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Dr. David Clark, DC reveals exciting and surprising news about gluten sensitivity and coffee.
I'm going share with you some surprising information that you’re probably not going to like about why coffee is bad for people who are gluten sensitive.
So if you've taken some of the advice I've given out before, you've either cut out gluten or you've been tested appropriately to find out if you have a problem with gluten.
Now if you’re new to this whole issue let me just give you the 20 second explanation...
Gluten is one protein that’s found in wheat (barley and rye) and wheat products.
(Truth be known, there's a lot more stuff in wheat you can be sensitive to besides gluten. For example, wheat germ agglutinin, glutenin... But gluten--aka alpha gliadin--is the main one that most doctors have heard about.)
I don't even like to use the word "gluten sensitive," because it makes people think that it’s not a big deal, ...like maybe you just burp and have gas or diarrhea and that’s it.
Gastrointestinal symptoms are the least common presentation of gluten sensitivity.
The most common presentation (according to the research) of gluten sensitivity are neurological symptoms such as--
- migraine
- vertigo
- seizure
- epilepsy
- neuropathy
- ataxia and cerebellum signs
- ADD, ADHD
The third most common presentation of gluten sensitivity are endocrine/hormone symptoms.
Basically your immune system thinks gluten is an invader and it mounts an attack on it, which is inflammatory. The inflammation caused by this reaction can affect your body in many negative ways.
The most dangerous way is once your immune system attacks the gluten, it can then move on and start to attack the enzymes that process gluten in your small intestine.
Then, the immune system starts attacking your actual small intestine tissue.
And once this "self tolerance" is broken, your whole body is on the menu.
Your brain can be attacked...
...nerve tissue can be attacked.
...your ovaries, thyroid, adrenal glands....
I mean the list goes on and on.
There's not a disease or health condition you can think of that does not have an association - in the research literature - with gluten sensitivity.
Okay, so that’s the short introduction.
In February 2011, new information from internal laboratory research was released... And here’s the problem you've got to be aware of if you’re on a gluten-free diet and you drink coffee.
Listen up, because I know you might think you’re doing well, but maybe you’re not doing as well as you should be, or could be.
Coffee cross-reacts with gluten antibodies.
Let me tell you what that means...
When you have a gluten problem you make antibodies to it. Antibodies are like little strobe lights that your immune system makes for a specific invader.
So you put out these strobe lights for gluten, right? And they attach to a gluten molecule and they sit there and they flash so that your T cells --your SWAT team-- can come in and kill the gluten.
Gluten antibodies - those little strobe lights - can attach to other foods that are not gluten.
Your immune system thinks those non-gluten things ARE gluten ---and you can still have a gluten response.
The most common cross-reactor is coffee.
Now before you freak out and send me videos and e-mails saying, "Oh, how could coffee do that?"
Ten percent of coffee is a protein that cross-reacts with gluten antibodies.
Does cross reaction happen 100% of the time? No.
There's some lab testing you can do to confirm that cross reaction is happening...you need a doctor's order to get it (www.cyrexlabs.com) AND you'll need a doctor who understands what I'm talking about.
That’s a bummer for a lot of you because a lot of you drink coffee - (you shouldn’t because there's nothing good in coffe except maybe some antioxidants).
So, if you're on a gluten free diet and you feel a little bit better but maybe not as well as you thought you should ---kind of hit a plateau---you need to get rid of coffee.
You could get some lab testing to confirm, but ---
My suggestion is to just save your money and don't drink the coffee.
If you’re gluten sensitive, don't drink coffee.
Cross-reaction, keep your eyes out for some other posts on this, okay? It’s a big deal.
In my practice, many patients who were already on a gluten-free diet... and then eliminated coffe....enjoyed a major improvement in their overall health. (specifics varied from person to person)
Why? Because you body thought coffee was gluten. It wasn’t; but your immune system thought that it was.
A gluten-free diet is not enough..
To enjoy even better health, follow a gluten free and gluten cross-reaction free diet.
(There's lots more to come on this topic).
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© 2011 Dr. David Clark, DC. All Rights Reserved.
THE PLACE FOR ANSWERS™
Dr. David Clark, DC
Functional Neurologist
Diplomate College of Clinical Nutrition
Functional Endocrinology
Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist
Vestibular Rehab Specialist
214-341-3737
URL: http://www.doctordavidclark.com
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