Gluten intolerance: a paradigm of an epidemic

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Dec, 2002 by Stacy Astor Shaul

Part of the problem is that doctors are taught in medical school that one in 5,000 have CD. The reality is more like 1 in 150 and it may be even higher. (6) Arecent report in JAMA, found that the prevalence of CD in 1200 screened children and adolescent patients ranged between 1 in 57 and 1 in 33. (7)

The only treatment available for CD is to remove all forms of gluten from the diet. Glutens are proteins that come from the Plant Kingdom Subclass of monocots and are members of the grass family of wheat, oats, barley, rye and triticale. There are many hidden sources of gluten in our foods. Some of these come in the form of: malt, grain starches, hydrolyzed vegetable/plant proteins, textured vegetable proteins, grain vinegars, soy sauce, brown rice syrup, dextrin, modified food starch, mono and di-glycerides, natural and artificial flavors, grain alcohol, and the binders and fillers sometimes found in vitamins and medications. Also, many people assume that if a product says "wheat free," that it is gluten-free, which is not the case. For example, Kamut and Spelt are wheat free grains but they contain gluten.

Cross contamination is another problem. Sometimes restaurants use the same cooking materials when preparing gluten and non-gluten containing food, which is then mixed into the meal. Or cultivation of the non-gluten containing grains is done in the same fields, factory or equipment as the gluten-containing grains and there is cross-contamination. If these sources are not removed, the intestine cannot heal, and the patient will not know the benefit of a gluten-free diet.

Autism

Research on children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), show many suffer from some small intestinal damage, while only a very small percentage test positive for CD. (8) It appears that "some people have intolerance to these proteins but do not seem to mount an immune response of the sort identified in gluten sensitivity by current testing methods." (9) Positive results have been indicated with Autistic children on a very strict, gluten-free (GF), casein-free (dairy), diet. (10) A single-blind, 2-year study found that children with autism improved on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, but regressed if the diet was stopped. (11) Symptom improvements include speech, sociability, behavior and sleeping habits, as well as others. (12)

Gluten intolerance, in Autism, is thought to be related to the incomplete digestion and breakdown of proteins. Normally, proteins are digested by enzymes in the intestines and are broken down into long chain amino acids. With maldigestion, short chains of these amino acids, known as peptides, will develop in excess amounts and enter the bloodstream. Peptides from proteins such as gluten and casein, called "exorphins," are biologically active. They interact with opiate receptors in the brain and have the same effects as opiate drugs like heroin and morphine and are also addictive. There are 15 opioid sequences in one molecule of gluten. (13) In fact, the peptides can be up to 30 times more potent than morphine.