in Chapter 9.
You know caffeine as the chemical you turn to when you need a quick pick-me-up or something to help you wake up in the morning. What you probably don’t think about is the other effects that caffeine has on your body. At the same time caffeine is alerting your senses and awakening your mind, caffeine is creating a small rise in your blood sugar. That’s not a big deal for a lot of people, but for people with diabetes, caffeine can turn a simple can of soda into a somewhat toxic cocktail. Caffeine becomes dangerous because it works to increase insulin resistance. (Note: Interestingly enough, although caffeine may have negative effects on the body’s blood sugar levels, coffee and tea have both been shown to raise insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels.)
Watching wheat: Looking at celiac disease and gluten sensitivity
To many people, a piece of toast or a bagel for breakfast is a great way to start the day. For people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, it can be the start of a day filled with pain and discomfort. Everything made with wheat, barley, or rye is off-limits; even the smallest temptation can cause damage to the small intestine and related health problems.
Celiac disease and associated disorders
Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune condition that affects both children and adults. It has to do with gluten, the protein found in all forms of wheat — including durum, semolina, spelt, khorasan (Kamut), einkorn, and faro — and related grains, such as rye, barley, and triticale. People with celiac disease have to avoid all foods that contain gluten.
When people with celiac disease eat gluten, it creates a reaction that damages the villi, the nutrient-absorbing projections on the lining of the small intestines. Because the body can’t absorb the nutrients, someone with celiac disease may become malnourished. Even the smallest amount of gluten can pose a threat to people with celiac disease.
Celiac disease can develop at any time, from infancy to adulthood. Although damage to the villi may heal — it takes three to six months to heal in children, two to three years for adults — people with celiac disease must continue to follow a gluten-free diet for the rest of their life.
Some of the symptoms of celiac disease are fatigue, bloating, constipation, weight loss, abdominal pain, gas, diarrhea, and weakness. It can progress to anemia, irritable bowel syndrome, and even early-onset osteoporosis.
Health problems that accompany celiac disease go well beyond the gastrointestinal tract. Damage to the bowels can lead to other autoimmune disorders (disorders that occur when the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissue). Some associated autoimmune disorders, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF), are
Addison’s disease
Alopecia areata
Chronic active hepatitis
Graves’ disease
Insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes mellitus
Liver diseases
Lupus
Raynaud’s syndrome
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sjögren’s syndrome
Scleroderma
Thyroid disease — Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
In addition, several other disorders have been associated with celiac disease:
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Down syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Williams syndrome
Nonceliac problems with gluten
Some people have sensitivities to gluten and gluten products without having celiac disease. Nonceliac gluten sensitivity may occur when a person is eating a diet with excessive gluten and gluten products or contaminated with toxins that cause leaky gut, increasing the risk that gluten protein fragments will get into the bloodstream.
Leaky gut syndrome, or increased permeability of the small intestines, is a defect in the barrier between the small intestines and the bloodstream. A little leak is normal, but when things get too leaky, it allows harmful proteins to go directly into the bloodstream without being broken down as they should. The body then looks at those escaped proteins as foreign invaders.
The same autoimmune disorders that can be traced to celiac disease have links to leaky gut syndrome. Some more minor ailments caused by leaky gut syndrome include irritability, sluggishness, tiredness, achiness, and a decline in mental acuteness.
Avoiding gluten
Shopping for a gluten-free diet has become easier thanks to increased awareness of gluten sensitivities, but it’s still a difficult task. Many grocery stores stock a gluten-free section, but that area is seldom more than a few shelves.
At the top of the list of foods to avoid are those made with wheat — which encompasses quite a lengthy list. Anything that contains flour generally contains wheat flour, even if it’s not a whole-wheat item. Wheat can even be lurking in unexpected places — it’s used as a thickening agent and is in a lot of condensed soups, gravy mixes, and sauces as well as in processed meats.
People who have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease also need to avoid foods and products made with barley and rye, which are relatives of wheat. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but they’re often farmed on land on a rotation with wheat and are processed by the same machines, so look for a brand labeled “gluten-free” — Red Mill is a good brand. For more information on celiac disease and avoiding gluten, check out the latest edition of Living Gluten-Free For Dummies by Danna Korn (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).
Getting Tested for Allergies and Sensitivities
Although everyone’s allergy or sensitivity is different, some foods cause problems more often than others. Some of the most common food allergens are eggs, milk, soy and soy products, wheat, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts. People with food allergies should also be cautious about eating other foods from the same evolutionary family. For example, people with wheat allergies need to be careful with other grains.
Some common food sensitivities are cow’s milk, wheat and gluten, soy and soy products, peanuts, corn, eggs, chicken, pork, corned beef, shellfish, oranges and other citrus fruits, strawberries, and tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables.
Figuring out what you’re allergic or sensitive to, and what kind of reaction you have, is
