<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
>>There is no uniform position on quinoa, in fact the co-listowners
>>themselves have different views on the topic.  My celiac son enjoys
>>quinoa pasta several times a week, and has no symptoms --- although as
>>we all know, lack of symptoms does not prove GF status.
 
The same as the issue with Teff and Amaranth. Rereading the CSA position
on various grains, their recommendation is based on the "reactions"
suffered by some "celiacs".
 
I strongly suspect that all immediate reactions suffered by those gluten
sensitive are "allergic", not celiac, responses. Celiac diarrhea, for
example, apparently  comes either in the undiagnosed or refractory state
when most of the small intestine has been wiped out, not from a single
exposure.
 
Some of us may be just allergic to gluten (whether self-diagnosed or
biopsed), some diagnosed celiac, and others both. Reports to the list by
newly GF persons about how they suddenly become sensitive to even a single
dose of gluten strongly match the properties of a Type I hypersensitivity
reaction with IgE, histamine and for gluten reactions the GI distress.
("Understanding Allergy, Sensitivity, and Immunity: A Comprehensive
Guide", Joneja, J.V. & Bielory, L., Rutgers U. Press paperback) The
mechanism of this response implies the amplified effect that makes
response to a single dose possible.
 
Someone reported to the list recently of trying amaranth, for example, and
found she got a rash. That's surely an atopic Type I response of this
"allergic" category, isn't it?
 
I'm a biopsed celiac who had just barely gotten to the diarrhea stage at
diagnosis and now don't react to single portions. I try to rigorously
exclude known gluten but use millet (another CSA no-no), quinoa, teff, and
amaranth for variety in the diet.  I just can't believe, for example, that
tropical teff, predating temperate zone wheat in evolution and with a
correspondingly tiny genome, has the toxic peptide in it.
 
Professionals: celiacs hear so much of the wide range of sensitivities of
those gluten sensitive. Hence,  exclude every possible gluten source from
diets! Is it possible there are two different dose/response relations for
those gluten  sensitive? One for those with a Type I response (whether
with or without the celiac response) and one for those with the celiac
response (whether with or without the allergic response)?
 
If so, then we can judge whether to eat some of these "suspect" foods
based  on whether we get an obvious immediate  response or not.
 
                                                   Kemp Randolph
                                                   Long Island