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On Tue, 15 Nov 1994 12:15:54 PST Donald D. Kasarda said:

>    Anyway, supposing, for the sake of argument, there is some carryover in
>distillation.  Celiac disease itself does not seem to involve an instant
>reaction to wheat gliadin peptides.  This creates a problem in challenging
>people in that some people go for months or even years eating a normal diet
>before any evidence can be obtained of harm.   Those people who have instant
>reactions to foodstuffs pose an interesting question.  Is this another
>immune response, perhaps more characteristic of allergy, rather than the
>immune response characteristic of celiac disease?  We don't know the answer
>to this question because we don't understand the mechanisms involved.  But
>just remember that there are true celiac patients, properly diagnosed, who
>can eat a couple of slices of wheat bread and never notice any effect. These
>certainly would never notice the "residue' in alcohol used to extract
>vanilla beans.

I find this very interesting.  My son has never been diagnosed as having
celiac.  He never had any symptoms of gastrointestinal distress.  He is aut-
istic, and has responded very well to a gluten and casein free diet.  He is
NOT allergic to wheat (he's been tested) but his reaction to it, and to
other gluten grains, is very obvious.  He has a behavioral reaction and while
it is not immediate it is quick--usually within an hour. On approximately
five occasions he's been given an accidental challenge and the reaction was
very extreme.  One minute fine, the next BOOM. Wild tantrum, aggression etc.

Whether or not his sensitivity to gluten causes intestinal damage I do not
know. He was gluten free for a year before I started reading much about
celiac and he's not been tested for it.  I cannot know whether his reaction
is due to an immune response that is different from that which is character-
istic of celiac.

Because all the celiac societies warn against using vanilla extract, I have
removed this and other distilled products from his diet. I can't say whether
or not he would have a reaction to something like this, but he has in the
past shown wild reactions to cross-contaminated food (e.g. french fries at
Roy Rogers) and once to Rice Dream.  I don't know if I'd be willing to give
him vanilla extract of catsup made with grain vinegar.

Do any of the celiacs on this list experience distress within an hour of
ingesting glutens?  Lisa Lewis