Gluten-free diets are sweeping the country, and millions of people are making radical changes to their diets. They’re hoping that by eliminating gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, they will find the answer to their health problems. Many of them will.

To support this surge, manufacturers are flooding health food stores and supermarkets with gluten-free foods from pasta to bread and wheat-free soy sauce. Even some mainstream restaurants have adjusted their menus and recipes to meet the rising demands for more wheat-free dishes.

What’s going on? Is gluten causing a disease, sensitivity, or allergy? Is gluten affecting your health? If so, how can you know and what should you do?
Sensitivity or disease?

Gluten sensitivity means that your immune system can’t tolerant this protein. It might even form antibodies against this foreign invader. Or it could be a sign of inflammation. Celiac disease (CD), on the other hand, is a chronic genetic autoimmune disease. Some scientists believe that most people of European descent carry the CD gene. It’s just not always activated. High fever, infection, stress, and environmental factors are just some of the conditions that can “turn on” this gene and cause irreversible symptoms.

CD is greatly under-diagnosed. Experts estimate that just 1% of people in this country have this disease. However, that number is coming up fast. There are four times as many cases of CD now as there were 50 years ago. What’s more, many gastroenterologists say that for every case of CD they see, six to eight other patients have the same symptoms without any telltale intestinal damage. If these people don’t have CD, what do they have?

A group of 15 gluten experts from seven countries is looking to answer this question. They are proposing a new system to classify gluten-related health problems in an effort to clarify its causes and effects. This would make it easier for us to know the most effective methods of testing. Here’s some of what they’re proposing.

Allergy

This reaction to wheat may include hives, congestion, diarrhea, and nausea after eating wheat. It’s most commonly found in a small number of children who often outgrow it. They rarely find it in adults. If you react to wheat, chances are it’s not an allergic condition. It’s most likely either a sensitivity to gluten or an autoimmune disease. Avoiding wheat may be all that’s needed.

Gluten sensitivity

If you react to gluten — either all or most of the time — these gluten experts believe you could be gluten intolerant. This sensitivity may be genetic. If you ignore it, it can trigger CD and other diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, autoimmune thyroid disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and many others. A genetic test can help separate sensitivity from an autoimmune disease. You’ll need a biopsy of the small intestines to diagnose CD.

Autoimmunity

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune response where the body attacks its own tissues. It can be a silent condition with no symptoms, which makes it difficult to identify. Or it can cause intestinal or neurological symptoms.

CD frequently damages the hair-like villi in the small intestines. The biopsy can identify this damage. CD often leads to severe malabsorption of many nutrients including protein, iron, calcium, and magnesium. These deficiencies, in turn, may lead to osteoporosis, anemia, and other health problems. If you’re doing everything right and have progressive osteoporosis or osteopenia, eating gluten may be causing your bone loss. Your condition will never get better — in fact, it will get worse — until you stop eating gluten.

CD is not the only autoimmune problem associated with gluten, though. Others include dermatitis herpetiformis, identified by an itchy rash, and the neurological condition gluten ataxia. Many doctors often mistake this disorder for Parkinson’s disease. That’s right. Parkinson’s may be a reaction to eating foods containing gluten!

Why go to the trouble and expense of getting yourself tested when you can simply avoid eating foods that contain gluten? The reason is that few people are totally compliant with this diet. They avoid gluten most of the time, but not completely. Or they avoid gluten for a few months and then decide it’s too difficult to continue 100%. Unfortunately, this not only won’t work, it leaves you vulnerable to other more serious symptoms if your sensitivity progresses to a disease. And in many cases it will.

“Mostly gluten-free” doesn’t work

Do you have an inflammatory condition that could lead to other illnesses, or is your immunity already compromised? Whether you’re a celiac or just sensitive to gluten, a totally gluten-free diet is the only way to stop your symptoms, stop the malabsorption of minerals and protein, and stop triggering other serious illnesses. Even traces of gluten found in soy sauce or an occasional cookie will affect you negatively whether or not you have any symptoms. Staying on a gluten-free diet permanently is the only treatment for these conditions.

Getting tested

You can find whether or not you’re sensitive to gluten through a Gluten Sensitivity Stool Panel from EnteroLab for $99. This test looks for antibodies to gluten in your stool, which indicates inflammation and gluten sensitivity. If it’s positive, it indicates you’re reacting to gluten.

EnteroLab’s Gluten Sensitivity Gene Test ($149) tests for the presence of genes associated with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. It identifies these genes through a cheek swab. This test indicates that you’re either reacting to gluten or will in the future if one or more of your genes turns on.

For more information about which test may be best for you to take, call the folks at EnteroLab (972-686-6869) or visit their website at www.enterolab.com. They’ll also tell you what you need to do to find out whether or not your insurance will pay for these tests. Because eating wheat can make your illness worse, I think everyone should have one of these tests. It could keep you from ever developing the horrible symptoms gluten can cause.

Amer Journ of Gastroenterology, January 11, 2011.

Beck, M. “New guide to who really shouldn’t eat gluten,” Health Journal, February 7, 2012.

Stay Hydrated, But Not With These Drinks That Can Give You a Heart Attack or Stroke

It may be tempting, but if you’re tired, don’t reach for a cup of coffee or tea or a caffeinated soda. Try drinking a glass of water first and see if your fatigue lifts. You may be tired because you’re dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when you’re sitting at your computer or reading a book, not only when you exercise or when the weather is hot. And you can become dehydrated even if you’re not thirsty. In fact, by the time you feel a little thirsty, you’re already becoming dehydrated.

Even mild dehydration can reduce your energy, lead to depression, and make it difficult to concentrate. But not all beverages are equally beneficial. Caffeinated drinks actually contribute to dehydration, and other beverages can be downright dangerous — like diet soft drinks.

Diet drinks

If you drink diet sodas, especially if you drink them often, stop immediately. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine recently made a surprising discovery about them that could put your life at risk. They found that people who drank at least one diet soft drink every day were at a 43% higher risk for stroke, heart attack, and vascular death than those who drank from none to six a week. The small amounts of soft drinks were not a problem. But one diet soft drink a day was.

These researchers don’t know why drinking seven or more diet sodas a week would lead to heart attacks or stroke. It could be due to the bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in many plastic bottles, interacting with the artificial sweeteners found in diet sodas. We don’t know the mechanism yet. But if these researchers are right, cutting out diet sodas — or greatly reducing them — could save your life.

Dangerous Containers

BPA is used in polycarbonate plastic products in both canned and bottled foods. This includes infant formulas, soups, and juices. In 2008, an FDA special advisory panel reported that previous safety standards for BPA were inadequate and needed to be re-evaluated. The following year, a congressional subcommittee found that the FDA relied too heavily on biased studies sponsored by the American Plastics Council. By 2010, the FDA continued studying the effects of BPA in food packaging, but they haven’t banned its use yet. You can wait until they do, or you can reduce your exposure to this toxic chemical today and protect your heart.

Early this year, a 10-year British study found that healthy people who had higher concentrations of BPA in their urine were more than twice as likely to develop heart disease in later years compared with those with the lowest BPA
levels. This was the first time anyone had been able to find an association between exposure to BPA and future heart disease.

I’m not suggesting that BPA is the only risk factor for heart disease, but it may be a significant one alongside smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. And it’s preventable. It’s also easy to reduce your exposure to BPA even if you can’t eliminate it entirely.

What you can do

Stop using plastic water bottles unless they are marked BPA-free or have a number 7 recycling code or the letters PC on their bottom. These are safe.
Buy a few BPA-free re-useable water bottles to carry around your protein drinks and water. They’re inexpensive and easy to find.

Stop or reduce your use of canned foods. They are sprayed with a resin that contains BPA. Eden Foods is a company that has been packaging their canned beans and other foods in BPA-free lined cans since 1999. They use a non-toxic mixture of oil with a plant-base resin. As more companies turn to packaging their foods and beverages in BPA-free containers, support them. They may cost a few cents more, but they’re worth every penny.

Gardener, Hannah, Tatjana Rundek, Matthew Markert, Clinton B. Wright, Mitchell S. V. Elkind, and Ralph L. Sacco. “Diet Soft Drink Consumption Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study.”

Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2012; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-011-1968-2.
Melzer, David, Neil E. Rice, Ceri Lewis, William E. Henley, and Tamara S. Galloway. “Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence From NHANES,” 2003/06. PLoS ONE, 2010; 5 (1): e8673 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008673.

Melzer; David, Nicholas J. Osborne; William E. Henley; Ricardo Cipelli; Anita Young; Cathryn Money; Paul Mccormack; Robert Luben; Kay-Tee Khaw; Nicholas J. Wareham; and Tamara S. Galloway. “Urinary Bisphenol: A Concentration and Risk of Future Coronary Artery Disease in Apparently Healthy Men and Women.” Circulation, 2012 DOI: 10.1161/%u200BCIRCULATIONAHA.111.069153.

The Connection Between Leaky Gut Syndrome and Cancer ... And How to Protect Yourself

We know that the cause of some cancers is toxins. Inflammation causes other tumors. But not many people realize the role that the intestines play. This long tube keeps pathogens from entering the bloodstream and getting into tissues throughout the body where they can contribute to major health problems.

You may have heard about intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome before. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition where the spaces between the cells in the lining of the intestines become larger. This allows undigested food particles, toxins, and bacteria to leak through the intestines and cause disease. When your intestinal barrier weakens, you’re at risk for inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, food allergies, arthritis, celiac disease, and even cancer. And if you have any of these conditions, I suggest you treat yourself as if you have leaky gut, because you probably do.

The biggest problem I see with leaky gut is that it won’t ever correct itself or just go away. You have to work hard to reduce the spaces in your intestines to keep out pathogens. Recently, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University found a substance that prevents inflammation in the intestines. It turns out that it also prevents cancer by acting as a tumor suppressor. This substance will soon be available in a prescription drug, but not to prevent cancer. Drug companies are developing this medication to treat constipation! However, it does much more.

The active ingredient in this drug is the enzyme GC-C (guanylyl cyclase C). GC-C strengthens your body’s intestinal barrier, keeping cancer-causing substances from leaking into your body. Without enough of it, your intestinal barrier becomes weaker, causing inflammation.

Scott Waldman, MD, PhD, headed the team that conducted a pre-clinical study on GC-C in mice. When they gave mice hormones that activated GC-C, it strengthened their intestinal barriers. And when they reduced GC-C, it disrupted this barrier, increasing their risk for inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.
Waldman says, “If you want to prevent inflammation or cancer in humans, then we need to start thinking about feeding people hormones that activate GC-C to tighten up the barrier.”

Natural ways to heal the gut

This new drug is one solution, but it’s not the only one. If you don’t want to wait for a drug containing GC-C, there are supplements you can take now that will reverse leaky gut syndrome. Since it won’t correct itself, you have to make some changes to your diet and supplement program so that the healing can take place.

You can find more information on leaky gut in my book, 456 Most Powerful Healing Secrets 800-610-2107 and in past newsletter articles available on my website. But let me give you a few simple steps you can take to heal your intestines.

First, eliminate the source of any intestinal irritation. This means eliminating foods that can contribute to leaky gut. I put my patients on a gluten-free diet since it often triggers inflammation.

Don’t take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Aleve, Advil, and aspirin. They actually increase inflammation in the intestinal lining, which causes the spaces to widen.

Next, eliminate sugar because it feeds inflammation. Go on a healthful diet with plenty of protein, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates for a month or two and see how you feel.

Take one or more healing supplements. Begin with glutamine, an amino acid that prevents and reverses damage to the intestinal lining. In addition, glutamine reduces bacterial overgrowth. You can find glutamine in health food stores and on the Internet. Take one 500 mg capsule on an empty stomach three times a day for two months.

Add a probiotic like Culturelle (888-488-2488) or Advanced Probiotic Formula (800-791-3395) to your daily supplement regimen. Take double the suggested dosage twice a day to boost your colonies of friendly bacteria. This is essential in establishing the proper ratio of good to bad bacteria.

Increase your fatty acids by taking a supplement high in GLA (gamma-linolenic acid). It prevents and heals intestinal lining inflammation. You can find it in supplements made with evening primrose oil and borage oil, as well as in spirulina. You can find good quality oils high in GLA from ProThera by calling 888-488-2488.

Thomas Jefferson University. “Strengthening The Intestinal Barrier May Prevent Cancer In The Rest Of The Body.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 22 February 2012.

Is Coffee All You Need to Stop Alzheimer’s?

If you drink a cup of coffee or two every morning to help start the day, a new study says it may help your brain.

According to researchers from the University of South Florida and the University of Miami, having a high level of caffeine in your blood may help you avoid Alzheimer’s.

In the study, the researchers measured the blood levels of 124 people between the ages of 65 and 88. They followed the participants for two to four years. They found that the higher your blood levels of caffeine, the less likely you are to suffer from the memory impairment. For most of these participants, coffee was either the major source or only source of their caffeine.

This is powerful evidence that coffee drinking has a direct impact on preventing Alzheimer’s. Because the researchers used objective measurements and compared them to the number of Alzheimer’s cases, it shows a clear connection between caffeine and brain health.

The study’s lead author Dr. Chuanhai Cao, a neuroscientist at the USF College of Pharmacy and the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, agrees. He said, “These intriguing results suggest that older adults with mild memory impairment who drink moderate levels of coffee — about three cups a day — will not convert to Alzheimer’s disease — or at least will experience a substantial delay before converting to Alzheimer’s. The results from this study, along with our earlier studies in Alzheimer's mice, are very consistent in indicating that moderate daily caffeine/coffee intake throughout adulthood should appreciably protect against Alzheimer’s disease later in life.”

What’s more, this study found that caffeine can help those who are already showing signs of mild cognitive impairment. About 15% of those with early symptoms will develop full-blown Alzheimer’s each year. So it’s important to slow this process as much as possible. And caffeine can help.

Drinking two or three cups of coffee each day appears to be a powerful way to protect your brain from developing Alzheimer’s. This study focused mainly on coffee, as that was what most of the participants drank. But caffeine is caffeine, whether the source is coffee or tea. So feel free to drink a moderate amount of coffee or tea each day. It could protect your brain from deteriorating to Alzheimer’s.

This study also suggests coffee is all you need to protect your brain against Alzheimer’s. It might be. But I wouldn’t rely solely on caffeine for something this important. I would eat a good diet, get plenty of exercise, and take brain-protecting nutrients, like those in Advanced Memory Formula, to make sure your brain stays sharp.

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, June 5, 2012.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604142615.htm

NUTRITION DETECTIVE

The Horrifying Ingredient in Some Non-Organic Chicken

I don’t know what’s more disturbing — that researchers found banned drugs in poultry feed or the primary composition of the feed. Both disgust me. What’s the purpose of banning dangerous substances if people still use them?

A new study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University uncovered this disturbing news about the quality of non-organic chicken and turkey.

This study found for the first time that 8 out of 12 samples of a common substance added to poultry feed contained banned drugs. One of these drugs, fluoroquinolone, is an antibiotic that doctors prescribe only for people with serious bacterial infections. And whatever these chickens and turkeys eat makes its way into your body.

Now, a large percentage of these animals’ weight is inedible, but that doesn’t mean the company just throws it away. They use the entire bird. One of the byproducts of poultry production is feather meal, made from the birds’ feathers. That’s right. Then they feed this antibiotic-laced feather meal to chickens, turkeys, and other animals. In fact, unless the animal protein you eat is organic, there’s no guarantee that it doesn’t contain ground-up feathers.

I’m sorry to tell you that the news gets worse. They also sell feather meal as an organic fertilizer. The meal not only contains antibiotics the government has banned, another study found inorganic arsenic in feather meal, which you’ll find in retail fertilizers.

How can antibiotics be in feather meal if they’ve been banned for years? Obviously, the ban isn’t working.

Perhaps now you can understand why I keep telling you to eat organic foods. Even they might be contaminated. But they’re still better quality than commercially raised foods. So do the best you can and eat organic.

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (2012, April 5).

Banned antibiotics found in poultry products. ScienceDaily.

LETTERS

Q: My doctor says I should take a baby aspirin each day to protect myself from heart disease and stroke. But heart disease doesn’t run in my family. Cancer does. Should I take the aspirin anyway? — L.R., e-mail

A: Your question is interesting in light of three new studies published in The Lancet. These studies found that low-level aspirin did a better job of protecting against some cancers than heart disease. Aspirin appears to be most effective in reducing the risk of colon, esophageal, breast, and prostate cancers.

It was also 40-50% more effective in reducing the spread of cancer in people who already had the disease. And it’s this spreading, or metastasis, that is most likely to kill cancer patients. However, the authors of one of these studies cautions against taking aspirin if you have cancer that has already spread. In this case, it isn’t protective.

As you may know, aspirin is very irritating to the stomach. It can cause internal bleeding, which is why many people decide not to take it. I think there are more good reasons to avoid aspirin than to take it.

If you want to protect yourself from cancer — as well as heart disease — the safest and most effective way is to eat a healthful diet, exercise regularly, and detoxify. By ridding yourself of toxins including heavy metals, you reduce your risk for both of these major illnesses. Pectasol Detox Complex is the safest, most effective product I’ve found that binds to heavy metals and other toxic substances and removes them from the body. I use it myself and with my patients. You can order it by calling 800-791-3395.

Paddock, Catharine, PhD. (2012, March 21). “Aspirin Reduces Cancer Risk,” Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/243171.php.

Q: In your February 2012 article on memory problems, you recommend taking no more than 2 mg of copper a day. A daily dose of Healthy Resolve contains 2 mg. So does Ultimate Bone Support, giving a total of 4 mg. I take both, but I would like not to have to take yet another pill to get more zinc to balance the copper. What do you suggest? – M.L.J., e-mail

A: The article on memory you reference was the first of its kind to make this association between memory and minerals — years after we created these two formulas. Still, I’m not concerned. You can easily balance the extra copper by getting a little more zinc.

It’s easy because there’s a simple solution that doesn’t include taking more pills. You can just make sure you eat some zinc-rich foods every day. These include pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and dark chocolate.

One ounce of pumpkin seeds gives you 3 mg of zinc, two ounces of peanuts equals 2 mg of zinc, and a 50-gram bar of dark chocolate contains over 4½ grams of zinc. Half a chocolate bar should be sufficient for boosting zinc levels and for giving you additional antioxidants.

Since raw nuts and seeds are rich in copper, make sure you don’t eat too many of them. A healthful diet should contain both a little copper and a little zinc. Don’t obsess about this new information. There’s no danger in taking both supplements, especially if you’re eating a balanced diet.