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From:
Cathy Flick <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 26 Feb 2001 08:19:14 -0500
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

> Basically he reckons that if a person is mis-diagnosed as a,
> Celiac and goes onto a Gluten Free diet, then he or she
> is going to run into a problem.  If they try to go back onto Gluten
> they will  have severe problems.


He might be thinking that it's like lactose intolerance (not the same as
allergy to milk), where people lose the enzymes necessary to handle milk
after a certain age but can digest the milk if the enzymes are supplied
from external sources. I seem to recall one diet that claims that wheat
is "poison" for everybody, that we aren't built to handle it, but haven't
seen that theory corroborated in the allergy literature I've read. Most
likely, if people have a problem when they start eating gluten after long
avoidance, then they either do have celiac or have a permanent allergy to
wheat or barley.

I've read quite a bit in the food allergy literature, and so far I've
never seen anything about an analog of lactose intolerance with reference
to any food other than milk. Milk is kind of a special case, though,
because it's so aimed at maintaining the young of a specific species. So
it's intended as a temporary food rather than a lifetime food, and of
course it's not really intended to cross the species barrier (i.e., it's
no wonder that so many young humans have problems with cow's milk).

Ordinarily, you don't develop food allergies by NOT eating the allergenic
food for a few years....  On the contrary, avoidance of a food for long
periods typically makes it possible to eat the food again, as long as you
don't overdo it by eating it every day. This is the basis for the
rotation scheme for allergy control. Exceptions are permanent allergies
that will bother you right away even after several years avoidance. If
you are allergic, you don't start reacting to a food until after a
certain degree of exposure to the food on a regular basis. It might take
years before you have a reaction. That's not what I would expect if there
were an acquired enzyme deficiency that prevents digestion of wheat or
barley -- I would expect an immediate problem instead.


You might ask if people in areas of the world where non-gluten grains are
the main diet experience a high degree of problems with imported wheat
and barley when they eat them later in life. If the fellow's theory is
correct, that's what you would expect to observe. Of course, it will be
hard to separate out what factors of the new diet are involved in any
problems, since generally incorporation of wheat/barley means a lot of
other changes in eating habits also.


                           Peace, Cathy Flick [log in to unmask]

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