Free-Easy Publications articles

Consider a Gluten Free Diet for any Neurological And Psychiatric Symptoms

Gluten ataxia, the most common cause of previously unexplained ataxia, is associated with gut disease in only about a third. Usually there is an absence of the specific antibodies in the blood diagnostic for celiac disease but elevated gliadin antibodies. Brain tissue examined after brain biopsies or an autopsy has been found to contain deposits of gliadin and/or tissue transglutaminase in the absence of antibodies in the blood.

About 60% of patients with gluten ataxia have shrinkage of the cerebellum portion of their brain. They also may have irreversible loss of brain Purkinje cells. MRI scans of the brain often reveal ... Read this article

Diseases Caused by Gluten Intolerance

Tests do exist for celiac disease. These include a blood test to detect anti-gluten antibodies and a biopsy of the small intestine to look for lining erosion. However, if there is a lack of gluten in your system, fewer antibodies are released and the tests come back negative. In the case of the intestinal biopsy that looks for damage to the small intestine, if you stop eating gluten, or don't eat enough gluten, the damage heals relatively quickly and may not be detected. Some cases of true celiac may be missed due to a patient not eating enough gluten during ... Read this article

Feeling Tired During The Day? You May Just Want To Avoid Gluten In Your Food!

The truth is that almost all Americans from Anglo-Saxon decent have some kind of sensitivity to gluten, mainly because of a genetic weakness passed on through generations. A European food staple is bread or 'wheat', unlike (for example) the Chinese and their rice. Eventually it will affect all races in certain geographical areas where eating wheat is a main staple.

Usually symptoms don't occur until someone is in their 20's, getting progressively worse with age unless diagnosed. The cure is to stop eating wheat and all products containing gluten. This is a hard one, but once diagnosed or once someone decides ... Read this article

The Importance of Identifying Food Intolerance

If you have already gone this route, following treatment, do you still feel lousy? You may be consuming foods you are intolerant to. You are genetically incapable of producing the enzymes necessary for digesting them. What occurs when you eat hash browns, for instance, and you are intolerant to potato? Because your digestive system is not able to adequately process the food, it literally rots, fermenting and putrefying in your gut.

This causes the body to react to a substance that is toxic - poison. Acute symptoms may be headache, stomach ache, bloating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue or other discomforts. Chronic ... Read this article

How Gluten Increases Eczema Outbreaks

Of the glutenous grains, wheat contains the highest concentration of gluten. There are 30 species of wheat; however, in countries such as the USA only three are being produced for human consumption: Durum (such as in pasta), common wheat (or bread wheat), and club wheat (similar to bread wheat). Over the past 2 or so decades the hybridization of these variety of wheat has greatly increased the gluten content.

The problem people run into is how much wheat they are exposed to daily. Wheat is so often used as additives, fillers, or even as one of the main ingredients in many ... Read this article

The gluten free diet's impact on gut health

"Analysis of the participants’ faeces showed that Bifidobacterium, Clostridium lituseburense and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii populations [good] decreased following the gluten-free diet patter, while populations of Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli [bad] increased.

"Markers of immune health, such TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma, interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-8, which would be produced when the host’s immune system is challenged, were also reduced following consumption of the gluten-free diet.

"Therefore, the GFD led to reductions in beneficial gut bacteria populations and the ability of faecal samples to stimulate the host's immunity."

A single study of only 10 people is not conclusive, and the research should be repeated elsewhere before its ... Read this article

Celiac Disease Or Crohns Disease? Were You Misdiagnosed?

Celiac disease (just like Crohn's disease) is an autoimmune disorder. The autoimmune disease means that the immune system starts attacking its own cells thinking that they are "foreign substances". The body is often tired and the patient gets fatigued from all that "fighting".

In a confirmed case of Celiac disease the treatment plan is simple. The treatment is the DIET. 100% Gluten Free diet! And your life gets back on track instantly. In the confirmed Crohn's disease case it is not as simple as just a diet change. Although plenty of Crohn's sufferers improve a great deal on the gluten ... Read this article

Gluten intolerance: it's not just celiacs

At that time, the list of conditions that were related to gluten intolerance seemed almost mind boggling, but now there are many more disorders that should be added. It's incredible. In fact, the huge number of them almost makes me think that gluten is poison, not just for celiacs and those who are already aware of it, but for the whole human race.

I can't go that far, though. Maybe I'm in denial, but this conclusion just seems so ridiculous that it's sensationalist - and I just don't feel I'm ready to accept it, at least for now.

Research in general does ... Read this article

Aspergers Diet - Gluten Free and Casein Free Diet Helps Ease the Symptoms of Your Aspergers Child

What constitutes a gluten-free and casein-free diet Aspergers diet?

A gluten-free and casein-free diet is the elimination of gluten and casein, common gastrointestinal allergens, from the diet. Try cutting all wheat and milk products for a month and determine whether or not your child is:

• Responding better to his or her environment;
• Healthier look in the eyes;
• Rashes decrease and
• Less painful bloating and gas.

Eliminating wheat (gluten) and milk (casein) from an Aspergers diet need not be an unpleasant experience, although most parents feel that a total diet change would be more complex, expensive, and stressful than filling a prescription. Therefore, they might see a ... Read this article

Do You Want a Gluten Free Baby? You May Need to Remove Gluten (Wheat, Etc) To Avoid Celiac Disease

Research by the UK department of health (March 2006) saw them recommend that "gluten should not be given to babies under six months, and never as a first weaning food for babies with a family history of allergy or celiac disease" The very good reason for this was that "the symptoms of celiac disease are usually first seen in babies between nine and 18 months of age. Symptoms include: diarrhea, weight loss or poor weight gain, malnutrition, anemia, poor appetite and tummy bloating."

This means that by the time a baby has acquired the disease, and obvious symptoms occur, it is ... Read this article

What is Gluten and Why Does It Matter?

It also explains why it is so hard to make bread from rice, potato, or oat flour and why wheat flour has to be added to rye flour to make bread - only wheat has enough protein. The gluten makes the bread. [Gluten is also found in rye, barley and a few other closely related grains.ed]

Gluten is developed in the dough when the proteins absorb water and are pulled and stretched in the kneading process. As the proteins are worked, they become long, flexible strands. As the yeast produces gases in the dough, mostly carbon dioxide, these strands trap the ... Read this article

Gluten Intolerance and How To Live With It

Surprisingly often, eliminating gluten from the diet results in a marked improvement - even the complete elimination - of ailments of many years' standing. Even certain mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, have been found often to improve under a gluten-free regime.

Gluten intolerance is also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy, coeliac disease, non-tropical sprue, coeliac sprue, primary malabsorption and ideopathic steatorrhoea.

Symptoms of gluten intolerance

NOTE: This list is not exhaustive. You don't need to have all the symptoms - if all sufferers had all the symptoms, it would not be so often unrecognised, and there would not be so many people walking around ... Read this article

Kid Approved Gluten Free Desserts

Riceworks® Crisps - Kids love crunchy foods and these crispy treats come in a variety of flavors, such as Baked Cinnamon and Parmesan and Sundried Tomato. Perfect for quick snacks on the run.

Fresh Fruit With Sour Cream Sauce - Many children love all sorts of fresh fruits. Combining their healthy natural sugars with a twist of sour cream is scrumptious! By combining one cup of sour cream, one teaspoon of lemon zest, one teaspoon of lemon juice and one-half cup powdered sugar you'll have an awesome topping that goes with any fresh fruit.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Filling - Chocolate, cupcakes, ... Read this article

The Ins and Outs of a Gluten-Free Diet

What is Gluten Anyway?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. There is nothing inherently bad in gluten, but it does cause digestive problems, like bloating, gas, diarrhea and abdominal pain in some individuals. This is not an allergic reaction but sensitivity to the protein. In this case, it may be helpful to avoid gluten or even eliminate it from your diet altogether.

The important thing to note, however, is that gluten sensitivity does not cause long-term damage. If you eat gluten, you may have irritating symptoms, but it will not affect your overall health.

For about one percent of ... Read this article

Surviving the holiday gluten free

You may decide to let the whole gluten free thing go hang and just go with the flow and prepare to pay for it afterwards, but this really isn't the best idea. On the other hand, you might decide to just stick to maybe some meat, roast potatoes and vegetables, forego the pudding and mince pies, and play safe. Even this isn't a great idea, as if the turkey or other meat was stuffed with the standard bread-based stuffing, you will be getting gluten in anything that's been close enough. And if the potatoes and possibly parsnips as well were ... Read this article

Can a gluten free diet cause malnutrition?

Of course, sometimes the only way to find out if you are gluten intolerant is to exclude it from the diet for a period of time, and see if the symptoms you suspect it may be causing go away. [Gluten intolerance is also often linked to other intolerances, such as to dairy products. ed]

The foods which contain gluten are all grains of one kind or another, principally wheat, rye and barley, as well as products derived from them, such as malt, wheat germ, semolina, etc. If you eat these and you have celiac disease you don't absorb the nutrients; they ... Read this article

Gluten Intolerance Symptoms - How Do You Know If Gluten Is Making You Sick?

Research shows that gluten sensitivity in some form, including celiac disease and mild gluten intolerance, affects approximately 15% of the US population. These statistics are likely to be similar in Western countries with similar health issues and dietary patterns. Are you one of these people? How do you recognize gluten intolerance symptoms?

First of all let’s identify the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Celiac disease is an immune reaction, a severe sudden onset allergic reaction, to the protein called gluten. This is commonly found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. While celiac disease is initially an ... Read this article

Gluten free Snacks you can just Pick up and Eat

You might not be a geek like me, but I bet there are times when you just want to eat something now - maybe when you're watching tv or playing a computer game. But most of the snacks other people rely on, like cookies (we call them biscuits in the UK) and potato chips (which we call crisps) are off limits. Sure, you can most likely get potato chips from a health store that don't contain monosodium glutamate or maltase, but they are wayyy pricey and somehow don't seem all that great, even then. As for GF cookies in the ... Read this article

Where to Look For Gluten Free Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants

When it comes to preparing your own meals, there can be many restraints and challenges that you will have to overcome to create some great recipes and tasty, nutritious fare. What about when you want to go out and eat, especially if you are going out with others, what are your choices with these dietary restrictions? Do you know where to look to find the gluten free vegan and vegetarian restaurants?

You can always be content to nibble on some nuts and berries, or perhaps a careful assortment of raw veggies could be ordered, but most people want and need something ... Read this article

Gluten Free Food Solutions For Travel

Fortunately, you don't have to give up travel just because you're on a gluten free diet. With a little planning and effort, you can still enjoy life to its fullest! Here are tips to keep in mind when traveling.

Before You Leave

Before leaving home, try to contact a celiac support group in the area you plan to visit. A support group will likely be able to provide you with a list of local restaurants that serve celiac food and local health food stores that carry gluten free foods. You might also find this information on the Internet. If you can't take ... Read this article

Quick and Easy Meals without Gluten

I used to keep some ready meals for when I was in a hurry or too tired to cook, but most of them are off the menu now - apart from the ones I never liked! Pizza, pies and ordinary pasta are also out. I do keep some Orgran rice and vegetable pasta in the cupboard, which tastes fine, and is as easy to cook as any other pasta. It goes nicely with a bolonaise or tomato and onion sauce, and is also fine with just butter, parmesan and lots of black pepper.

In my kitchen cupboard, I have a ... Read this article