Gluten Sensitive – When is an Egg NOT Gluten-Free?

Eggs Are Totally Safe, Right?

Eggs are a nice source of protein, they are available pretty much everywhere and can be prepared a number of different ways, making them a pretty safe go-to when traveling. I always believed that if one wasn’t allergic to them, eggs were a very safe option for those on a gluten-free or dairy-free diet.

I don’t tend to eat many when I’m at home, but when traveling, some form of egg has been a common breakfast solution. After all, we’re not going to order the cereal, waffles or pancakes! Does this sound like you? Have you ever eaten eggs in a restaurant and felt like you had a reaction? If so, you’re not alone.

Just the Eggs, No Pancake Batter

Let’s review why eggs might ‘get you in trouble’.

       1.   It’s all in the preparation. If you’ve ever been to a breakfast buffet where they offered ‘made to order’ omelettes, you may have noticed that the individual making the omelette isn’t breaking eggs for you. Instead he or she is pouring from a pre-mixed contained of ‘eggs’ that may or may not contain dairy and gluten. 

You may be wondering where the gluten might come from. I too was surprised when I learned this. When it comes to ‘secret’ egg ingredients, I’ll have to admit that before becoming dairy-free the ‘secret’ ingredient in my scrambled eggs was some milk or, better yet, cream. (I’m sure a non-dairy milk, especially coconut milk would yield as good a result.) But what about gluten? Where does that come into the picutre?

It turns out that some restaurants (IHOP for one) add pancake batter to their eggs - that’s their ‘secret’ ingredient. That one I never would have guessed!

Rule #1 –make sure the eggs are broken fresh for you when you order any kind of egg dish. Don’t accept any pre-made egg ‘batters’.

     2. Where was the egg cooked? Much like anyone who is gluten-free knows to ask that pasta be prepared in its own water, rather than sharing water with previously cooked wheat-based pasta, so too one must be careful of where one’s eggs are prepared. While you may prepare your own eggs in a fry pan, many restaurants prepare scrambled eggs, fried eggs and omelettes on their griddle. That same griddle that they just cooked pancakes or French toast on.

Rule #2 – ensure that you ask for a clean pan for your eggs to be cooked in to prevent any cross-contamination. And remember that holds true for pasta water and French fry oil.

     3.  Have you ever been to a salad bar and noticed that the contents of one container had migrated to another adjacent one. In other words, there were pieces of red cabbage mixed with the lettuce? Well, the same thing can happen in a kitchen that is preparing egg dishes that contain a variety of ingredients. If the cook that just was grabbing some croutons next grabs some mushrooms to put in your omelette, cross-contamination is likely to occur.

Rule #3 – If you are ordering breakfast in a restaurant, consider getting an egg dish that just contains eggs. Ensure the waitperson appreciates your ‘allergies’ (you don’t actually have an allergy if you’re celiac or gluten sensitive, but it’s a word that people can readily understand) and the need for a clean pan, designated clean utensils and freshly broken eggs.

       4.  Eggs themselves are, as mentioned earlier, a common allergy. If you suspect that you are reacting to eggs, consider getting tested for a blood IgE  or delayed IgG test. Either, if positive would show that you are reacting to them. Scratch tests are not particularly accurate for food, therefore no need to put yourself through that procedure.

5. Eggs are a potential cross-reactive food. This means that the compromised immune system of a celiacor gluten sensitive person mistakes the protein of the egg for gluten and therefore reacts as if it WAS gluten. There is a blood test to determine if such a reaction is occurring in your case. Fortunately this is a temporary situation and once the eggs are removed for a period of time while building the immune system and healing the gut, these individuals can typically return to eggs safely.

What Did You Feed That Chicken? 

        6/  Finally, there was an interesting study in Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry (2001)  entitled, “Transfer of soy isoflavone into the egg yolk of chickens” where the researchers proved that feeding chickens a great deal of soy was transferred into their egg yolks. This study has been seen as foundational research that may explain why certain highly reactive celiac and gluten sensitive patients can be found to react to eggs, despite having no egg allergy.

 The particular eggs that these individuals react to are those from hens whose diets are very high in glutinous grains. In the past we wouldn’t have ever thought that the feed of an animal would affect eating said animal, but these are eggs, not the animal’s flesh, and as mentioned above, the soy study gave credence to the fact that such a transference is very possible.

Now, I must caution you that the quantity of gluten that could be found in such a case is likely so small as to make the egg still pass a ‘gluten-free’ test – meaning it’s well below the 20 parts per million that would designate a level of gluten warranting a gluten label. We are only mentioning this in the case of those rare individuals we are so sensitive that literally ANY gluten is enough to cause their immune systems to react.

Don't Be Shy, Speak Up and You Won't Get Sick.... hopefully

I hope you found this helpful. I think some diligence when eating out should allow most of us to safely enjoy eggs without too much trouble. But if you don’t speak up and let the restaurant know what you need, you very well might have an exposure that really sets your healing and health status back. Not necessary, I assure you.

Need Help? We're Here for You! 

If you felt as if I was describing you above, you are not alone. As I mentioned earlier, adrenal fatigue/exhaustion is almost epidemic. If you would like assistance and don’t have a clinician whom you feel can assist you, consider contacting us for a FREE Health Analysis. We are a Destination Clinic and treat patients from across the country and internationally. We would be delighted to help you as we have been doing so for over two decades.

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!”

Parents -Should You Put Your Child on a Gluten-Free Diet?

I meet many parents who are in quite a quandary about instituting a gluten-free diet for their child. A typical
scenario is that one of the parents is gluten intolerant and is highly suspicious that their child is as well. Due to the child being ‘relatively healthy’ the non-gluten intolerant spouse suggests that the child be able to ‘live a little’ and enjoy the cake and pizza that is so prevalent at children’s parties and sporting events.

In my opinion, once it has been established that there is a gluten problem, either by blood test, genetic test, or the merits of elimination, there is no question about whether a gluten-free diet should be implemented. 

Why do I feel so adamant on this point?

• Gluten intolerance vastly increases your risk of developing diseases that can affect most any system and organ in the human body. 
• Gluten vastly increases your risk for autoimmune disease. 
• Gluten can be rather silent in a younger body, but if a positive test exists, then it IS doing damage, regardless of whether it is felt or not.And that damage will worsen with the passage of time.

To add a little more strength to my argument is the result of a recent study published by the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics wherein researchers aimed to evaluate the influence of celiac disease on the social aspects of life in those living in the U.S. 

Not surprisingly celiac disease did have a negative impact on the quality of life in socials settings, specifically in the area of travel and dining out. However, and this is where I find that most people make their mistake with their children, the researchers found that ‘those diagnosed in childhood and maintained on the diet had less of an impact on the quality of life as an adult’.

So it turns out that you aren’t doing any favors to your at risk child by putting off the implementation of a gluten-free diet. You’re not only creating negative impacts health-wise as mentioned above, but by delaying a gluten-free diet you are also condemning them to the perception of a lower quality of life.

If you think about it, if gluten-free is pretty much all you’ve ever known, you would be less likely to miss it. You haven’t built up the memories of gluten-containing cakes and pizzas and pancakes.

Please do not put off testing your child because you think you’re doing him or her a favor. The truth is quite the contrary. Waiting could allow an autoimmune disease or other illness to develop - one that could have been avoided. There is absolutely NO benefit to one’s health to continue eating gluten when one is gluten intolerant, and it turns out that there is no benefit psychologically either.

Have you run into this argument from friends or family? Have you put off diagnosing a child because you were made to feel guilty?

Please write to me and let me know your experiences and thoughts.

Need Help? We're Here for You! 

If you felt as if I was describing you above, you are not alone. As I mentioned earlier, adrenal fatigue/exhaustion is almost epidemic. If you would like assistance and don’t have a clinician whom you feel can assist you, consider contacting us for a FREE Health Analysis – call 408-733-0400. We are a Destination Clinic and treat patients from across the country and internationally. We would be delighted to help you as we have been doing so for over two decades.

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!”

Decreasing Your Risk of Breast Cancer, Not Just for Those with Celiac Disease

Do You Get Regular Mammograms? Read This!

Those with celiac disease, who are untreated or who haven’t fully healed their intestinal lining, are at increased risk for developing cancer. If you are a woman, you don’t want to compound that risk by annually subjecting your breasts to radiation.

Is this just my opinion? No. There is research to support a concern I’ve had about mammograms for many, many years. As a doctor, I typically caution my patients against mammograms, and instead advise them to look into ultrasound and thermography.

 

The facts are that radiation causes cancer. Repeated radiation increases your risk of cancer and delicate breast tissue is known to be particularly susceptible. Does it then make sense to perform such radiation annually and NOT think it’s going to increase your risk of developing breast cancer?

Mammograms Are Not the Great Diagnostic Tool We've Been Lead to Believe

But isn’t it a ‘fact’ that mammograms protect us from cancer? Aren’t they the ‘answer’ to early detection?  It turns out they are not.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute published a study out of Sweden that found mammograms to have little or no effect in reducing the number of women who died of breast cancer. Here’s a direct quote: “mortality statistics in Sweden are consistent with studies that have reported limited or no impact of screening on mortality from breast cancer among women aged 40-69."

The lead researcher Dr. Autier from the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, had this to say: “Information to women on mammography screening should better reflect uncertainty on the effectiveness of that test, and underline the risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.”

Mammograms Are NOT Saving Lives

A different study from 2010 also found that reduction in mortality was all but nonexistent from mammograms. Their findings were that only 2.4 deaths per 100,000 women could be saved as a result of screening. Certainly we are not trying to make light of saving 2.4 lives, but unfortunately the downside far outweighs that meager benefit.

Some downsides were elucidated by the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen. After reviewing available research they distributed a leaflet explaining the benefits and potential downsides of mammograms - the summation being that it was not reasonable for women to receive breast cancer screenings though mammography. 

Here’s the quote: “If 2,000 women are screened regularly for 10 years, one [woman] will benefit from screening.” They further went on to say: “Therefore screening results in treatment of many women for a cancer disease they do not have, and that they will not get.”

Unnecessary Treatment is Expensive and Dangerous

Let’s look at that closer. They found that screening caused many women to be treated for a cancer they did not have. Why? Because over the course of those 10 years during which time 2,000 women are screened regularly, they estimated that 200 women will receive false positives. Of those 200, 10 will be treated unnecessarily with drastic techniques including having part of their breast or their entire breast removed, while receiving radiotherapy [radiation], and sometimes chemotherapy. Treatment of these healthy women increased their risk of dying. E.g. from heart disease and cancer.”

Do you like the ratio of 10: 1? Ten women harmed with dangerous, cancer-causing treatment for every 1 who is saved? I know that I don’t.

The More Mammograms You Have, the More Likely You'll Get Cancer

Another study from The Lancet Oncology (2011) evaluated a screening program of 650,000 women in Sweden. They found that those who received the most screenings had a higher incidence of invasive breast cancer than those who received much fewer screenings. In fact, they felt that over the natural course of time, many of the screening detected invasive breast cancers spontaneously regressed if left alone!

It is also well known that women with fibrocystic breasts, or dense breasts, are not good candidates for mammograms. I experienced this personally with my mother who received many repeated mammograms for a ‘suspicious’ area, only to end up with an ultrasound (a noninvasive procedure that utilizes no radiation) that proclaimed her to be fine.

Find Out if You Have Fibrocystic Breasts

Some states such as New York, Connecticut, Texas and Virginia have passed laws requiring that women with dense breasts be informed about alternative screening tools. Can we urge our Congressmen to have California (and the rest of the country) be next? What about federal legislation?

Do you have dense breasts? If so you are not alone. Half of all women are estimated to have them and that number increases to 75% when women are in their 40s. This means that half to three quarters of all the women receiving mammograms are really not candidates for the procedure. The radiation they receive increases their risk of developing cancer while the test is ineffective at detecting breast cancer.

Does it make sense to you to continue this procedure?

Here are Some Cancer Prevention Steps You Can Take Right Now

     1. Limit sugar in your diet. We continue to discover the importance of diet as it relates to cancer prevention. Sugar and particularly high fructose corn sweeteners are increasing cancer risk. 

2   2.  Move. Exercise that burns fat and maintains a healthy body weight is another factor in reducing cancer risk. If you have a ‘spare tire’ around your mid-section you are going to need to get rid of it.

3

     3. Eat plants. Consuming 7 to 9 servings of organic fruits and veggies each day along with supplementing powerful cancer-fighting antioxidants, including vitamins D and C, is another step you can take.

     4.  Stay away from the man-made ‘Franken foods’. Avoid artificial sweeteners, preservatives and limit exposure to hormones, pesticides and environmental toxins as much as possible. This will help you to avoid dangerous inflammation that is the initiator of degenerative disease in general and cancer in specific.

     5.  Get an oil change. Remember to ingest good oils such as fish oil that are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, along with flax seeds, walnuts, wild rice and enriched eggs. Omaga -3s are anti-inflammatory and therefore protective against cancer as well as other degenerative diseases.

     6. Check your levels. You’ll need to find a doctor who works with evaluating the pros and cons of your immune system. On the plus side you want a strong level of vitamin D (somewhere between 50 and 70 ng/ml is a good level to shoot for) and robust probiotic levels that will keep your immune defending you against cancer. On the con side, you want to ensure that you don’t have an overabundance of toxins that are overwhelming your system or the presence of any infectious organisms. Both will severely compromise your immune system making it less able to defend itself against cancer. Such testing can be done here at HealthNOW Medical Center.

I hope you have found this informative. I urge you to share this post with every woman you know. The concept of mandatory mammograms needs to change, in my opinion. I’ve said for a long time that in the future we will look at the idea of radiating women’s breasts as barbaric and ill advised. I hope that day comes quickly so that fewer cancers are created with this dangerous procedure.

I’d love to hear from you and am happy to answer your questions.

Need Help? We're Here for You! 

If you felt as if I was describing you above, you are not alone. As I mentioned earlier, adrenal fatigue/exhaustion is almost epidemic. If you would like assistance and don’t have a clinician whom you feel can assist you, consider contacting us for a FREE Health Analysis. We are a Destination Clinic and treat patients from across the country and internationally. We would be delighted to help you as we have been doing so for over two decades.

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:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/06/mammogram-on-breast-cancer-mortality-rates.aspx