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Dear Ayn:

There's been a lot of discussion on the list about the low-carb diet,
and the benefit of trace minerals.  I found some interesting sites that
tie it together for me.  I was hypoglycemic, I had gestational diabetes,
I have the hyperinsulemic belly.  What I was looking for was the
relationship between the bloating and my apparent inability to
metabolize carbs and gluten intolerance.  This is what I found, though
it may not apply to everyone.  Let's just call it a working theory,
something to discuss with your doctor.

First , the background.  I think this is an interesting link, because it
picks up on the incidence of both thyroid deficiency and diabetes among
the celiac:
   http://www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html
I thought it was interesting because I have 2 sisters who are both on
synthetic thyroid.

My thyroid seems to be fine, though I had it tested as late as last
summer, when I presented to my family doctor so fatigued I couldn't lift
my arm to put my makeup on.  When the thyroid test came back normal, I
took to the web, looking for the answer of why I felt all the symptoms
of low thyroid, but...         This is what I found:

   http://wellweb.com/altern/diseases/thyroid.htm       The crux of this
article is that it takes particular trace minerals for that thyroid
hormone to work.  Iodine, selenium, manganese, copper, zinc and
potassium.  I think it is really interesting that copper, manganese,
potassium and zinc each have a different function in carbohydrate
metabolism.  Here's a quick link to a reference site:

   http://quiles.home.mindspring.com/minerals/minerals.htm#man  The
reference to manganese and the development of the pancreas is
particularly intriguing to me.  I found the same reference on another
website, and it's interesting to think how maternal diet might influence
organ development and function in offspring.  If I were a researcher
looking into any dysfunction related to the pancreas,  Do we who are
carb intolerant have pancreases that differ from the norm?

But you might want to take the time to read though the roles of the
other trace minerals I cited.

In addition to the carb-crunching minerals, I spent a lot of time
looking into the function of selenium.  Early on, I came across some
websites that mentioned that soils in Finland, maybe Great Britain,
China and Africa were deficient in selenium.  I found another site that
seems to indicate that HIV crossed over into the human population in a
selenium-deficient population
   http://www.solgar.com/nutrition_library/articles/selenium2.html
I was thinking that  possibly populations in selenium deficient areas
were more susceptible to viruses/adenovirses that might trigger the
symptomatic form of celiac disease.  I got as far as the soils in the
western half of North America are alkaline, and contain more selenium
that the eastern half, but without good data for incidence of CD, I
couldn't take that one any farther.  Another thing I'm not sure about
with selenium, does anyone know if selenium can regulate yeast
population?  Here's the link:
   http://www.nrc.ca/cisti/journals/40702/tema_e.html, use your edit
function to look for the word "yeast"  This sort of suggests to me that
selenium aids in the development of neutrophils that ingest and kill
yeast cells.  Makes it and interesting mix if yeast cells can secrete
transglutaminase.

But the idea of mineral soil content still is intriguing.  Ever hear of
the goiter belt?  Roughly around the region of the Great lakes, where
iodine levels in the soil are low...I live in it...I noticed that two of
the papers dealing with American celiacs were researched in the goiter
belt.  Here's an interesting link that might keep this alive:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/iodine981001.html and
http://www.faseb.org/asns/NIIODI.html

In the end, I favor more research into our need for zinc.  Especially if
you supplement with essential fatty acids   I haven't found a specific
site that explains the relationship between the EFAs and blood sugar
regulation, but then I haven't looked all that much.  But here are some
links about the EFAs:
   http://www.smartbasic.com/glos.nutrients/efa.glos.html and
   http://www.keats.com/news/w96efa.html   If EFAs are a source of
prostaglandins and zinc works with prostaglandins, zinc is significant
for us.

I have two more reasons I favor taking EFAs...both from Purdue
University.  They are:
   http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/9606.Burgess.html and
   http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/970926.Watkins.omega3.html

Really sorry for running on like this, but it's interesting stuff to
think about.  The more I think about potassium, for example, the more I
want to know.  If potassium can influence the body's pH level, for
example, could a dysfunction in how the body uses potassium + hormones
negatively influence the pH of the mucous environment of the small
intestine?  Would this in turn affect the absorption of trace minerals,
sort of setting up a downward spiral?  I don't know...it's taken me
years to get this far, as it is...

Bec