<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
Believe it or not, I didn't get any hostile replies to this question! THANK
YOU! (My question was about whether or not trace amounts of gluten really
matter if you don't have a noticeable reaction)
In general, most people that were diagnosed with Celiac later in life are
ADAMANT about not ingesting any gluten. Their health had been severely
compromised. I believe three people referred to gluten as "rat poison".
I had several that mentioned pediatric gastro doctors they used that don't
hold to such a strict view point. (One trained at Stanford and one at John
Hopkins) One said that the emotional consequences of children never being
about to eat a piece of pizza or cake can be more harmful; because they're
different than their friends. (On lady that wrote said her daughter had
some emotional hurts from all this and actually had an eating disorder
brought on by all this) .
One lady said that Asians who began to consume gluten at the same rate that
westerners do, get Celiac at the same percentages as westerners. So her
thinking was, that in Asia, the soy sauces contain gluten and if Asians are
eating this in small amounts, and not coming down with Celiac then this may
be an area that she can be a little looser on. (If anyone knows of a study
showing that Asians get Celiac at the same rate as westerners once they
start consuming gluten; I'd be interested in seeing this)
Several referred to an article done by Michelle at U of Chicago...I included
that below with some other replies that listed sites/articles you can look
at for more information.
Thank you to all who took the time to reply.
Jennifer
REPLIES
1) I would suggest you to ask your question at this other excellent site:
Delphi CD Forum Support Group: http://tinyurl.com/57nov
2) Michelle at U/Chicago said it takes 4-6 weeks after gluten exposure to
antibodies to return to normal. If you get a trace of gluten every 4 weeks,
you antibodies will always be elevated, which puts you at risk for other
autoimmune disorders.
These might help put things into perscpective.
A Little Won't Hurt...Will It?
The body's primary defender in the immune lymphatic system is the T-cell,
which recognizes antigens (foreign proteins) in the body and produces
antibodies to neutralize them. It has been suggested that a celiac's immune
system may mistake the gliadin protein from wheat (and similar proteins in
rye, barley, and possible oats) for an invader such as a bacterium or virus.
According to Jerry Crabtree of Stanford University, when the T-cells are
activated by an antigen, for the next two weeks they will proceed step by
step through a very precise pre-programmed sequence of events. Some 200-500
genes will activate, one after another, ticking off like soldiers standing
up to be counted, and will do so the exact same way each time, with each
gene producing its own particular protein. To make all of these proteins,
the immune system needs about two weeks. Once a cell has passed a critical
point in the activation process (which happens within an hour) it is
committed to it. If you take away the stimulus (the antigen) at that point,
the cell would still tick along through its two-week sequence.
("Conversations in a Cell:, Gary Taubes, Discover Feb. 1996, Vol 17)
For celiacs, occasional accidental ingestion of a minuscule amount of
gliadin could presumable still lead to a two-week activation of T-cells. If
gliadin is consistently ingested, the immune system theoretically might
continue indefinitely on its endless rampage. Is it any wonder that celiacs
sometimes feel weary?
How big is a crouton?...If you have not checked out www.celiac.com lately,
please do. There is much new information, like this item.
How much gluten is in a normal diet, and how much does it take to cause
damage in a celiac?
The average gluten-containing diet contains roughly 10-40 grams of gluten
per day. This figure is based on the amounts of gluten in your average slice
of whole wheat bread, which contains around 4.8 grams of gluten (10% gluten
by weight), and the amount of gluten in a serving of pasta, which is roughly
6.4 grams of gluten (11% gluten by weight). The smallest amount of gluten
which has been shown by a biopsy to cause damage to a celiac is 0.1 gram per
day (Catassi et al.). This is approximately the amount of gluten contained
in 1/48th of a slice of bread!
The biopsies in this study showed an increase in intraepithelial lymphocyte
count, one of the earliest signs of damage. The challenge was on 10 patients
(children) for 28 days each. Four of the patients showed an increase in IgA
antigliadin antibodies. The intestinal permeability test remained normal.
As a parent of celiac kids & a celiac myself, I can say that I'm extra
careful with the things I can control since it's not always possible to
avoid gluten, despite my best efforts. Just as I wouldn't want someone
making errors on my diet for me, I tried my very best to keep my kids g.f. &
healthy. I found out long ago, the one who get the gluten is the one who
gets sick. I don't like having a gluten reaction & don't want to cause
anyone else to have one either.
This article is written by Michelle Melin-Rogovin, Program Director for the
University of Chicago Celiac Disease Program, for the Scot Free Newsletter.
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