Saturday 19 February 2011

Gluten Free Diet Not Helping

Are you struggling even though you are following a gluten free diet? Here are my unqaulified thoughts on why.

Is Candida albicans a trigger in the onset of coeliac disease?
Nieuwenhuizen WF, Pieters RH, Knippels LM, Jansen MC, Koppelman SJ.

This article that was published in 2003

This interesting study compares a specific amino acid sequence found in Candida cell wall protein to a the gliadin amino acid sequence that triggers the immune response in coeliac disease. The researchers found that the sequences are "identical or highly homologous to known coeliac disease-related alpha-gliadin and gamma-gliadin T-cell epitopes," and propose that Candida is the trigger for the onset of celiac disease.

So perhaps we should now consider how it affects us

What is Candida?

Everyone has candida. It's a bacteria that lives naturally in all human bodies, mostly in the small intestine and the mucous membranes. It doesn't do anything harmful, and our bodies don't notice it. When it is allowed to flourish and overgrow it becomes problematic. When that happens the condition is called candida dysbiosis.

The symptoms of candida dysbiosis are fatigue, headaches, weakness, the feeling of being "hungover," diarrhea, nausea, and memory loss, among others. Yet it's vital to note that coeliac disease has many of the same symptoms. Could candida actually be complicating your coeliac disease?

As you know Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small bowel that is caused by an abnormal reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, and similar proteins found in barley and rye.

Candida can be caused by taking antibiotics or hormones, or by alcohol, stress, or a poor diet. Candida and coeliac disease have entirely different causes, but some of their symptoms are the same.

What's the connection?

What is the link between persistent symptoms of Coeliac Disease and an overgrowth of Candida. There are many people who adhere to a gluten free diet that still experience the diarrhea, bloating and stomach pain associated with Coeliac Disease.

If Candida is allowed to grow unchecked, as a result of incorrect diet or a compromised immune system, the ordinary single cell Candida bacteria grows tail-like structures, expands into large colonies, then penetrates the intestinal walls. This is known as a leaky Gut ...... Get Leaky Gut Help

Coeliac Disease is an autoimmune disease. The immune system responds to the protein in gluten as the enemy. The villi in the small intestine flatten and inflammation occurs. In this condition, the small intestine cannot absorb the nutrients the body needs for life and health.

The Connection.

As The cell walls of Candida are similar to the cell walls of gluten your immune system is unable to decipher the difference. This means the Coeliac's immune system is attacking the Candida causing the same reaction in the small intestine, as if not on a gluten free diet.

If the Candida takes over enough, the Coeliac intestine will start reacting to foods they have never had a reaction to previously because inflammation is continually present. Coeliac Disease is aggravated by an overgrowth of Candida. See Leaky Gut help

How to control both Gluten and Candida

You know how to control Gluten by avoiding any products that contain wheat, barley, malt, rye and oats or any starches that are derived from them. However in your gut, Candida ferments sugary foods to produce carbon dioxide, which causes bloating and flatulence. It also produces alcohol and other chemicals that irritate the lining of your gut, so that it goes into painful spasms and is less able to assimilate food, leading to constipation or diarrhoea.

Because Candida feeds on sugars, and all carbohydrates are digested to sugars, you can only defeat it by keeping to a low-carbohydrate diet and completely avoiding all sweetened foods, honey, fruit juices, dried and fresh fruit. Also avoid milk and dairy products (with the exception of organic butter), because of their high content of the sugar lactose and antibiotic residues.

In addition, cut out all foods that contain yeast, or have been fermented or pickled, since these encourage the growth of Candida. These include yeast extract, stock cubes, most bread, alcoholic drinks, cheese, black tea, and anything containing vinegar.  Yeast Free Gluten Free Help

Eat plenty of salad, fish, poultry, meat and fresh vegetables (apart from the starchy ones like potatoes, parsnips and carrots.