I have many people ask me about gluten free diets. I repeatedly reply that I just dont think this has anything to do with the problem. I have had a few people take it out and at first feel a bit better (with symptoms not related to the bladder itself) but this is typically fleeting and the symptoms that improved return after a couple of weeks.
While saying this, I am certainly not advocating that people go and gorge on gluten. I do beleive eating too amny grains with or without gluten is not a good idea. Starches in general should be limited and I do take wheat out of the diet in the beginning of treatment and focus on other grains and starches.
This article that someone sent me this morning is quite interesting because it substantiates through an extensive amount of research that gluten free diets are not key in getting people better from celiac-that much more is required. This makes so much sense to me.
If you are interested in this topic click on this link, it is interesting:
http://scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/the-gluten-free-lie-why-most-celiacs-are-slowly-dying/
Comments
Oh Wow! My sister has
Oh Wow! My sister has Celiac... She is all about being gluten free. She is even trying to start her own Gulten free business. If I sent her this article she would probably be really offended.
Dr. M, do you treat people with Celiac? And do you think they can get better?
My Sister says she will have it for the rest of her life, and all she can do is stay away from gluten.
Not that I have celiacs, but
Not that I have celiacs, but I can relate with being gluten and grain free. My stomach/intestines may feel better for a while off grains, but the burning/stabbing always returns. I agree with this article, much more goes into healing your gut, then just removing gluten alone. I am so thankful I don't have to try and figure this out myself!:) I fear I would be one of those statistics of dying an early death, starving from lack of proper nutrition, because of my leaky gut! Thank you for sharing this very interesting and scary article!
I have done a lot of research
I have done a lot of research on gluten and have removed it from my diet for many reasons, not even pertaining to my IC. A really good book everyone should read is Wheat Belly by William Davis, M.D. which highlights how the changes in the modern grain (thanks to companies like Monsanto) are wreaking havoc on our digestion and leading to leaky gut in a large portion of the population.. Another podcast I listened to recently interviewed Dr. Alessio Fasano, renowned GI doc from Italy who is leading the research on Celiac and gluten sensitivity-he's the guy who founded the Celiac center for research at U of Maryland. He highlights the enzyme zonulin that is produced by everyone who consumes gluten. This enzyme, in people who are prone to autoimmunity, actually causes leaky gut by causing gaps in the cells lining the digestive tract.
I agree with Matia that removing gluten isn't a cure all nor does it cause the IC, but I do think everyone should read up on the subject and experiment with their own elimination of gluten to see what happens to his/her body. It's fascinating some of the health benefits that can happen, sometimes within just a few days! I just don't think we are missing out on critical nutrition by eliminating it and finding other foods to satisfy those vitamins lost. Knowing what I know now after all these years, and how awful I feel when I do consume it, I don't think I will ever go back to eating it. Maybe when my gut is fully healed I will tolerate it better, but then i won't want to risk damaging it again if I am sensitive. It's a personal choice but one that I think is very important to explore.
Gluten
While I haven't completely cut out gluten, due to a conventional docs suggestion, I have cut out wheat. It was suggested that it might help lower my anxiety. I thought he was crazy, but figured that I'd try it. After eleminating it for a couple of months, still struggling with anxiety, I consumed a wheat sandwich, and my anxiety sky rocketed. So, I dropped it again for a month, then figured it must have been a conicidence, after all, I was still strggling with anxiety, and ate a bowl of pasta. My anxiety, once again, sky rocketed. While I hate to say this, I'm pretty much afraid to eat it.