GLUTEN SENSITIVITY --- Part VI

ANTIBIOTICS, GUT HEALTH, AND GLUTEN SENSITIVITY

In my series on gluten, we have learned that GLUTEN INTOLERANCE is one of the most serious (and ignored) health problems facing Americans today.  We have also learned about a few of the reasons that people today face an increasingly difficult situation as far as gluten is concerned (HERE).  Today we will delve into some of the things that are known to trigger Gluten Sensitivity / Intolerance --- as well as full-blown Celiac Disease.  Interestingly enough, some of these same things can actually be triggered by Gluten Sensitivity --- creating the proverbial "chicken or egg" question.  Although there are probably a number of triggers that we are yet unaware of, we will stick with what we know from Scientific Research.

According to a recent article in Science Daily, Americans continue ruin their health with ANTIBIOTICS.  Although the treating medical community seems to be doing little about this crisis, the scientific research community as well as the mainstream media is starting to take the ball and run with it.  A few of the things that are most heavily associated with Gluten Sensitivity include antibiotics.

ANTIBIOTICS:
Is there any country on the planet that uses more antibiotics that the United States?  Nope; and it's not even close!  Antibiotics, when used properly, are a stop-gap measure to prevent people from dying of bacterial infections.  Instead, they have become so common place that they are frequently little more than a placebo given to placate demanding patients --- something to be taken for every sniffle, sneeze, or cough (real or imagined).  They are also improperly handed out like candy for viral infections (HERE).

I have spent a fair amount of time on this blog talking about some of the dangers associated with antibiotic use / abuse, as well as the fact that 80% of your entire immune system is found in the gut --- a large percentage of that being made up of "good bacteria" (HERE).  Now the research is starting to prove that antibiotic-induced DYSBIOSIS is a major cause of Gluten Sensitivity.  Does anyone recall what was said oinn FRIDAY'S BLOG ENTRY? 

The prestigious medical journal Diabetes recently had to say this about Type I Diabetes, "There is a growing body of evidence that diet may play a role in the development of Type 1 Diabetes, through influencing gut flora [bacteria], intestinal permeability [Leaky Gut Syndrome], and immune function in the gut; wheat in particular has been shown to have a connection to the development of Type 1 Diabetes, although the relationship is poorly understood."   The really scary thing is that the same things are being said about numerous other AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES as well.  A 2005 Swedish study noted this when they said "There is a difference in the metabolic activity of intestinal microbial flora in children with Celiac Disease compared to that in Healthy Controls."  Again, there are abundant studies on this phenomenon.  YESTERDAY'S POST was all about showing you how to find them.

CHRONIC VIRAL INFECTIONS: 
This one is probably more related to antibiotics than your doctor cares to admit.  Because a whopping 80% of your entire Immune System is found in your gut / digestive tract (SEE HERE), and because antibiotics kill bacteria, and not viruses; every time you take an antibiotic, you are weakening your body's ability to fight viral infections --- by far the most common kind of microbial infection.  Is this a big deal?  Absolutely, considering that when you get sick, there is about a 90% chance that the pathogen will be a virus ---- not a bacteria.  Here is one example from a 1994 study published by the Department of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin "A 12 amino acid sequence from the adenovirus [a very common virus that causes upper respiratory infections, among other things] 12 E1B protein is homologous at the protein level with a similar 12-mer derived from the wheat protein A-gliadin. It has been suggested that exposure to Ad 12 could sensitize individuals to gliadins with resultant gluten sensitive enteropathy."  In plain English, proteins from viruses are strangely similar to gliadin (one of the two proteins that makes up gluten).  Exposure to said virus can cause Gluten Sensitivity.

PARASITES, YEAST, & FUNGUS: 
Yes, I know this sounds crazy.  We live in America where everything is clean.  We don't get PARASITES or fungal infections.  Wrong!  Parasites and fungal / YEAST INFECTIONS are actually common --- especially in people who have had lots of...... you guessed it; antibiotics.  There are specialized immune cells that line the small intestine called immunocytes. These immune cells produce secretory IgA, a critical component of the thin, healthy mucous that is makes up the first line of immune defense. The inflammation produced in individuals that are Gluten Sensitive destroys these cells, which in turn opens the door to intestinal infections of all sorts. This lowered immune defense is referred to as depressed secretory IgA, and can result in many other food reactions as well. This is because secretory IgA also helps the body process food antigens. 

Be aware that while Gluten Sensitivity causes INFLAMMATION that cause the above mentioned infections of the gut; the antibiotics prescribed to people kill off a significant percentage of the good bacteria.  As bad bacteria gain a foothold in the gut, it further opens the doors for good bacteria to be crowded out altogether.  Is this a problem in America?  Ask Dr. Martin Blaser MD.  In a PREVIOUS BLOG POST, I reported his research stating that antibiotic abuse was causing the extinction of certain types of good bacteria (normal gut flora).  When this happens, you create an environment where the bad guys push the good guys out and take over ---- permanently!

For example, in a normal person, about 10,000,000 Salmonella must be ingested in order to cause disease.  However, when that person's gut is "sterile" (all or most of the good bacteria have been killed off because of antibiotics), the same disease can be produced by as few as 10 Salmonella. This dramatic difference is simply due to competition.  If you do not have friendly bacteria in your gut (and elsewhere), you will have problems.  For a little taste of what good bacteria do in your body, CLICK HERE.

INFLAMMATION: 
The chemicals that we refer to collectively as "inflammation" (prostaglandins, leukotrienes, thromboxanes, cytokines, chemokines, certain enzymes, kinnins, histamines, eicosanoids, substance P, TNF's, Il's, and dozens of others) are being touted by the medical community as the primary cause of a whole host of physical ailments.   Let me repeat that.  INFLAMMATION is a (probably "the") primary causal factor in numerous disease processes. 

It is not that Inflammation is a bad thing in and of itself.  These chemicals that make up "inflammation" are actually part of your normal immune system function.  In the correct amounts, these chemicals are crucial to insuring a proper immune system response to various attacks or injuries to your body.   However, as they become increasingly elevated throughout the body, they drive the body's Immune System Response to higher and higher levels, causing scads of major health problems.  This is because Chronic (long term) Inflammation is characterized by a cycle of destruction and healing in the affected tissue ---- at the same time --- over and over and over again! And yes, Gluten is a major cause of inflammation as well ---- particularly of the gut and the BRAIN / NERVOUS SYSTEM.  Some of the other problems that Inflammation is known to cause includes;

• Disc Injuries, Slipped Disc, Disc Herniation, and Disc Rupture
• Heart Disease and virtually all forms of Cardiovascular Problems
• Skin conditions including Eczema and Psoriasis
• Arthritis & Fibromyalgia
• Asthma
• ADD, ADHD, Depression, and various forms of Dementia
• Neurological Conditions of all sorts
• Female Issues
• Cancer
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Leaky Gut Syndrome
• Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, Hypoglycemia, and other Blood Sugar Regulation Problems
• Obesity
• Comprehensive lists along with much more detail on all of these and many more can be found HERE and HERE

TOO MANY BAD FATS / NOT ENOUGH GOOD FATS: 
Too many people are scared to death of dietary fat (HERE), and those who aren't, typically consume way too many TRANS FATS.  Unfortunately for these people, they are not getting enough Omega-3's and other healthy fats into their diets. 

THE BOTTOM LINE: 
The bottom line is that although there are many potential triggers out there, antibiotics are a huge factor in the declining health of our nation.  The American Society for Microbiology recently published research describing the relationship / interactions between the intestinal micro-flora (good bacteria) and the host.  Their Conclusion?  "Antibiotics profoundly disrupt intestinal homeostasis" (equilibrium).  The authors prefaced this conclusion with this remark, "Intestinal microbes help us digest our food, provide us with vitamins that we cannot make on our own, and protect us from microbes that make us sick, amongst other things".   In another major study, researchers examined over 2,000 molecules normally present in feces ---- before and after the administration of antibiotics.  The "after antibiotics" group showed some frankly, freaky results;

• The second round of mass spectroscopy revealed a very different metabolic landscape. The levels of 87 percent of the molecules detected had been shifted up or down by factors ranging from 2-fold to 10,000-fold. 
• The most profoundly altered pathways involved steroid hormones, eicosanoid hormones, sugar, fatty acid, and bile acid. "These hormones have very important functions in our health.  They control our immune system, reproductive functions, mineral balance, sugar metabolism, and many other important aspects of human metabolism."

THE AUTHOR'S CONCLUSIONS:
"First, our work shows that the unnecessary use of antibiotics has deleterious effects on human health that were previously unappreciated." 

Although we spend more on healthcare as a nation and per capita than any other country on the planet; we really don't have as much to show for it as one would assume.  Although we are managing to keep our population alive longer, we are a people plagued by Autoimmune Diseases (SEE HERE) ---- most of which the medical community has no answer for other than prescribing more immuno-suppressive cortico-steroids ---- or other drugs that are even harsher.  If you are looking for real answers to problems that are plaguing millions upon millions of other Americans, I suggest you start at ENDOGUT.  Endogut has loads of information about the very topics that you have read about in this series.  You can also go to PubMed to view over 150 studies pertaining to both gluten and antibiotics.