I was just reading one of Dr O’s latest blog posts about quinoa – more on that next. But before that, I picked up this point he makes about what is and isn’t safe on a traditional gluten free diet:
Gluten Definition Overhaul is Needed
Current testing for gluten relies on a methodology called ELISA. The testing measures the quantity of traditional glutens present in food. Unfortunately, it does not measure weather other glutens and gluten like proteins cause inflammatory problems in patients. This problem has been pointed out multiple times in research. (Ed’s note: this is what I am always wittering on about. Why do we only look for gliadin and then why only 33-mer gliadin? Makes no sense to me. Just because we happen to have found those in research to date does not mean gliadins will be the only culprits. I prefer a safer, albeit more restrictive, approach thanks until research catches up with me.)
Case in point – rice, corn, soy, and dairy have all been shown to cause inflammatory reactions and or villous atrophy identical to celiac disease in human studies. Yet the generic recommendation by most doctors and nutritionists is to eat this foods without concern. When you also take into consideration that up to 92% of people following a traditional gluten free diet don’t heal, and continue to be stricken with multiple forms of autoimmune disease, it becomes clear that more precise definitions are needed.
I absolutely agree with that. I think we should be going back to the traditional grain free diet that was used before the 1950s. A gluten free diet should mean free of all glutens and, for me, that means all grains since every grain contains a form of it, just not gliadins.
Gluten is not the only food to cause villous atropy. That is astounding, isn’t it? I don’t have the references for that – I shall try to find them as I would like to see more on that subject! Another job I have given myself!!
I think those foods – corn, rice, soy and dairy – are interesting. Are they in themselves a problem or, knowing that they are termed cross-reactive gluten foods, is it because the body is reacting to them as if they were gluten? Rice and corn do have their own type of non-gliadin gluten in them but for soy and dairy, I have no idea but it’s interesting, isn’t it? Either way, taking no chances I took them out for the Barrier Plan diet anyway.
Ok, I promised something on Quinoa being a safe gluten food or not – I’ll do that next..