Can Gluten Sensitivity Cause Obesity?

Does Weight Correlate to Celiac or Gluten Sensitivity?

When celiac disease was originally described, one of its classic hallmarks was extreme underweight. Along with diarrhea, digestive pain and bloating, the severe weight loss was understood to ‘always’ be present. Fast forward over 100 years and things have changed. Not only are many celiacs overweight, but those with gluten sensitivity are increasingly falling into that category as well.

Sadly, too often doctors miss testing for these life-long conditions because of a patient’s weight status. Stuck in the outdated historical definition, these doctors have missed the current face of celiac and gluten sensitivity – a person can be any weight, and they often have weight to lose.

We often speak of the leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability, found in the small intestine. This situation is seen most often in those with an intolerance to gluten who genetically upregulate a protein only made by humans, called zonulin. Zonulin was discovered by Dr Alessio Fasano and his team.

Why Humans Get Leaky Guts
 

The zonulin molecule dictates the opening and closing of the ‘gates’ of the small intestine. With a surface area of over 3,000 square feet, that involves a lot of gates!

While only humans make zonulin, not all humans produce it. Twenty percent do not at all, 50 percent make a single copy of the gene and 30 percent of the population has both copies of the gene. Those with both copies are in the unenviable position of being two times more likely to die from all causes, and the diseases they do get tend to be more severe.

When a lab test was done on rats highly predisposed to develop type 1 diabetes, two thirds of them never developed the disease when they were given a drug that inhibited zonulin. I know you’re going to ask, so here’s the answer: A drug does not yet exist for humans that performs this function. It is being worked on, along with a test for zonulin, by Dr Fasano.

The Leaky Gut Sets Us Up for Obesity

How does a leaky gut link to obesity? Read on...

A study published last Fall in Nutrition Research titled “Potential mechanisms for the emerging link between obesity and increased intestinal permeability” and lead by TF Teixeira, found a link that could well explain the obesity issue so commonly seen.

Those with an intolerance to gluten not only tend to have a leaky gut due to the above mentioned zonulin connection, but they also have weakened immune systems due to the constant assault of gluten. The weakened immune system, predominantly housed in the small intestine, is thus less able to defend the body against the normal barrage of bacteria, amoeba, parasites and the like. Why do I call the presence of these organisms ‘normal’? Because it is. Now, with that said, it is NOT normal for such organisms to gain a foothold in the intestine and procreate there, but their presence is a normal byproduct of eating food, putting one’s fingers in one’s mouth, etc. (These are microscopic organisms so don’t get too grossed out.) The point is, that a healthy immune system easily kills them; an unhealthy immune system is unable to do its job. The result is a gut full of endotoxins (toxins released from inside bacteria when they disintegrate) or other inhospitable organisms.

Good Bacteria vs. Bad - Who's Winning in YOUR Gut?
 

These bad organisms thereby fight against the good ones. The good bacteria in the gut (called the microbiome) literally have a population that exceeds the number of cells in the human body by 10 times. The genes associated with this population, exceeds that of the human body by 100 times. We are talking about a part of the human body, long underappreciated, that is being considered influential enough to be considered an ‘organ’ in its own right.

Emerging research reveals that when this organ is overwhelmed with toxins in the gut, its composition changes as far as the balance of certain organisms (probiotics), as does its ability to absorb nutrients and expend energy (burn calories). The result is not only weight gain but increased cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin resistance – the latter leads towards diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Intestinal permeability is also thought to be influenced by a high fat and high fructose diet, plus certain nutritional deficiencies such as zinc.

Another study from the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition titled “Gut Microbiota, Intestinal Permeability, Obesity-Induced Inflammation and Liver Injury” found much the same data.

They found that eating a poor diet (high fat, high fructose) could affect the microbiome in as little as one to two days – the result being obesity, heart disease and obesity.

How We Create a Happy Gut
 

Let's look at how we can keep our microbiome happy:

            1. Discover if you have a gluten or dairy intolerance and avoid those foods.

2. Avoid excess, bad fats including fast food, trans fats, preprocessed, prepackaged foods, etc.

     3. Avoid ALL fructose. I’m not talking about the natural fructose in fruit, of course, but all added fructose, especially high fructose corn sweeteners.

4.   If you can, get your gut tested for the presence of any inhospitable organisms that have gotten a foothold in your system. This same test will evaluate the health of your microbiome.    
5.  Another test that’s good, as a verifier that you’re on the right track, is one for a leaky gut. We tend to recommend this one once you’ve been on a reparative program for a while, to confirm that we are accomplishing our goal.    
 6. Do ingest 9 servings of organic vegetables and fruits each day. These are naturally healing and prebiotic, meaning that they give strength and nourishment to your probiotic population.

       7. Ensure that you are not deficient in any major vitamins and minerals such as Bs, D, zinc, magnesium, calcium, etc.

8. While it seems like a ‘no brainer’ to take probiotics, here’s a couple of things to keep in mind.

a.     Use a human strain

b.     Get a combination of organisms such as acidophilus, bifidus, etc.

c.      Due to dairy products being such a commonly sensitive food, get probiotics that are free of all dairy.

d.     Sometimes if you have an infection in the gut, you may feel worse on probiotics. If this occurs, stop them, of course, but realize that you should look into step 4 above. I’m happy to help you!

9.  Don’t cheat. I’m sorry, but being ‘good’ Monday through Friday and going crazy on the weekends just isn’t going to cut it if you want to be healthy. And if your health is already compromised somewhat, cheating just isn’t worth the dangerous repercussions. 

That microbiome can change in a matter of a day or two when you’ve been eating a poor diet, remember that. It's apparently not very tolerant of poor choices, unfortunately!

Let Me Know How I Can Help You

 I hope you found this helpful. It is interesting how much we are discovering that the health of the gut dictates so much about our health or tendency towards disease. And it’s also quite revealing how much of a culprit gluten can be when trying to optimize the function of the small intestine and its immune system.

Please send me your questions or comments. I am here to help!

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”

Reference:

Nutrition Research. 2012 Sep;32(9):637-47. Potential mechanisms for the emerging link between obesity and increased intestinal permeability.Teixeira TF, Collado MC, Ferreira CL, Bressan J, Peluzio Mdo C.

Journal of Parenteral and ENteral Nutrition 2011. Gut Microbiota, Intestinal Permeability, Obesity-Induced Inflammation and Liver Injury. Thomas H. Frazier, MD1; John K. DiBaise, MD, and Craig J. McClain, MD

Volume XX Number X

Gluten Intolerant? Why Overweight Americans are MORE at Risk

Gluten intolerance is a term I use to embrace both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Celiac disease was described over 100 years ago and was portrayed as an illness that caused severe weight loss, digestive pain and diarrhea. When I went to school I memorized those facts as strongly indicative of celiac disease. Even though I’ve been out of school for two decades, that ‘picture’ of celiac disease still remains, for most doctors, as what they should anticipate in a celiac patient.

You may be aware that we only diagnose 3 to 5% of all the patients suffering from celiac disease in this country. Of the 3 to 12 million suffering, a scant percentage of them ever find out that their problem is actually an intolerance to gluten.

I have had several patients contact me asking me to help them get tested because their doctor refused. Why? Simply because they were overweight, or at least not underweight, there doctor refused.

It struck me that while we are abysmal at diagnosing those suffering from celiac disease and gluten sensitivity (likely 99% remain undiagnosed), it is those who are overweight who are perhaps most ignored. When you consider that 2/3 of our population is overweight, you start to see a potential reason why we diagnose so few who are suffering.

The facts are that the face of a celiac or gluten intolerant patient can present as almost anything.

• They can have digestive pain.
• They can have no digestive complaints.
• They can be depressed or schizophrenic.
• They can be underweight.
• They can be overweight.
• They can have skin problems.
• They can have joint pain.
• Or, they can feel just fine – ‘silent celiac disease’.

The bottom line is that we need our medical community to wake up and realize that the face of celiac disease is as varied as the human body and it can be associated with over 300 conditions and diseases.

A recent research study from 2010 looked at about 200 celiacs diagnosed over the course of 10 years, between 1999 and 2009. The patients ranged broadly in age. It was found that a full 44% of them were overweight at the time of diagnosis and less than 3% were underweight at the time of diagnosis. What does that tell us? The face of celiac disease has changed and we need to know what present day, modern celiac disease looks like.

Our country is drug oriented and there is no medication to treat celiac disease. Does that mean it should be ignored? Does that mean that we should continue to only treat with drugs the diseases that celiac and gluten intolerance causes such as depression, thyroid disease, migraines, cancer, heart disease and the like?

Does it make sense to treat the symptoms when you could isolate and remove the root cause and truly cure the problem? You tell me, does that make sense?

What has been your experience with getting diagnosed? Have you found doctors to be less than receptive when you didn’t have classic celiac symptoms?

I’d love to hear from you!

Remember that I’m here to help and if you need assistance in getting properly diagnosed or fully resolving the negative effects celiac disease has created on your health, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free health analysis.

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”

Making “Light” of Gluten Sensitivity Will Harm More than Help

A patient sent me a response from an “As the Doctor” column hosted by Drs. Oz and Roizen entitled “Don’t buy into gluten phobia by cutting grains”. This response was to a reader’s question who asked: “My family consumes a lot of 100 percent whole-grain wheat products, but I've heard so much about gluten problems that I'm worried we're harming our health. Should we cut back? — Anonymous”

Part of their response was as follows: “Because gluten gets more bad press than Lindsay Lohan, gluten-free foods have become a fad. We're going against the grain and suggesting you keep doing exactly what you're doing.”

My patient was irate and I don’t blame her.  She stated that: “Oz and Roizen are showing their ignorance when they did not even ask the gluten concerned person to look at a family history for autoimmune diseases before dismissing the issue.  Personally, I think these men are doing a lot of damage and are missing the mark.” 

She went on to state: “…the general public does not understand gluten sensitivity and the dangers involved.  After reading this little sound bite over their morning coffee and a bagel, people will be less likely to be checked for gluten sensitivity.  The financially strapped person will be more likely to disregard the issue since it is easy and cheap to fill up a hungry family's belly with bread than nutritious fruits and vegetables.”

In the authors’ defense they made a brief attempt to define celiac disease and how it affects the small intestine and they did include that “Some experts feel that gluten sensitivity affects far more people than the 1 percent of Americans who know they have celiac disease“. But when listing symptoms associated with a gluten intolerance that their reader should be on the lookout for, all they could come up with was the following: “itchy, blistery rash, having really awful smelling poop or even vague symptoms, like feeling unusually irritable”.

Hmmm. What about: 

• Depression, anxiety
• Infertility/miscarriages
• Neurological disorders
• Headaches / Migraines
• Memory Loss
• Unexplained chronic fatigue
• Increased liver enzymes
• Iron-deficiency anemia
• Osteoporosis
• Autoimmune disease
• Craving for  gluten
• Obesity
• Diarrhea and/or constipation
• Gas, bloating, abdominal pain
• IBS, colitis
• Frequent canker sores
• Dental problems
• Psoriasis, eczema or unexplained rash

I know it’s a long list but that’s the point isn’t it?  My patient was exactly right, Dr Oz and Roizen’s dismissal of gluten-free as a “fad” and “phobia” will certainly prevent many people who had been considering looking into it from doing so.  And what a terrible shame that is.

Well, I’m not on Oprah but I am committed to getting the word out.  Let’s overcome any negative influence this article may have had by investing some time and effort into enlightening friends, family and co-workers of the TRUTH about gluten. 

Please let me know what I can do to assist.

Visit us at www.RootCauseMedicalClinic.com. If you have questions or need any help, I’m here for you! Call 408-733-0400.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your good health,

Dr Vikki Petersen, DC, CCN, CFMP


IFM Certified Practitioner

Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Co-author of “The Gluten Effect”

Author of the eBook: “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”