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Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
Gluten-free diet may have 'unintended consequences' for health
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315846.php
Written by Honor Whiteman
Published: Wednesday 15 February 2017
A new study suggests that a gluten-free diet may pose serious health risks, after finding that the eating pattern may raise the risk of exposure to arsenic and mercury.
Researchers suggest that a gluten-free diet may increase the risk of arsenic and mercury exposure.
Study co-author Maria Argos, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Epidemiology.
A gluten-free diet excludes foods that contain gluten - a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, as well as the byproducts of these grains.
For people with celiac disease - an autoimmune condition whereby gluten intake leads to intestinal damage - a gluten-free diet is the only treatment for the condition.
However, according to a 2012 survey, around 28-30 percent of us restrict our gluten intake or avoid consuming the protein completely, even in the absence of gluten sensitivities.
Rice flour is a common substitute for gluten in many gluten-free products. Argos and colleagues point out that rice can bioaccumulate arsenic, mercury, and other potentially harmful toxic metals from water, soil, or fertilizers.
Exposure to these metals has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other diseases.
"Despite such a dramatic shift in the diet of many Americans, little is known about how gluten-free diets might affect exposure to toxic metals found in certain foods," note the authors.
Arsenic, mercury levels higher with a gluten-free diet
With the aim of investigating the link between gluten-free diets and toxic metal exposure, Argos and team analyzed the data of 7,471 individuals who were a part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2009 and 2014.
The researchers identified 73 participants aged between 6 and 80 who reported following a gluten-free diet.
Blood and urine samples were taken from all participants and assessed for levels of arsenic and mercury.
The researchers found that levels of each toxic metal were much higher among subjects who followed a gluten-free diet than those who did not eat gluten-free products; mercury levels were 70 percent higher in the blood of gluten-free subjects, while arsenic levels in urine were almost twice as high.
According to Argos, these findings suggest that there may be "unintended consequences of eating a gluten-free diet," though further studies are needed to confirm whether this is the case.
The researchers add that:
"With the increasing popularity of gluten-free diets, these findings may have important health implications since the health effects of low-level arsenic and mercury exposure from food sources are uncertain but may increase the risk for cancer and other chronic diseases.
Although we can only speculate, rice may be contributing to the observed higher concentrations of metal biomarkers among those on a gluten-free diet as the primary substitute grain in gluten-free products."
Argos points out that there are regulations in Europe that limit arsenic levels in food products, and he suggests that the United States might benefit from similar regulations.
"We regulate levels of arsenic in water, but if rice flour consumption increases the risk for exposure to arsenic, it would make sense to regulate the metal in foods as well," he adds.
Learn how a gluten-free diet has gained popularity in the U.S.
Written by Honor Whiteman
[A copy the original study is attached ~ Barry :waccosun:]
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
I'd sure like to know who funded this study.
The thrust of this article seems to be aimed at rice and rice products. I think you need to consider the source of the rice products you use. Meanwhile, check out this article by the Lundbergs.
In case no one has noticed, there's an ongoing epidemic of brain diseases: Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS, depression, bipolar disorder, dementia, etc.
There is a growing movement among neurologists, starting with Dr. David Perlmutter, concerned about the effects of gluten on gut and brain health. Start here:
How Can Eating Gluten Affect the Health of My Brain?
Gluten can cause depression, anxiety, brain fog and other brain disorders
Two Foods That May Sabotage Your Brain
What Gluten Can Do To Your Brain (Hint: It Isn't Pretty)
The wheat we eat today bears little resemblance to the original plant that was domesticated. Our bodies don't do well with it because they can't digest it properly.
For all you pizza fiends, you can get fairly decent gf pizza at Amy's Drive Thru in RP or buy Amy's or Udi's frozen gf pizza at Whole Foods and elsewhere.
I won't even get started on refined sugars. :-)
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Posted in reply to the post by photolite:
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
I have heard that if you soak your rice overnight then throw out the water is will leach out the arsenic. Then there is the fact that the people of Okinawa who are almost always vigorous into their 90s eat lots of rice.
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
While I'm on a roll, so to speak, re the epidemic of brain diseases, another big factor in the upswing is related to cholesterol of all things.
According to Perlmutter and other neurologists, the brain is comprised primarily (80-90%?) of cholesterol and the current guidelines for cholesterol levels are far too low for brain health. Even the accepted upper limit of 200 is too low. We are literally starving our brains by eating low cholesterol diets. Just be sure your cholesterol comes from healthy sources.
The rates of heart disease have not dropped significantly since the current cholesterol guidelines were adopted decades ago, but the incidence of brain diseases has skyrocketed. The proof is in the pudding. :-)
One last thing: one of the best things you can incorporate into your diet to protect your brain is coconut oil, at least 2 Tbsp per day for maintenance. It's those medium chain triglycerides that are beneficial. Dr. Mary Newport is a strong advocate of coconut oil, having used it successfully to reverse her husband's Alzheimer's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9INyTTXfR0
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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:
...There is a growing movement among neurologists, starting with Dr. David Perlmutter, concerned about the effects of gluten on gut and brain health. ...
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:
One last thing: one of the best things you can incorporate into your diet to protect your brain is coconut oil,
And yet coconut palms are one of the many crops often produced with pesticides we have banned here in the US (yet still merrily produce and ship to less developed countries). And oils tend to be among the worst carriers for chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
I'm sure most people my age have seen countless foods demonized, hailed as miracle cure alls, only to see them switch sides on the table...or to just return to a place of being a food. Sometimes multiple cycles in my lifetime...
I'll say- my wife and I have completely different genetic make-ups (mine northern cold climates- her mediterranea, southern european, and south american). The foods that work best for our bodies are rarely the same (and yes, this causes all kind of grief around our meals).
I really don't think there is any magic food. One size does not fit all. It's like the X-files "we want to believe". Just avoid this, and eat this... and it will all be ok. Having been around every trend for a few decades- vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, raw food, macrobiotic, gluten free etc etc etc.... I've never seen any magic. For every person I've seen improve I've seen another hurting themselves.
Listen to your body. Eat the highest quality foods you can find and afford. Organic is good- but local and small farmed can be better.
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:
... the brain is comprised primarily (80-90%?) of cholesterol and the current guidelines for cholesterol levels are far too low for brain health.
The number's a bit high.. it's 25%. The amount of water is 60% or more, and the number of cells that are bacteria is 90% so maybe one of those numbers stuck?? Google trivia can be fun.
But you're right about over-emphasis on cholesterol, although it seems pretty well documented that people benefit from its control.
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/16/u...olesterol.html
This post started because I recall reading about some anti-cholesterol drug that was being developed for a long time at great expense, and in the end it turned out to be treating a symptom and failing to treat the underlying problem. I misremembered that cholesterol was a symptom and not a problem -- the above research affirms it's worth controlling. I just wish I knew what the other drug was -- anybody? because it's common in medicine that two factors are coincident without causation, but one of the factors gets treatment hoping it'll help with the other.
(edit) Found a couple! maybe not the ones I remember, and not easy reading...
The second one says (if I read it correctly, which I didn't at first) that statins used to lower LDL do help, but not because they lowered LDL. Instead, lowering LDL may be a side effect while it has some other mechanism for improving cardiac health. They found that there may be benefits even when LDL isn't lowered. This might imply that it's not that LDL is bad, is that whatever's causing cardiac problems is also and incidentally increasing the amount of LDL. If true, that reinforces your point - directly attacking cholesterol, even 'bad' cholesterol, might be the the wrong technique.
https://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v13/n6/full/nrd4279.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21391729
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
Arsenic is insoluble in water. Here is an article about the issues: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...rice/index.htm
It does say that washing the rice will remove 30% of the arsenic, so perhaps some of it is stuck to the outside and washes off.
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Posted in reply to the post by Goat Rock Ukulele:
I have heard that if you soak your rice overnight then throw out the water is will leach out the arsenic. Then there is the fact that the people of Okinawa who are almost always vigorous into their 90s eat lots of rice.
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
You'll get no argument from me, SPC, re individual dietary needs. But I am not writing about diets. I am writing about brain health and what neurologists/scientists are discovering.
Most neurologists know that the drugs they prescribe for Alzheimer's are useless but they prescribe them nonetheless, I assume because they want to do something for their patients and that is all they have to offer. I listened to a 12-part webinar about brain health last fall and am only recounting what I learned from it. Participating drs included Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, Dr. Patricia Gerborg and Dr. Brown, Dr. Mary Newport, Dr. Dominic d'Agostino and Dr. Angela Poff, Dr. Vincent Fortanescu, Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Pamela W. Smith, Dr. Fred Pescatore, Dr. David Katz, and Dr. Bredesen of the Buck Institute on Aging. They are all concerned with finding solutions to the epidemic of brain diseases and I think all of them have their own websites (can't vouch for my spelling of their names) if you want to research their bona fides.
Until relatively recently, it was always believed that the brain we are born with is all we get, that if the brain is compromised or injured, there is nothing to be done about it. What science is now discovering is that our brains have the capacity to heal and regenerate, a process call neuroplasticity. So these doctors and others are looking for ways to help the brain do that, and they are trying different approaches with their patients and in labs.
This info is coming in the nick of time because our brains (and bodies) are being assaulted by ever more toxic chemicals, ones that can and do penetrate the brain-blood barrier (which has historically protected our brains from toxins in the body). Thus the epidemic of brain diseases that we are seeing.
At the time I listened to the webinar, Dr. Teitelbaum was preparing to conduct a free 6-month study on people with Alzheimer's. He was asking for volunteers, so I don't know if the study is underway or if there will be another one. Participants can live at home and all their supplements, etc. will be provided at no charge. Anyone who is interested can go to www.endfatigue.com or phone (410)658-3832 for more information. FWIW.
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Posted in reply to the post by SonomaPatientsCoop:
And yet coconut palms are one of the many crops often produced with pesticides we have banned here in the US ...
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
Thanks for this info, Podfish. I'm a little skeptical of mainstream studies because of the power and influence of Big Pharma. I have also seen the harm statins, which have been hugely profitable, have caused some of my clients--dangerous side effects not widely reported.
I'm inclined to think Dean Ornish's approach is the best one for dealing with heart disease. I don't think the other studies took much account of diet and lifestyle.
For balance here is Dr. Perlmutter weighing in on his view of cholesterol:
https://www.drperlmutter.com/cholest...cord-straight/
https://www.drperlmutter.com/war-on-cholesterol/
https://www.drperlmutter.com/cholest...-brain-health/
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Posted in reply to the post by podfish:
The number's a bit high.. it's 25%. ...
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
BTW, Podfish, where did you get your figures for cholesterol in brain composition? I found the 25% figure but it was for the percentage of total cholesterol in the body that is located in the brain, not for what percentage of the brain is comprised of cholesterol.
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Posted in reply to the post by podfish:
The number's a bit high.. it's 25%. ...
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:
BTW, Podfish, where did you get your figures for cholesterol in brain composition? I found the 25% figure but it was for the percentage of total cholesterol in the body that is located in the brain, not for what percentage of the brain is comprised of cholesterol.
yeah, when I went back to check I saw this:
Your Brain Needs Cholesterol
Cholesterol is vitally important for brain function. While your brain represents about 2-3% of your total body weight, 25% of the cholesterol in your body is found in your brain,
the original one I quoted was:
Your Brain Needs Cholesterol - David Perlmutter M.D.
www.drperlmutter.com/brain-needs-cholesterol/
If the brain is normally composed of around 25% cholesterol...
... so who knows? I'm not sure they're mutually exclusive. Gotta do some algebra...
Re: Unintended Consequences of Gluten Free Diet
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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:
>snip< But I am not writing about diets. I am writing about brain health and what neurologists/scientists are discovering.
Hmm. I have serious issues with perlmutter et al. From his association with "Dr Oz" to the "Institute for Functional Medicine" he is associated with new agey medicine and draws conclusions that are not supported by the evidence.
And I have serious problems with "doctors" who seem more interested in being celebrities- and promoting their books/spealing appearances/tv appearances then they do in actually dealing with patients or responding to the serious issues raised about their "conclusions" by many prominent people in their field.
I Iived in the northwest for a long time- have dozens of friends who are Naturopathic doctors (attended Bastyr in Seattle or National in Portland). None I am aware of support these claims at all.
I always higly recommend Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com to those that may not have journal access. It does a great job of stripping away the junk ad providing science backed articles.
Now... to be fair... there IS some research that suggests links between gluten sensitivity or celiacs to alzheimers- but it does not suggest gluten is the problem.
And let us not forget- grains were a major food source- for thousands of years- the so called "staff of life". The ancedotal historical evidence does not jibe with the claims of someone riding the gluten buzz....
