>I've just sent for the Celiac FAQ to learn more about gluten intolerance,
>but in the meanwhile I have a question maybe the moderators or someone more
>knowledgeable than I can address: how widespread is this, and why should
>humans be intolerant to gluten?

To amplify what Don said, my daughter is autistic.  We had read about the
opiode peptides (opiode being related to the drug opium) and decided to try
the diet.
The suspected reason why autistic children are affected by gluten
intolerance is that they lack something in their bodies (perhaps, an enzyme)
which is needed to break gluten (and/or casein) to the amino acid level.
Gluten contains 15 opiode sequences and what is left in the autistic
intestines is the opiode peptides, not the amino acids needed by the body.
If the child has a leaky gut (often spawned by Candida overgrowth induced by
excessive anti-biotics for frequent ear infections induced by food
intolerances--see the vicious cycle here), then it is very easy for these
peptides to leak into the bloodstream, which feeds the brain.  While it has
not been proven that these peptides can cross the protective blood brain
barrier, any person living with a diet sensitive autistic child can attest
that there are marked changes in mood and behavior when a child eats the
wrong food.

Here are some of the changes we have seen since the diet:

--complete potty training (the opiodes must have been blocking her ability
to detect when it was time to use the potty) and she does have relapses when
she sneaks some gluten or casein

--appearance of pretend play and imaginative skills (she never did this
prior to diet)--she even PLAYS with Barbies now!

--disappearance of eczema (other things helped with that...flax oil, mainly)
which flares up when she sneaks some gluten or casein

--improved abstract thinking skills which disappear when she sneaks gluten
or casein (we homeschool and Pamela will lose abilities that she could
easily do the day before eating gluten or casein--it takes about a day for
these effects to clear her system)

--increased language...other therapies probably have contributed here, but
this biggest change that I can attribute to the diet is that she had very
little spontaneous language--it was all need oriented...now she says things
are descriptive (ie, "I am in the jungle" when climbing a tree) without
prompt from me!

Also, when she does sneak gluten or casein (which really is rare, but often
enough in 18 months to draw conclusions), we see increased tantrumming and
irritability as well.  Pamela really is a happy child and she gets quite
grouchy after eating gluten/casein.

Tammy G.

"A parent's love perceives no limitations."