I first gave up gluten when I was 33 years old. I was suffering from recurring ovarian pain, and I eliminated gluten, dairy, and sugar to see if it would help. I felt remarkably better.

But gluten slid back into my diet, little by little. By my second pregnancy, two years later, it was open season. My main craving was a comfort food from my childhood: toasted crispy Thomas’s English Muffins. I ate scores of these gluten-filled snacks, with lots of butter. And pasta.

What I didn’t know at the time was that since gluten was problematic for me once, it was likely to be problematic for me on an ongoing basis. I wish I had known…

I’m not going to win any friends by saying this. But as a health professional, I need to say it: gluten is a problem for just about everyone. And it’s especially a problem if you are suffering from any kind of chronic illness or health complaint. It’s one of the first dietary shifts I ask my clients to make.

But people are understandably confused and a little defensive. You mean to tell me I can’t eat my pizza? My noodles? My bagels?

The answer is “Yes”.

Let’s bring some information to the table so we can at least answer the question: Why is gluten so bad?

 

What is Gluten?

 

Gluten is a collection of proteins that are found in certain grains: wheat, barley, rye, triticale, spelt, and kamut. Each of these grains has varying amounts of the many gluten proteins.

The most commonly-known gluten protein is gliadin, but there are many more gluten proteins in gluten foods.

There are several ways people can be sensitive to gluten.

So why is gluten and it’s protein such a problem for people with health challenges?

 

#1: Gluten Increases Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut)

 

Our health largely depends on a strong, resilient immune system. 80% of this immune system is located in the digestive tract. It’s responsible for protecting us from pathogens and toxins in our food.

When we have good gut function and a non-permeable gut, any incoming pathogens remain in the intestines and are disabled by the immune system and excreted.

But if our gut is “leaky” or permeable, those invaders can get past the defense systems and end up in our bloodstream. Invaders can be pathogens, like bacteria, viruses, or parasites. But they can also be proteins and peptides that didn’t get fully broken down in the stomach.

When the invaders and proteins enter the bloodstream, they are tagged by the immune system as a threat, and a more systemic immune response is mounted. (Read more about what happens next in #2 below).

A study published in the journal Nutrients showed that exposure to gluten increases intestinal permeability, no matter whether you are sensitive to gluten or not.

Though there are several reasons why your gut may become leaky, including stress, certain medications, and gut infections, frequently consuming gluten leaves your gut at constant risk of permeability.

Maintaining and repairing your gut barrier function is of primary importance for improving your chronic health challenges, no matter what form they take.

 

#2: Gluten-Induced Gut Permeability Contributes to Autoimmune Disease

 

There is increasing evidence that gluten-induced intestinal permeability is a major contributor to the manifestation of autoimmune disease. Partially digested proteins that sneak through a “leaky” gut barrier are tagged by the immune system as a problem.

The challenge is that those tagged proteins may resemble our own tissues. Once they are tagged, our own similar tissues are identified as a threat as well. This is thought to be one mechanism of the development of autoimmune disease.

If proteins that resemble thyroid tissue sneak through your leaky gut, your body may create thyroid autoantibodies, and you may develop Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

If proteins that resemble nerve tissues sneak through your leaky gut, your body may create nerve autoantibodies, and you may develop fibromyalgia, or parkinson’s, or multiple sclerosis.

Especially for people facing one or more autoimmune diagnoses of any type, creating a gluten-free lifestyle and supporting proper intestinal function is an absolute must.

 

#3: Non-Organic Gluten-Grain Crops are Sprayed with Glyphosate

 

Glyphosate is the chemical herbicide and defoliant known by the trade name RoundUp. Glyphosate use in agriculture has skyrocketed during the last several decades.

Commercially-grown wheat (as well as GMO corn and soybeans) is routinely sprayed with glyphosate as a dessicant to speed drying in preparation for harvest.

Glyphosate has been shown to negatively affect the gut microbiome and to increase intestinal permeability.  A paper in the journal Interdisciplinary Toxicology claims that people and animals exposed to glyphosate have less beneficial bacteria, and an increased incidence of infectious organisms. It also demonstrates that glyphosate has also been linked to esophageal damage, liver, gall bladder, and pancreas damage or disruption, and depletion of key nutrients, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B9 (folate), iron, molybdenum, and sulfates.

Avoiding gluten foods helps you avoid exposure to glyphosate, which compounds the negative affects of gluten.

 

#4: Gluten is a high FODMAP food

 

Many people with chronic illness have a lot of digestive troubles, including painful bloating and gas, constipation, diarrhea, and cramping.

FODMAPs are a group of starches that some people have difficulty digesting. FODMAPs stands for Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono- Saccharides And Polyols. When people with a FODMAP sensitivity eat high FODMAP foods, they often experience bloating and pressure in the gut, as well as diarrhea, constipation, or both.

If you experience any of these symptoms after eating gluten, it’s possible that you have a sensitivity to FODMAPs, and may benefit from removing gluten.

 

#5: Gluten can cause brain problems

 

Besides the increase in intestinal permeability, and all the possible downstream affects of that, gluten can increase inflammation. This can wreak havoc on the brain, and can cause neurological symptoms similar to psychological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Dr. David Perlmutter, in his NYT bestseller Grain Brain: The Truth About Wheat, Carbs, Sugar—Your Brain’s Silent Killers states:

“Gluten sensitivity—with or without the presence of celiac—increases the production of inflammatory cytokines, and these inflammatory cytokines are pivotal players in neurodegenerative conditions. Moreover, no organ is more susceptible to the deleterious effects of inflammation than the brain.”

There is even a strong link in the literature, from research going back 60 years, between schizophrenia and gluten intolerance. In a 1976 study published in Science, patients with schizophrenia on a gluten-free diet were challenged with gluten and experienced setbacks in their therapeutic progress.

For anyone suffering from brain fog, memory loss, mood challenges such as anxiety, depression, or more severe diagnoses, or dementia and Alzheimer’s, gluten should be avoided.

 

#6: There are many Great alternatives to Gluten!

 

Change is challenging, no matter who you are. Most of us are accustomed to eating gluten-foods, because that’s what we’re used to and it’s what’s available. But eating without gluten doesn’t mean you have to miss out on yummy food.

Many gluten foods, whether they are organic or not, are highly processed foods, made with white flour. Examples include your noodles, tortillas, breads, cereals, crackers, pretzels, cakes, and cookies.

Most of us eat too much of these foods, and could benefit from shifting our diet away from them, and towards a more whole-food plate. Instead of bread and pasta, choose whole grains (if those work for you).

Instead of bread, swap a lettuce or kale wrap.

Why not try a nut-based, high fiber bread?

And, of course, there are many gluten-free versions of these foods as well. Though I generally don’t recommend them due to their glycemic load, as a transition food to help wean you away from gluten, I find them quite useful.

 

Conclusion

 

Even if we are not suffering from a chronic or autoimmune disease, or complex health challenge, there are still reasons to avoid gluten. Removing gluten helps limit carbs and processed foods, and proactively reduces blood sugar problems, inflammation, and intestinal permeability to preserve your hard-earned health.

There are lab tests to test for gluten sensitivity, but the best and cheapest way to find out if gluten is a problem for you is to remove it for a few weeks, and then eat some and watch for 4 days. If you experience symptoms with this trial, you will want to keep gluten out of your diet.

While many of us with chronic illness and autoimmune disease may need to make many individualized dietary changes to best support our health, gluten is one food that hands down must be avoided. If we weigh the risks and benefits, we have a lot to lose by continuing to eat gluten, and very little to gain, other than symptoms of brain fog, weight gain, blood sugar problems, and intestinal permeability.

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Getting gluten out of your life can be a challenging experience, and requires some finesse, compassion, and patience! When you are ready for support in removing gluten from your life, I invite you to schedule a free Assessment Session to find out how I could help you with this process.

And when you’re ready to understand the big picture of how removing gluten fits into the whole process of restoring your health, grab your free copy of Roadmap to Recovery: How to Move Beyond Your Symptoms and Create a Personalized Plan to Restore Your Health here.