Questions About Leaky Gut, Whey And Autoimmune Disorders.

[TomC]

Since I discovered I have an issue with gluten, I'm doing my best to figure out what is else is safe for me to eat.

I do not know if I was born with a gluten sensitivity or if it was "caused" by my awful diet.

After reading about the leaky gut theory, it seems that it could be that my excessive amount of milk consumption and high sugar diet led to "leaky gut syndrome" which allowed undigested gluten to enter my bloodstream. I have no way of knowing if this theory is correct. It could be that I had gluten sensitivity my whole life and it didn't show symptoms till the age of 26. I doubt it since it was my extreme diet change towards too much milk and sugar that led to the symptoms, but its perfectly possible.

Here's what I really hope to get opinions on.

I have heard it said that people with autoimmune disorders should stay away from dairy. Is this right? Or is it usually just casein that is a problem? I'm dying to have my whey protein powder again, but haven't tried it out.

I know regular milk causes itchy hives now and I became suddenly lactose intolerant probably due to the leaky gut.

Now that I have gluten sensitivity, supposedly that puts me at risk for even worse autoimmune disorders? So now I have to worry about getting MS or Rhumatoid arthritis?

Any expert opinions or people with experience with this?

[MitziG]

Hi Tom, sorry no one responded earlier. Like me, they probably read it, but didn't feel certain how to answer your questions.

Honestly, the whole dairy issue is a controversial one. I think it is safe to say that most celiacs have an issue with either lactose, casein or both. The WHY is the controversial part.

I think the theory of a leaky gut allowing proteins into the blood stream where they can cause widespread inflammation is a plausible one. Been doing some experimenting myself to test it out.

Having been a huge milk drinker (and also sufferring from sever cystic acne for last 20 years) I noticed an improvement when I cut out dairy. Prior to this, birth control pills did provide total relief of acne, but I had to go off them. Anyway, I was still having some gut issues, so decided to remove all traces of casein. Lo and behold, 20 years of acne went away. So I think, ok, I have a casein allergy. Even tiny little bits that I cheated with would cause cysts within hours. So after about 2 months of this, I noticed a change. Tiny little bits are no longer breaking me out as bad. I had two bowls of ice cream last week and broke out in a few tiny pimples, nothing serious.

So...not a casein allergy apparently. My theory? Being off all dairy has allowed my gut to heal significantly, thus reducing the amount of inflammatory proteins that can enter the blood. Going back to my strict casein free diet for a few more months and I will test the waters again.

Now...as for autoimmune disorders...yes, by having celiac you are at increased risk. Once the autoimmune process is started, it tends to snowball. However, unlike other ai disorders, celiac can be controlled by strict diet. If you can keep away 100% of gluten, you can shut down the ai process, and hopefully keep it shut down. Of course, no matter how strict you are, there is always risk of getting "glutened" and that bit of gluten can wake up the immune response at any time. Hence the extreme vigilance on the part of celiacs. It is about much more than just "getting sick from gluten"

Now, it has been speculated that because casein and gluten closely resemble eachother, ingesting casein may trigger the ai response IN SOME PEOPLE. No one can say if you will be one of them.

Your best bet, IMHO? Be casein free for at least 6 mos so your gut can heal, introduce it gradually, and do not return to excessive consumption. Have your antibodies checked regularly to make sure your immune system is not responding. And hope for the best.