Mineral Deficiencies/ Odd Fat Test Results

[hollyd]

I have had calcium, magnesium, chromium, iron and zinc deficiences for some time. All but the zinc have responded to supplementation though the iron is very slow to respond.

I am about to turn 50, I am a vegetarian and eat very healthfully and have been one for 20 years and never had iron problems until a couple years ago or any other deficiencies that I am aware of. The confounding thing is the zinc that won't respond to supplementation, even at the maximum levels. I have also been unusually fatigued for a couple of years which can be from the iron and zinc deficiencies combined.

Oddly, my GP tested my fat profile in terms of transfatty acids and omega 3/6's and I have the profile of a meat eater when I'm a vegetarian and am very conscious of eating healthfully! I came out too high on the bad fats when I rarely even eat anything fried and don't even eat a lot of cheese, hardly any butter, mostly cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and other good fats. (I'm also slim, just the right weight). He even called the lab to make sure they gave the right results.

My GP ran the celiac disease blood tests which came out negative and sent me to a gastroenterologist. I have little to complain of in terms of other stomach/intestinal type symptoms. She said she strongly doubts that it's celiac disease but said by age 50 if things don't resolve, I should have both upper and lower scopes done. That was 6 months ago. I have since tried 2 other forms of zinc, 3 months each to see if they were more absorbable. Each subseqent test showed slightly LOWERED zinc rather than improvement. So the GP is sending me back to the GI doc.

I wonder a few things:

1. Did anyone else have a history of mineral deficiencies?

2. I cannot find, in all my research, any other explanation for my zinc deficiency because I don't have any real GI symptoms to speak of; any ideas?

3. This GI is relatively new to the field, am I making a mistake to let her do my scopes in terms of not using enough biopsies to get a proper test, inexperience??

Thank you. I'm just finding this very frustrating and debilitating being so tired all the time and spending a fortune on supplements!!

[KaitiUSA]

Yes, I was mineral deficient pre gluten-free. It almost looked like I was malnourished even though I was taking vitamins and eating good.

That problem went away with the diet.

Which bood tests did you have done?? Some are not as good as others. The complete panel for celiac should be done because that has been pretty successful in diagnosis.

Usually if the bloodwork comes out negative they won't even want to do a biopsy. If you get a biopsy done please remember that if it comes back negative it will not rule out celiac. It just says there is no damage yet or sporadic damage that they can't find.

If you had the really good celiac blood test and a biopsy show negative then chances are slim that you have it.

Bloodtests can be enough to diagnose you though. My doctor did not want to do a biopsy when the results came back because my tests clearly indicated celiac and I had a main gene.

What you can do is get a gene test done. If you do not have a celiac gene then its 99.999% sure you will not have celiac. However, you may have a problem with gluten still just not celiac.

It definitely sounds like you have some of the symptoms. I would see what tests you had done first and then I would look into more testing.

[hollyd]

Hi Kaiti,

I had AGA IgA, AGA IgG, Endomysial Ab and T-glutaminase. The AGA IgG was slightly elevated but I understand that it's not specific for celiac disease. The others were normal or negative.

Are these the tests you are speaking of?

I have read that these blood tests are not conclusive and that you can get false negatives.

Thanks for your help:-)

Holly

P.S.

I had saved a reference to a published study that spoke of blood tests sometimes being false negative and it turns out it's a study mentioned on this site, that I looked up as well elsewhere. Here is the link from this site: https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-34105213050.a3

Yes,  I was mineral deficient pre gluten-free. It almost looked like I was malnourished even though I was taking vitamins and eating good.

That problem went away with the diet.

Which bood tests did you have done?? Some are not as good as others. The complete panel for celiac should be done because that has been pretty successful in diagnosis.

Usually if the bloodwork comes out negative they won't even want to do a biopsy. If you get a biopsy done please remember that if it comes back negative it will not rule out celiac. It just says there is no damage yet or sporadic damage that they can't find.

If you had the really good celiac blood test and a biopsy show negative then chances are slim that you have it.

Bloodtests can be enough to diagnose you though. My doctor did not want to do a biopsy when the results came back because my tests clearly indicated celiac and  I had a main gene.

What you can do is get a gene test done. If you do not have a celiac gene then its 99.999% sure you will not have celiac. However, you may have a problem with gluten still just not celiac.

It definitely sounds like you have some of the symptoms. I would see what tests you had done first and then I would look into more testing.

[hollyd]

Can anyone tell me if the blood tests I've had done (mentioned in my previous post) are the "good ones" or are there others I should have done?

Thanks!

[KaitiUSA]

Yes, they are the good ones...usually the total serum IgA is done with them though because that helps rule out if there is IgA deficiency(which can make a IgA test that should be positive come back negative)

EMA and tTG are usually good for detecting damage

IgG and IgA are supposed to detect gluten sensitivity and your bodys reaction to that.

Hope this helps a bit.

P.S-have you thought about doing an Enterolab?

Also have you had your thyroid checked. Mineral deficiencies can come with that(speaking from experience in that too )

[hollyd]

Yes, I've had my thyroid checked and it's normal.

I guess I'll cross the Enterolab bridge if they can't find any other reason for the zinc deficiency. I'm in Australia, so I'm not sure if you can do it from here.

thanks :-)

[The One]

Zinc deficiency is actually common in Celiac, as are many other deficiencies like B12. Here's a website that I found very interesting Open Original Shared Link and it also talks about zinc deficiency.

AJ

[AliB]

Any kind of deficiency is common in anyone with gluten intolerance - even when they don't know they have it a deficiency would undoubtedly point to GI. Gluten (and dairy, particularly cow's, and refined sugar) damages the gut lining and stops the body absorbing nutrients.

It may only be one or two that are not being absorbed efficiently but it is enough to throw the body out of balance and to create enough disruption for cells to be unable to function properly. If certain types of cells are unable to function that will set the stage for illness and disease. It can be anything - it just depends on the individuals' genetic vulnerability.

Apparently, ingesting too much salt can also inhibit the absorption of zinc and selenium because the body's electrolyte balance is disrupted.

One thing that controls the amount of cholesterol our body creates is not the amount of fat we eat, but the amount of carbohydrates. Communities that eat high fat contents naturally, like Eskimos who eat enjoy generous amounts of blubber, do not have high cholesterol - until they adopt the western high carb, high sugar diet.

Whilst you are eating plenty of good fats, a high carb diet will negate the benefit. Taking supplements is important particularly in view of the malabsorption issues and whilst some may go straight through, at least, hopefully some will be absorbed. The most important thing is to avoid the foods that are causing the malabsorption and give your gut a chance to heal so that it can start to re-absorb.

If you have stomach/intestinal problems then GI is almost certainly a problem. You may or may not be Celiac but both Celiac and intolerance both stem from the ingestion of Gluten and the solution is the same. You may also be dairy (lactose or casein or both) intolerant too as that is also very common. Sugar, particularly refined creates an imbalance in the gut and allows opportunistic bacteria like Candida to flourish. Candida out of control becomes a very invasive fungus that penetrates the gut wall and allows toxins through into the bloodstream (Leaky Gut Syndrome) setting up even more intolerances, allergic reactions and disease. It is likened to having internal dry rot!

Wheat is in everything, dairy is in everything, sugar is in everything! The rotten stuff is literally rammed down our throats and it is almost impossible to get food, other than following a Paleolithic type diet, that doesn't contain some aspect of it. Humankind in its arrogance has, by meddling with our food structure and showering everything with chemicals, thrown us into a maelstrom of problems that it is now almost impossible to disentangle ourselves from.

TATT - tired all the time goes hand in hand with GI, as does IBS, headaches, migraines, skin conditions, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis - you name it - what we eat is behind it all!

I hope you manage to get some relief and your zinc problem sorted out. It can take a while for the body to rebalance and supplements are very important but its certainly worth trying gluten-free for a while (and dairy and sugar, which is what I have done and it is helping me immensely - most of my problems are due to deficiencies). Even though I have only been doing it for 3 weeks, apart from withdrawal/detox symptoms I am feeling a lot better.

[Stacia47327]

Any kind of deficiency is common in anyone with gluten intolerance - even when they don't know they have it a deficiency would undoubtedly point to GI. Gluten (and dairy, particularly cow's, and refined sugar) damages the gut lining and stops the body absorbing nutrients.

It may only be one or two that are not being absorbed efficiently but it is enough to throw the body out of balance and to create enough disruption for cells to be unable to function properly. If certain types of cells are unable to function that will set the stage for illness and disease. It can be anything - it just depends on the individuals' genetic vulnerability.

Apparently, ingesting too much salt can also inhibit the absorption of zinc and selenium because the body's electrolyte balance is disrupted.

One thing that controls the amount of cholesterol our body creates is not the amount of fat we eat, but the amount of carbohydrates. Communities that eat high fat contents naturally, like Eskimos who eat enjoy generous amounts of blubber, do not have high cholesterol - until they adopt the western high carb, high sugar diet.

Whilst you are eating plenty of good fats, a high carb diet will negate the benefit. Taking supplements is important particularly in view of the malabsorption issues and whilst some may go straight through, at least, hopefully some will be absorbed. The most important thing is to avoid the foods that are causing the malabsorption and give your gut a chance to heal so that it can start to re-absorb.

If you have stomach/intestinal problems then GI is almost certainly a problem. You may or may not be Celiac but both Celiac and intolerance both stem from the ingestion of Gluten and the solution is the same. You may also be dairy (lactose or casein or both) intolerant too as that is also very common. Sugar, particularly refined creates an imbalance in the gut and allows opportunistic bacteria like Candida to flourish. Candida out of control becomes a very invasive fungus that penetrates the gut wall and allows toxins through into the bloodstream (Leaky Gut Syndrome) setting up even more intolerances, allergic reactions and disease. It is likened to having internal dry rot!

Wheat is in everything, dairy is in everything, sugar is in everything! The rotten stuff is literally rammed down our throats and it is almost impossible to get food, other than following a Paleolithic type diet, that doesn't contain some aspect of it. Humankind in its arrogance has, by meddling with our food structure and showering everything with chemicals, thrown us into a maelstrom of problems that it is now almost impossible to disentangle ourselves from.

TATT - tired all the time goes hand in hand with GI, as does IBS, headaches, migraines, skin conditions, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis - you name it - what we eat is behind it all!

I hope you manage to get some relief and your zinc problem sorted out. It can take a while for the body to rebalance and supplements are very important but its certainly worth trying gluten-free for a while (and dairy and sugar, which is what I have done and it is helping me immensely - most of my problems are due to deficiencies). Even though I have only been doing it for 3 weeks, apart from withdrawal/detox symptoms I am feeling a lot better.

May I ask what is the detox symptoms?