get if we were “naked with a sharp stick”: meat; certain vegetables; low glycemic; high fiber fruits; and certain nuts:  hunter gatherer foods. Modern diseases are reactions to those foods that have only recently been added to our diets, gluten-containing foods being the most immediately obvious to this publication’s readership.

Well, here’s one modern food that may deserve the same level of scrutiny as gluten-containing grains, even given its worship by what appears to be a totality of today’s nutritionists: our beloved chocolate.  

Now wait a minute.  What kind of sadist would want to find fault with this giver of pleasure and apparent health panacea?  Well, before we go there, let’s step back a moment to the naked with a sharp stick idea.  Would chocolate, cocoa, cacao—or anything remotely similar—have been consumed by our paleo ancestors?  No.  Even in its purest commercial forms, it does require quite a deal of processing before it is edible: drying, fermenting, roasting, powdering, etc.  Raw cacao proponents would disagree with this and, even though it is a tiny, tiny fraction of the market, there are raw, unpeeled, whole beans available for purchase.  But let me get to a more important point.  Chocolate, cocoa, cacao, in any form, was apparently discovered by native South Americans around 3000 years ago and didn’t make its way into the European diet until the 16th century, with widespread usage delayed until the Industrial Age a little more than 100 years ago.  So if you’re a native of the tropical rainforests of South America, you’ve had a very short period of time for adaptation.  If you don’t fit that description, you’ve had effectively zero time to adapt to this food.

So what if it’s new?  The so what is this: new foods—gluten-containing grains included—are almost always the cause of modern disease and as such deserve a closer look because of their novelty.  Maybe chocolate’s ok to eat, maybe not.

As mentioned above, it’s not “maybe” in current nutritional culture.  Chocolate is lauded as the perfect health food.  A simple search on Medscape.com yields more than 380 studies touting its benefits: they say it reduces blood pressure, decreases risk for pregnancy-induced hypertension, improves vasodilation, reduces platelet adhesion, reduces cholesterol, improves post-exercise workout recovery, improves insulin sensitivity, protects smokers’ hearts, improves endothelial function, even helps with diarrhea.  And to top it off, it’s apparently a wonderful aphrodisiac.  Turn on your television or radio, open a newspaper or log onto an Internet site and you’re sure to see a thousand more benefits claimed.  We want this stuff to be good for us.

Before we go on, I want to take another step back, change the subject entirely again, and talk about depression.  Wikipedia defines it as “a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive low mood and loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities.”  Ron Hoggan points out in his excellent article “Food Allergies and Depression,” that this condition is a “very common symptom of celiac disease,” and by extension gluten intolerance.

Why did I suddenly change the subject to depression?  Here’s why: a new study out of Australia (Gordon Parker, Isabella Parker, Heather Brotchie, Mood state effects of chocolate, Journal of Affective Disorders 92, 2006, 149-159) shows that chocolate may actually cause and/or deepen depression.  The study shows a link between a worsening of depressive symptoms and chocolate consumption for those “emotional eaters” who are attempting to self-medicate.  As the authors put it in the conclusion of the study:

• "When taken in response to a dysphoric state as an 'emotional eating' strategy it may provide some transient ”comforting” role but it is more likely to prolong rather than abort the dysphoric mood.  It is not, as some would claim, an antidepressant."

Now we already know that celiacs and the gluten intolerant are very prone to depression.  We now know that chocolate may deepen depression.  But, since there’s not a whole lot of data out there linking mood, chocolate, and gluten intolerance, I decided to do a personal experiment.  Of course, the data is anecdotal, but I think informative and revealing.

I regularly eat a diet free of gluten, diary, legumes, and artificial fats and had been very faithful to the regimen for a few months.  For the purpose of the experiment I consumed one bar of Green & Blacks 70% Cocoa Content Dark.  

I quickly felt contentment, even mild euphoria.  I was able to concentrate for quite a long time and actually did quite a bit of research for this article.  But that evening I experienced a shallow, dream-filled sleep before awaking in a fog early the next morning.  I had some gas, bloating, and was itchy with what I’ll call proto-hives.  Within a few hours I had gained almost a pound of water weight and felt as if I had a hangover, mild depression.  And, boy, was I irritable!  I also noted mild shakes and muscular tension and some knots.

Again, one guy = anecdotal evidence.  But this doesn’t sound at all like a food that’s good for you!  As a fellow gluten intolerant, I’d like to challenge you to the same experiment.  Pick up a copy of a book I recommended in my last article, Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet (Wiley, 2002), and follow its dietary regimen for three weeks to eliminate from your system whatever non-paleo foods you might have floating around in your body.  Then try a bar of quality dark chocolate and send me an email to tell me how it made you feel.

Truth is, my reaction surprised me.  But should it have?  Chocolate is composed of foreign substances only very recently introduced into the human diet and apparently causes an immune system reaction similar to that caused by gluten.  And, like the psychoactive effects felt when one ingests gluten, the initial euphoria and increased attentiveness caused by chocolate wears off relatively quickly and, for me at least (and I suspect for quite a few of the gluten intolerant) serious after effects remain.

Maybe this isn’t the miracle food it’s purported to be.

Celiac.com 08/13/2020 - If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with celiac disease, you might be familiar with the testing complications that involve patients with IgA deficiency. Generally, many physicians who test patients for celiac disease are unaware that additional testing is required to exclude celiac in patients who are IgA deficient. It stands to reason that physicians might also be unaware of the other immunodeficiency possibilities in patients diagnosed with celiac disease.

An understanding of the evolution of celiac sprue has come to light over the past several years. The symptoms that have received the greatest emphasis are those that relate to the gastrointestinal tract: malabsorption of nutrients; bloating; diarrhea; abdominal cramping or pain; and small intestinal villous atrophy. Serology testing indicates positive antibodies to gliadin (gluten), the protein in certain grains that damage the small intestine, wheat being most prominent in the United States. As more people have been tested, widely variable results have left patients and physicians at a loss: negative serology, but positive biopsy; positive serology, but negative biopsy; negative serology and biopsy, yet patients continue to suffer. Recently, these variable test results have been thought to be the stage to which the disease has evolved in that patient, i.e., lack of villous atrophy might indicate that celiac has not yet progressed to gastrointestinal damage.

The gastrointestinal tract is the largest immune organ in the body. As such, it is reasonable to expect that immunodeficiency will impact the gut in some way. Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDDs) occur in persons born with an immune system that is either absent or hampered in its ability to function properly. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 200 primary immunodeficiency diseases. Two of the more common of these immunodeficiency diseases are IgA deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency disease (CVID). Both of these PIDDs are referred to as hypogammaglobulinemias. For the purpose of this article, I will refer to CVID as inclusive of IgA deficiency.  

Another way to look at PIDDs is to remember that they are primary antibody deficiencies. In spite of their deficiencies, each exhibit variable autoimmune manifestations. Though immunodeficiency and autoimmunity seem to be on opposite sides of the clinical immune response, they are frequently related and can coexist (1,2). Most immunodeficiency diseases are not diagnosed until the third or fourth decade of life. Patients with CVID exhibit poor specific antibody responses and multiple bacterial infections, primarily involving the sinopulmonary tract; however, they also share many of the same GI symptoms seen in celiac sprue. These sprue-like manifestations have given rise to the terms hypogammaglobulinemic sprue, CVID sprue, or IgA sprue. The autoimmune diseases most frequently seen in the hypogammaglobulinemias are autoimmune hematological disease, autoimmune diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, autoimmune endocrine diseases, and autoimmune rheumatic disease. While there is a large body of literature attesting to autoimmune diseases found in immunocompromised patients, exactly how this occurs was not elucidated (3).

CVID is characterized by a number of gastrointestinal lesions that can mimic other conditions, such as celiac sprue, pernicious anemia, and inflammatory bowel disease, but show significant differences on the microscopic level. In a review study conducted by J.A. Daniels, et al., Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD (4), 132 biopsy and clinical documents on 20 CVID patients over a 26-year period were analyzed. Biopsy and resection samples showed patterns of lymphocytic gastritis, lymphocytic colitis, ulcerative or Crohn colitis, entercolitis, inflammatory bowel disease and villous blunting. In fact, 25% of the patients had a prior diagnosis of celiac disease. Microscopically, however, nearly all of the biopsies lacked plasma cells. In conclusion, this study noted that a diagnosis of CVID might be suspected on the basis of a paucity of plasma cells in a GI biopsy, but because that feature is present in only about two-thirds of patients, other clinical and laboratory evidence is required to make a definite diagnosis.

Did a gastroenterologist or immunologist conduct that study? Many autoimmune disorders may dominate the clinical picture of PIDDs so that the underlying immunodeficiency is overlooked. The basis of treatment for PIDDs is immunoglobulin replacement for antibody deficiency syndromes (other than selective IgA deficiency) and to prevent and treat infections. Immunoglobulin replacement is also currently being used to treat many autoimmune diseases. The gastrointestinal manifestations of PIDDs are histologically similar to celiac disease; however, serology markers are typically absent, not only in IgA deficiency patients, but also in PIDD patients (5). Treatment for PIDD gastrointestinal lesions is to adhere to a strict gluten free diet, yet resolution of symptoms is not always successful; gastritis, gastroenteritis, colitis, bloating, and wasting from malnutrition are frequent in PIDD patients, despite following a gluten-free diet.

In summary, the issue of overlapping symptoms and manifestations between celiac disease and primary immunodeficiency diseases is a complicated one. According to some immunologists, PIDD patients exhibit a “sprue-like” disease of the gastrointestinal tract, but not true celiac disease, perhaps due to the lack of serology markers; other immunologists believe PIDD patients do have celiac disease. Most gastroenterologists are unaware of the relationship between autoimmune diseases and immunodefiency and, therefore, miss seeing the complete picture in some patients. There are genetic tests for both celiac disease and immunodeficiency. Is genetic testing the only way to tell for sure if it’s celiac? Or is it simply a matter of education and a closer working relationship between gastroenterologists and immunologists?

References:

1. Pavic M, Seve P, Malcus C, Sarrot-Reynault F, Peyramond D, Debourdeau P, Andriamanantena D, Bouhour D, Philippe N, Rousset H, Broussolle C. [Common variable immunodeficiency with autoimmune manifestations: study of nine cases; interest of a peripheral B-cell compartment analysis in seven patients. Rev Med Interne. 2005 Feb;26(2):95-102.
2. Tanus T, Levinson AI, Atkins PC, Zweiman B. Polyautoimmune syndrome in common variable immunodeficiency. J Intern Med. 1993 Nov;234(5):525-7.
3. Santaella ML, Cox PR, Colon M, Ramos C, Disdier OM. Rheumatologic manifestations in patients with selected primary immunodeficiencies evaluated at the University Hospital. P R Health Sci J. 2005 Sep;24(3):191-5.
4. Daniels JA, Lederman HM, Maitra A, Montgomery EA. Gastrointestinal tract pathology in patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID): a clinicopathologic study and review. Am J Surg Pathol. 2007 Dec;31 (12): 1800-12.
5. Bili H, Nizou C, Nizou JY, Coutant G, Schmoor P, Algayres JP, Daly JP. [Common variable immunodeficiency and total villous atrophy regressive after gluten-free diet] Rev Med Interne. 1997;18(9):724-6.
    

Celiac.com 08/08/2020 - It took my wife to discover it was gluten. I have been corresponding with Arthur.  He contacted me because of an article I wrote about the difficulties of making an early diagnosis of celiac disease. 

He wrote: “Your article touched a nerve, as you could see from the general round of applause and approval it received.  Bravo!  I have consulted dozens of doctors over 30 years (in the USA and France) but not one had ever suggested gluten could be the culprit for my problems.  It took my wife to do that!  Now, I wonder if more education is needed in the medical community on this problem.  I’ve been gluten-free for nearly three months now, and all my symptoms have disappeared and I feel great.”

Can humans get along without gluten?

He goes on to ask a series of questions: “I suggest that you write an article to advise us folks who go gluten-free about the following:  is gluten in any way, shape or form needed in a well-rounded diet?  What role does gluten play in nutrition, or can humans get along fine over the long term without it?  Thanks. Best wishes, Art.”

Gluten – good or bad?

Like most things, there are two sides of this story.

The good: Wheat grains (containing gluten) started as part of our human diet around 10,000 years ago.  It became a convenient and nutritious food, which is now a staple in the Western world.  Moreover, gluten has a number of properties that has made its wide scale use inevitable.   Gluten is a protein that gives a pleasing texture and flavor to bread. These grains subsequently allowed the blooming of mankind and have sustained our planet’s population explosion.  Bread has literally fed the starving.

The bad: No one knew that there was a dark side to these grains.  This has only been discovered over the last 60 years.  Ironically, during this time the consumption of gluten grains has accelerated.  Nowadays, the fast-food industry bases their meals on buns, breads and pizza – all made from gluten-rich flour.  When you add the rampant overeating with huge serving sizes (super-sizing), the present consumption of gluten-foods is overwhelming.

Because wheat-based gluten foods are relatively cheap, they have tended to crowd variety out of the diet.  The outcome is a tendency for people to eat a rather narrow range of foods. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies.

Gluten also has now been recognized to cause a lot of health problems in susceptible people. Celiac disease, the gut damage set off by gluten, affects one in a hundred people.  Of greater concern is that at least ten times that number suffers from the affects of  the gluten syndrome (also known as the gluten sensitivity).  

Who needs gluten?

Hence, the dilemma: The world still needs gluten grains to feed its human inhabitants.  But this is creating ill health in at least 10% of that population.  Since so many people are getting ill from the foods that they are eating, then surely it would be better to shift to other foods to improve the health of the population.

It turns out that gluten is not a necessary protein.  The gluten grains are convenient and in demand - but they are not biologically essential.  In fact, for perhaps a third of the population gluten is biologically undesirable (this is a controversial statement and needs a lot more research to back it up).

Are there risks of going gluten free?

It is my experience that for most families who go gluten-free that the quality of their diet actually improves.  As they no longer fill up on cheap breads, they are forced to branch out into vegetables, fruits, meats and other non-gluten grains.  This greatly enhances the variety of foods in their diet, which improves their health.  Gluten is not a necessary part of a well-rounded diet.

Is the gluten habit easy to kick?

Unfortunately, gluten has an addictive quality because five of its breakdown products have a morphine-like activity.  As you know, foods crammed with gluten such as cakes, dumplings, steamed puddings and big hunks of bread are often referred to as “comfort foods”.  For some, this comfort is derived from the morphine-like stimulation of the brain caused by these partial digests of gluten.  Consequently, when gluten is suddenly removed from the diet, some people experience a withdrawal effect.  

This is one of the reasons why a gluten-free diet is viewed by so many people as a horror story.  Indeed, withdrawal effects from gluten on the first week of a gluten-free diet are not uncommon.  Although this usually passes after a week or so, it can be difficult for children to comply during the first few days.  It is sensible to slowly go gluten free over a week or so to avoid this reaction.

To sum up: Yes! You can you live a healthy life without gluten! Absolutely!  Overall, your diet without gluten is much more healthy, wholesome, and packed with goodness.   This will be good news to people who have embarked on their gluten-free journey.

Celiac.com 08/01/2020 - Discover how fun, easy, and rewarding cookie-baking can be the gluten-free way! Read through the cookie-baking FUNdamentals to understand the secrets in making award-winning gluten-free cookies. Use these tips to bake the Lime-Sugar Cookies.

Let’s explore the eight essential cookie-baking FUNdamentals: quality ingredients, proper equipment, accurate measurements, proper techniques, accurate oven temperature, correct baking time and proper cooling and storage. Applying these basics will make a difference in the final results…your cookies can go from average to “wow.”

Quality Ingredients

The difference is in the ingredients. You can’t expect to make championship cookies using inferior ingredients. Start with a well-balanced gluten-free flour mix that contains healthy flours such as brown rice flour, navy bean flour, sorghum flour or almond meal (if not allergic); then add other quality ingredients.

Butter (especially unsalted) is the most popular of the fats used for cookies by bakers. There is no substitute for the richness and flavor of butter, but you can replace butter with stick margarine. Whipped, tub, soft, liquid or reduced-fat margarines are unacceptable for baking because they contain air and water and will produce flat, tough, under-browned cookies.

Using pure extracts (not imitation); fresh, aromatic spices, quality chocolate (the best you can afford), true white chocolate (cocoa butter is 2nd ingredient), and fresh nuts can make the difference between an average cookie and an outstanding cookie. For best results: Use the exact same ingredients every time to get consistent results. Find brands you like, and stick with them.

Proper Equipment

Proper equipment makes the whole baking process more efficient and contributes to successful results. Two important equipment items are quality cookie sheets and a free-standing oven thermometer.

The best overall cookie sheets are light-colored, dull-finished, heavy-gauge aluminum with one or two low sides. Heat circulates efficiently during the baking process and cookies bake and brown more evenly. For best results: Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time on the middle rack. If possible, have 2-3 identical cookie sheets on hand; while one is baking, another is cooling and the third one is ready to be placed in the oven. Using identical cookie sheets guarantees similar baking results every time.

A free-standing oven thermometer is essential to accurate baking. Ovens may vary as much as 50 degrees; keeping a thermometer in your oven all the time helps you to adjust the heat for proper baking. For best results: Clip an oven thermometer on the middle rack in the center of the oven and use it to judge the heat, not the dial.

Here are a few other useful items:

• A wire mesh strainer (6-inch diameter) removes lumps, aerates the flour and incorporates all the dry ingredients in a homogenous manner.
• A cookie scoop with spring-release mechanism makes uniform-size drop cookies so cookies bake evenly and at the same time.
• A heavy-duty, free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment is essential in all types of gluten-free baking.
• Parchment paper helps cookies retain their shape, bake evenly and prevent over-browning.
• Non-stick aluminum foil ensures easy removal of bars and ease of cutting.
• Stainless steel or non-stick wire cooling racks with small grids and “feet” ensures proper cooling.

Accurate Measurements

Baking requires precise measurements for successful results. Measuring ingredients accurately with the appropriate measuring tools and techniques means you’ll get consistent results every time you make a cookie recipe. Never use dry-ingredient cups to measure liquid ingredients or liquid-ingredient cups to measure dry ingredients. They can’t be used for the other without sacrificing accuracy. For best results: Use standard, stainless steel dry-ingredient measuring cups and spoons with straight rims – the latter allow you to sweep a flat edge across the top and measure ingredients accurately. Use a glass measuring cup with a spout to measure liquids. Read measure at eye level.

Measuring Techniques

The primary reason cookies don’t turn out quite right is inaccurate or inconsistent measurements, especially with the flour. Too much flour can cause dry, tough cookies and too little can cause flat, pancake-like cookies. For best results: Spoon flour into measuring cup (as opposed to dipping the cup into the ingredient) before leveling it with a straight edge, like a table knife. You’ll get a more consistent result this way. Dipping the cup or shaking the cup while spooning in flour compacts the flour too much which results in too much flour being used. This applies to all dry ingredients except brown sugar which needs to be packed.

Mixing Techniques

Mixing methods, among other factors, influence the texture (light and tender, soft and chewy, crisp or dense) of the cookie. Using an electric mixer and beating (creaming the butter and sugar) creates a light and tender cookie. Using a spoon and stirring ingredients together creates a dense and chewy cookie, such as brownies. For best results: Look for recipes that give you specific mixing directions and follow them.

Accurate Oven Temperatures

Baking cookies at the wrong temperature can cause unpredictable and undesirable results. It takes 15-20 minutes to preheat an oven to the correct temperature. Place an oven thermometer on the middle rack in the center of the oven and use it to judge the heat, not the dial. For best results: Check temperature and make adjustments before placing cookies in the oven.

Baking Times

Consider the baking time given in a recipe as a guide to start checking for doneness. All ovens bake differently. Note the baking time required in your oven and record it on the recipe for future use. For best results: Bake cookies one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Be sure cookie sheet is cool before placing dough on it or the cookies will spread excessively and brown too much on the edges.

Proper Cooling and Storage

Some gluten-free cookies need a longer time to set before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Follow the recipe’s directions. Be sure cookies are completely cool before placing them in storage containers or cookies will turn soggy. For best results: Store the same kind of cookies together (soft with soft, crisp with crisp, flavor with flavor) to prevent changes in texture and flavor. If you mix crisp cookies with soft cookies, the crisp ones will get soft and the flavors often mix.

Get ready to bake…. It’s gluten-free cookie time!

Now head for the kitchen, preheat the oven, and read the entire Lime Sugar Cookie recipe to ensure all necessary ingredients are available and if any advance procedure needs to be done. With a little effort, you’ll receive big rewards and lots of cookie kudos from family and friends. May your cookie jar always be full. Enjoy my Lime Sugar Cookies.

Gluten-Free Lime Sugar Cookies Recipe

This cookie was a celebrity among taste testers and voted as one of the best! Double the recipe for double the pleasure!

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups gluten-free flour mix
• 1 ¼ teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar (find in baking aisle)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup lime-scented sugar (see recipe below)
• ¼ teaspoon pure lime oil
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, xanthan, gum, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in bowl; stir. Set aside.
3. Beat butter, lime-scented sugar, and lime oil in large mixer bowl on medium speed until creamy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
4. Measure dough in 1 ½ tablespoon portions (cookie scoop works great); shape into balls. Place balls 3 inches apart on prepared sheet. With hand, slightly flatten dough to ½- inch thickness.
5. Bake 13 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 3 minutes on cookie sheet then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle lime-scented sugar over cookies, if desired.
6. Store in airtight container up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Makes 1 ½ dozen (3-inch) cookies

To make lime-scented sugar: Place 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar and 2-3 tablespoons freshly grated lime zest (about 3 large limes) in bowl of food processor; process until blended, about 15 seconds. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container.

Cookie Tips: Use more freshly grated lime zest for a stronger lime flavor. If lime is not a favorite flavor, try orange or lemon for an equally awesome cookie.

Similarly, we have large, vocal, and politically active groups that loudly decry the consumption of a variety of foods, from meat, to fish, to various plant families, with little or no evidence to support such interdictions. Others tout one or more food additives or consumption practices as great and wonderful substances/practices that will cure all ailments and guarantee a long and productive life. These strange recommendations range from consumption of watermelon seed extract, to acai berries, a variety of fasting procedures prescribing one or two foods during the “fasting” period, food combining, juicing, egg white omelets, wheat grass, low fat diets and even colon cleanses that involve putting coffee up your rectum. Again, there is little solid evidence to support these practices yet they appear to develop quite a following.   

I’m not suggesting that most mainstream medical professionals support these cleansing and dietary fads. However, much of the medical profession’s resistance to their own professional literature in which solid evidence indicts gluten as a cause of disease, while embracing questionable pharmaceutical solutions, is closely akin to the superstitious practices and outrageous claims that litter the Internet and the popular media. The evidence is clear and compelling. Neurological, psychiatric, and autoimmune diseases are often mitigated by gluten restriction. Yet we continue to hear about pharmacological interventions that offer less relief and little long-term hope of remission.    

The widely published pediatric allergist and gastroenterologist, Rodney Ford, has argued a compelling case for his theory that gluten induced neurological damage is where the gluten syndrome and celiac disease begin, in his recent book titled “Full of It”. It is a theory that makes sense of otherwise puzzling individual variations in the course of gluten-induced disease.   It also explains the high frequency of gluten antibodies found by M. Hadjivassiliou and his group, in patients with neurological diseases of unknown origin (57%) while only a quarter of that percentage had celiac disease.

Dohan and Grassberger, followed by Singh and Kay, clearly established a therapeutic role for a gluten-free, dairy-free diet in schizophrenia. Subsequent publication of several deeply flawed, poorly designed, and sloppily conducted studies have allowed for the common rationalization required for ignoring the solid, earlier findings mentioned above. This denial continues despite the recent publication, by Anthony De Santis and his group, of SPECT findings in a schizophrenic patient whose blood flow patterns in the brain, and behavior returned to “normal” following institution of a gluten-free diet.  

Similar work with autistic subjects, conducted by Kalle Reichelt, Paul Shattock, and a host of others, has shown that gluten-free, dairy-free diets offer real promise for symptom reduction in this very challenging sub-population. Similarly, some amazing reversals of learning disabilities, through gluten-free diets, have been reported at Nunnykirk School in the United Kingdom. Further, about two thirds of untreated celiac children show signs and symptoms of attention deficit disorders.  These children have long been reported to normalize within one year of beginning a gluten free diet (see: http://members.shaw.ca/oldsite/My_Master%27s_thesis.htm).   

Despite all of this contrary evidence, most allopathic practitioners continue to insist that gluten is a healthful food and they continue to recommend its daily consumption. They may be willing to concede gluten’s role in celiac disease and even in dermatitis herpetiformis, but they continue to ignore all of the other reported findings in association with the broad spectrum of diseases in which gluten sensitivity or celiac disease is grossly overrepresented. They continue to ignore or deny the potential value of a gluten free diet in the face of compelling evidence. Most of these same medical practitioners and investigators would be deeply offended by my suggestion that they are little different from those advocating coffee enemas or juicing. Yet their beliefs are not based on the evidence presented in their professional literature. In my dictionary, acting on irrational beliefs is called ‘superstition’. It is the superstitious resistance to solid evidence that is most frustrating when dealing with ignorance – whether the impetus is to push coffee enemas into your rectum or ingest yet another chemical compound from a prosperous pharmaceutical manufacturer despite evidence that a gluten-free diet might produce results that are more desirable to the patient.