Anyone Got Sick From Canola Oil?

[trents]

A gluten allergy would be scientifically defined since allergic reactions engage the immune system in specific ways. Intolerances are typically conditions that cause lower GI distress, as in lactose intolerance. Gluten sensitivity falls short of celiac disease but is usually viewed as creating some sort of toxic reaction that has a more systemic effect and can manifest itself in various ways such as brain fog and neurological problems. It does not damage the mucosa of the small bowel like celiac disease does. This is my understanding of the differences between these gluten-related medical conditions. The problem isn't so much differentiating them medically and scientifically but rather the confusion of the terms in the populace as driven by the indiscriminate use of these terms by marketing and pop science, which tends to lump all of them under the heading of "gluten intolerance" or "gluten allergy." Gluten sensitivity may be a precursor to celiac disease.

"Leaky gut" is the result of the damage done to the SB mucosa and is the chief defining characteristic of celiac disease. Dermatitis Herpetiformis is also considered to be a certain indicator of celiac disease. So if you have leaky gut I would certainly be tested for celiac disease since celiac disease does in fact have a genetic basis. We know the genes responsible. But it takes both the genes and a triggering event such as a viral infection to wake up the genes and produce an active condition of celiac disease. Otherwise, it remains in a latent form. Many people with the genes do not experience a triggering event and therefore the genes are not expressed in active celiac disease. Once you develop active celiac disease it does not go away. You will always need to avoid gluten entirely. Celiac disease is classified as an autoimmune disease since the ingestion of gluten by people whose celiac genes have been activated by a stressor (such as a viral infection) causes inflammation in the small bowel mucosa that damages the villi. In other words, the body is attacking itself. This in turn causes leaky gut and poor absorption of nutrients. Poor absorption of nutrients in turn causes a host of other medical conditions over the course of time. The turning on of the genes to wake up the latent celiac disease can happen at any time in life. Many with active celiac disease do not experience dramatic GI symptoms, at least at first. We call them "silent celiacs." Various medical conditions down the road typically develop, however.

The first stage of diagnosis of celiac disease is to get a serum celiac antibody panel done. The damage to the small bowel produces some characteristic antibodies. If the serum antibody panel is positive for celiac disease, especially if the results are not strongly indicative, the physician may order an endoscopy and biopsy of the small bowel to check for microscopic villi damage. Sometimes the damage is so severe the doc doing the scoping can see it even before sending the biopsy to the lab for analysis.

I would suggest you look into this. By the way, the inability to absorb fats is very common in celiac disease because of the damage to the SB mucosa and so people with celiac disease often see oily/fatty residue in their stools until the gluten free diet allows their villi to heal. That may take a year or more. I mention that in connection with your OP about canola oil.

Edited January 25, 2021 by trents

[raspberryfirecracker]

9 hours ago, Hoody123 said:

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This is not the same as being a diagnostician; knowing a disease exists doesn't make anyone a medical doctor trained to diagnose diseases.

9 hours ago, Hoody123 said:

I was diagnosed with IBS and leaky gut in college when I first developed these reactions. I was not born with them. Therefor I do not have a genetic disease

This isn't an accurate understanding of celiac disease, Hoody. You are born with the genes, but genetic diseases can either be active from birth, get triggered in adolescence, or get triggered in adulthood. People who have genes for Huntington's for example, will start developing nerve damage in their 30s and 40s. 

9 hours ago, Hoody123 said:

I believe celiac to be . . . (one of the strongest on the scale). I do not know if my understanding is correct

It's not correct. Celiac disease is not "the strongest" response to gluten on a scale of symptom severity. Someone who has a severe allergy to wheat gluten might go into anaphylaxis and die from exposure to a breadcrumb, and someone who has celiac could get a rash, mild bloating, and a headache and have no idea it's because of what they ate.

It's genetic in that, you inherit genes which come with these instructions to the immune system: If you find the presence of gluten, produce antibodies. Those antibodies are what do the damage, to our own tissues. Celiac is an autoimmune disease, and is one of the "great imitators." Stress makes any autoimmune disease worse, and easing stress makes any disease easier to live with, but it doesn't stop the underlying illness.

Your descriptions sound exactly like so many people here before we accepted we might have more than "an intolerance" which we could control by just living better. I count myself in that group. What you wrote is frightening, because we know that kind of denial, and we know how bad the disease sometimes has to get before people in denial are forced to acknowledge it. The truth is celiac disease is a silent killer. The truth is anyone with gluten intolerance should be evaluated by a doctor who can test for the antibodies, genes, and a biopsy if necessary (they're starting to diagnose without the biopsy if other tests are overwhelmingly positive) because it will get worse. Undiagnosed people just get diagnosed with other, seemingly unrelated diseases that never needed to occur if they'd have stopped ingesting gluten sooner. There is no easier time to live gluten free than right now. I wish you the best.

[raspberryfirecracker]

(And what trent said--sorry I didn't see there was a page two until I'd already replied!)