At 03:13 PM 3/4/97 -0800, Leslie Beachwood <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have a question maybe the moderators or someone more
>knowledgeable than I can address: how widespread is this,

First you have to differentiate between full-blown celiac disease, aka
gluten intolerance, and gluten sensitivity. Tests throughout Europe have
found an incidence of celiac disease of around 1:300. The single study done
in the US on *healthy* blood donors found 1:250. It exists is India, is rare
in Blacks, and maybe non-existent in Pacific Rim Asians.

For gluten sensitivity (high gliadin antibodies), studies have found 5-15%
of the population, but there is no standard for just what sensitivity is.

Then there is the autistic community, where there often are no antibodies,
but gliadin peptides are getting through a leaky gut, accumulating in the
kidneys, and being excreted in the urine.

>and why should humans be intolerant to gluten?

Basically it is a new food to the human diet and we haven't been eating it
long enough for natural selection to have culled out those that can't handle
it. Because we are omnivores doesn't mean we can eat every single food that
exists on the planet. Celiac disease is most common in the places where
grains have been eaten for less time, and gluten is being eaten in large
quantity.

There are two articles on this. The better one is:

Lutz, W.J., "The Colonisation of Europe and Our Western Diseases", Medical
Hypotheses, Vol. 45, pages 115-120, 1995

But the copyright holder refuses to allow it to be posted or put on a web
site. So if someone wants to read it I can e-mail a copy (without exhibits)
to anyone that privately e-mails me and asks for a copy.

There is also this one on the web:

From the Neolithic Revolution to Gluten Intolerance: Benefits and Problems
Associated with the Cultivation of Wheat, by Luigi Greco

  http://www.celiac.com/history.html

Don.