There is no question that eating gluten aggravates celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients. But doctors say it is unclear whether gluten can be blamed for other problems. Nevertheless, it has become a popular dietary villain. ( NY Times)
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Enrique Gili is a freelance writer covering Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS), issues for regional magazines in the Southland and beyond. I live in Ocean Beach, San Diego the coolest beach town around.
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Gluten Cast as Dietary Villian
Category: Food&Drink • Health
Posted on: May 9, 2007 11:36 AM, by EJGili
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I'm curious, what are the similarities to these so-called "Gluten intolerances" versus allergic reactions to melamine? There had been some news reports here in Canada that claimed that the addition of melamine to gluten-based products was actually a relatively common procedure. The addition of melamine increased the nitrogen assays used to measure protein content, and could save producers approximately $4/tonne of product.
Posted by: Left_Wing_Fox | May 9, 2007 12:58 PM
As a (pre-clinical) celiac, I have something to add here - 'celiac disease' has many manifestations. It used to be thought of as a strictly pediatric disease, occuring when an infant is weaned and put on food containing wheat. Since then, it's been recognized as a disease of variable age of onset. If you judged by the members of my support group, you'd think that it was a disease of middle age, or even a primarily geriatric disease.
The symptoms differ, and there can be many odd complications (I believe because it's an autoimmune disorder, and immune-system malfunctions can do different things). It's got strong correlations with schizophrenia, lymphomas of the bowel and infertility. It causes drastically reduced absorbtion of iron and calcium, due to the area of intestine that is damaged (my gastroenterologist said that the primary referral for celiacs to him is for pernicious anemia, unresponsive to oral iron supplements).
Posted by: Barry | May 9, 2007 03:19 PM