Beloved,
This year keeps surprising me with its different
weather patterns and the effects of that. We had
80 degree weather in March (which I loved) and
an early spring but our trees and animals do not
seem to be reflecting that fact. My maple tree is
slow in blooming and yesterday, I saw both a
Baltimore Oriole and a hummingbird at my
feeders which were a week later than last
year in making their appearance. The Orioles
are eating mostly the grape jelly, ignoring the
sugar water and even the oranges. I laughed
at the hummingbird as it snubbed its nose at
the sugar water in the oriole feeder and the
sugar water in its own feeder. I have not seen
it come back so now I am confused. I bought
all new feeders this year so perhaps it is looking
for its comfortable “old” feeder. ????? So much for
the birds as I know it will all turn out just fine as long
as I keep food available.
I am being guided to speak on Gluten Free food
and the effect it has on people. It seems everywhere
I went that topic was showing up. Even having lunch
with my granddaughter where she told me she and my
great grandson had been gluten free for a month with
great results. She lost weight and his behavior has been
stellar. But….in order to prove whether it is Celiac or
Gluten Sensitivity, they both had to start eating gluten
again in order for the antibodies to show up on the test.
Now they no longer feel well and my grandson is moody.
When I went to yoga, my teacher gave me an article
on the adverse effects of gluten grains which was written
by Nora-t. Gedgaudas, C.N.S., C.N.T. int the Well Being
Journal. What is Gluten? Gluten (from the Latin word for
“‘glue”) is a substance found in numerous grains such as
wheat (e.g.,durum, semolina, graham, spelt, kamut, and
triticale, rye, and barley. It is typically present in oats, too,
due mainly to modern processing methods. I buy my oats
in Canada from a farmer whose daughter was 6 years old
and weighed only 30 lbs. She was dying and when they
finally diagnosed her with Celiac Disease, he converted his
entire farm to growing gluten free oats including all the machinery
and processing that was necessary to produce a gluten free oat.
Oats are contaminated with wheat if it grows near a wheat farm
where the wind contaminates it or when a farmer’s normal
routine is growing wheat one year and oats the next which
contaminates the soil.
She is now a healthy adult because of her father’s willingness
to go to extreme measures to make sure she was healthy.
The result of Celiac Disease is severe chronic malabsorption
of nutrients, commonly leading to other disease states and
degenerative processes. This disease defined rather narrowly
as a state of what is termed “total villous atrophy of the small
intestine”. Villi (and microvilli) may be likened to shag carpeting
that lines the inside of the small intestine wall. The “shags” add
necessary surface to facilitate proper absorption of nutrients from
the diet. If the villi are only partially worn down, no diagnosis of
celiac disease can be given. One is “awarded” the actual diagnosis
only if the villi are completely destroyed and your shag carpeting has
been transformed to flat Berber carpeting. It’s the equivalent of
being told you can be diagnosed with heart disease ONLY if
you’ve actually suffered a heart attack.
“Celiac disease is one of the most common lifelong disorders
in both Europe and the US” (Fasano 2003). In the past
7 years, 1 in 4 children was diagnosed in southern Alberta,
consistent with data from the United Kingdom”(McGowan et
all.2009). Gluten Sensitivity is considerably more common than
full-blown Celiac disease and is currently almost epidemic, if
not ubiquitous in its scope.
Gluten can affect all organ systems (including your brain,
heart, and kidneys, your extended nervous system, your
moods, your immunological functioning, your digestive
system, and even your musculoskeletal system – truly
almost all of your body, from your hair follicles down
to your toenails and everything in between. Exposure
to gluten in a sensitive individual essentially shuts down
blood flow to the frontal and prefrontal cortex.
This \is the part of our brain that allows us to focus,
to manage emotional states, to plan and organize,
to consider the consequences of our actions, and to
exercise our short term memory.
Parents, are you concerned about ADHD, or Autism in your
children or grandchildren? Do you know anyone with cognitive,
emotional, psychiatric, or attentional issues?
I have not been able to eat beef for some years until I found
a local farm that grazes its cattle. I did not know why, I just
knew that I did not feel good after eating it and it would just
sit in my stomach rotting because my body could not eliminate
it. Well, in this article I discovered that L-tryptophan in grains
which are now an UNNATURAL and PRIMARY food source
for commercially raised beef and poultry (not to mention humans)
may help account for rampant serotonin deficiencies, clinical
depression, anxiety and some forms of ADD/ADHD in our
populations. Now I also know why I can only eat Perdue
chicken even if the others are organic.
” A wheat farmer weighs on on Wheat Belly, (the book by
William Davis, M.D. ) I have been a wheat farmer for 50
years and one wheat production practice that is very
common is applying the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate)
just prior to harvest. Roundup is licensed for pre-harvest
weed control. Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup ,
claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture
results in roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels. Farmers
like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant,
allowing an earlier harvest.
A wheat field ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup
pre-harvest evens up the greener parts of the field with
the more mature. The result is that on the less mature
areas, roundup is trans-located into the kernels…..this
practice is not licensed. Farmers mistakenly call it
‘dessication.”‘
Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are
undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of roundup. An
interesting aside: malt barley, which is made into beer, is
not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with
pre-harvest Roundup .Lentils and peas are not accepted in the
marketplace if they are sprayed with pre-harvest Roundup ,
but it’s OK on wheat???? This farming practice concerns
me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products.
In a Letter to the Editor a man wrote: apparently the changes
made to wheat by agribusiness and the food industry over the
years have created a grain – never tested on humans- that
causes health problems for many people.”
The majority of patients have what is termed SILENT Celiac
Disease, which may remain undiagnosed because the condition
has no (gastrointestinal) symptoms. That is what I had and I
have only been diagnosed for 6 years so this has ravaged my
body all these years without me or my doctors being clued
into all the strange symptoms and effects I was suffering from.
A review in the New England Journal of Medicine found that
fully 55 diseases can be caused by gluten. Among these are
are heart disease, cancer, nearly all autoimmune diseases,
osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and other
gastrointestinal disorders, gallbladder disease,Hashimoto’s
disease(an autoimmune thyroid disorder responsible for up
to 90 Percent of all low-functioning thyroid issues), migraines,
epilepsy , Parkinson’s disease ALS, Neuropathies, and most
other degenerative neurological disorders as autism, which is
technically an autoimmune brain disorder. Gluten can also
cause many common psychiatric illnesses, including anxiety
issues, ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, dementia,
and schizophrenia.
Do you or any of your loved ones suffer from any of these?
I know I have experienced depression, thyroid problems,
osteoporosis, ADD, brain fog, low immune system, broken
bones, anxiety, arthritis,etc.
Now that I am gluten free, it has not healed all of the above
that were caused by gluten but I FEEL so much better and
my immune system is doing a great job of keeping me a lot
healthier than I was before. And…..my mind is sharper and
my moods are practically level all the time, I see the world in
a much different light and I am happier and more joyful,and
I sleep like a baby. Life on this earth is too short to spend
ANY time not feeling good or enjoying all this planet has
to offer.
Why would I risk all of this for a piece of cake, a cracker,
a slice of bread, meat other than the special beef and
Perdue chicken I buy and eating only natural fish from
the ocean rather than farm raised. I am not skinny so
I get plenty to eat and quite a variety I may add. It is
so much easier to be gluten free now than 6 years ago
when I was finally diagnosed at the insistence of my
daughter who is also a Celiac. By the way, Celiac
Disease runs in families as the sensitivities are passed
down to the next generation.
An article in Gastroenterology stated, ” during a 45 year
follow up, undiagnosed Celiac disease was associated with a
nearly 4-fold increased risk of death. The prevalence of
undiagnosed Celiac Disease seems to have increased
dramatically ini the United States during the last 50 years.
(Rubio-Tapia et all.200.). In an individual with either full
blown Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, the risk of death
from all causes, according to the journal, The Lancet, was
dramatically greater: Death was most significantly affected by
diagnostic delay, pattern of presentation and adherence to the
gluten free diet….Non-adherence to the gluten free diet, defined
as eating gluten once-per-month, increased the relative risk of
death 600%( Corrao et al.2001). Next time you want to
rationalize that one little cookie, slice of birthday cake, or piece
of bread, think twice. Being “mostly gluten-free” or eating gluten-
containing foods “only occasionally” just doesn’t cut it. There are
times where the saying (or perhaps rationalization) “all things
in moderation” simply does not apply.
Gluten sensitivity is only rarely obvious to the afflicted, and
many people are even entirely surprised to learn they have this
sensitivity, I know I was. Only an estimated 1% of all gluten
sensitivity or Celiac disease is ever diagnosed.
Products that contain corn or cornstarch are suspect also
buckwheat and soy flours are almost always contaminated
with gluten due to processing and storage methods. The
good news is that the devastating symptoms of gluten sensitivity
and Celiac disease can often be entirely eliminated. The treatment
solution? You must eliminate 100% – not just most- of the gluten
from your diet and that means hidden sources as well, which can
include (but are not limited to) commercial soups, broths, processed
food mixes, soy sauce, teriyaki and other sauces, band salad dressings.
gluten can be listed as vegetable protein, seitan, hydrolyzed vegetable
protein, modified food starch, and other names. Gluten is additionally
hidden on food labels as other food starches, artificial food coloring,
food stabilizers, malt extract (syrup or flavoring) dextrins, and food
emulsifiers.
Gluten is even an ingredient in many shampoos, cosmetics and
lipsticks (which can be potentially be absorbed transdermally) and other
personal care products, children’s Play-Doh, medications, vitamins
(unless specifically “gluten free”) and even non-self adhesive stamps
and envelopes.
I want you to know that so much is happening in this area. There is
a bill right now that is due to be signed for tighter restrictions or should
I say, better guidelines for labeling “gluten-free” on the labels that
will make it so much easier to avoid all the hidden sources of gluten.
Gluten is pervasive I know, yet there are so many products that are
out there now that make it so much easier to avoid it. You can take
this into your own hands or should I say mouth. This elimination
diet can be tried all on your own and you do not need a prescription.
I was so strongly guided to share all this with you and my wish
is that you will be inspired to look at your food in a different way.
If you suspect you may have Celiac disease, go to the doctor and
get the blood test before you go gluten free. You need to have gluten
in your system so the test will pick up the antibodies your body is
producing. I know you will be able tell by how much better you will
feel in a short amount of time, at least after a month, if you decide
to give it a try. Elimination diets can be an effective means of
determining the potential for gluten sensitivity, but they must be
strictly adhered to make a genuinely clear determination. If you
cheat or inadvertenly ingest gluten, the symptoms will return.
There is also a saliva test now at www.cyrexlabs.com
and also a stool test which you can get at EnteroLab.
May is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month IF
I had been diagnosed a long time ago, I would have
avoided many of the health situations that I now have.
Yet, I am grateful for all the knowledge there is now and
I want to make sure that all my beloveds on my list have
the opportunity to check it out so they can avoid any
health issues for themselves and their loved ones.
After writing or should I say typing all of this, and being
brought back into what I “used to be”, I feel reborn
into a “new” body, mind and Spirit. I want
to send you off with an inspiration.
Love and Light
Mary Grace