Is Gluten Causing Your Hormonal Imbalance?

What Do Fatigue, Overweight, PMS, etc All Have in Common?

Fatigue is the most common symptom plaguing most patients. Trouble sleeping, weight issues, PMS, headaches, fertility or libido issues, and achy joints are also very common and can all be affected by hormonal imbalance that continues after gluten has been removed from the diet in the gluten intolerant individual.  The trouble with trying to resolve such symptoms is that the root cause can vary. If every patient with fatigue had a thyroid problem, it would be easy to correct because we would know exactly where to look.

If you’re gluten intolerant you may have suffered from some of the complaints listed above prior to discovering your celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. But perhaps now, despite your gluten-free diet, some of these same symptoms continue to plague you.  If so, read on.

Do You Have Any of These Symptoms?

• Fatigue
• Trouble sleeping
• Weight trouble
• PMS
• Migraines
• Infertility or miscarriage
• Achy joints or muscles
• Allergies
• Light headedness
• Frequent illness, weak immune system
• Asthma

While the list is long, believe it or not, there is a common cause to all of them.  I’m not saying it’s the only cause, but I want to discusswhy someone can be found gluten intolerant, successfully institute a gluten-free diet, and yet continue to suffer from many of the above symptoms.

The Problem May Be Your Stress Gland

There is a gland in your body, of which you have two, called the adrenal glands. They sit atop each of your kidneys and they are the master of multi-tasking! If I asked you if one part of your body was responsible for:

• Providing you with strong energy
• Maintaining a healthy weight, 
• Keeping your immune system strong,
• Decreasing inflammation
• Maintaining stable mood, 
• Anti-aging, 
• Controlling sleep quality, 
• Balancing hormones, 
• Handling allergies, and more… 

 What would you say?

You might think to yourself that if there was one body part responsible for all those things then you better start treating it well! You’d be very right in your analysis.

As you’ve probably guessed the aforementioned adrenal glands are responsible for handling that very long job list and, unfortunately, those very same adrenal glands tend to be quite stressed in the gluten intolerant individual.

Gluten Intolerance Can Damage Your Stress Glands

Why? Because adrenal glands are sensitive to, and get very stressed with, unstable blood sugar. Stable blood sugar comes from eating healthy food that your body finds nourishing. As you well know if you’re gluten intolerant, gluten, for you, is a poison. Therefore years of eating gluten created unstable blood sugar and thereby put a tremendous strain on your adrenal glands.

Due to the many, many jobs that the adrenal glands are responsible for, simply removing gluten as a stressor is typically insufficient to restore them to normal function. They need to be ‘re-set’ with a nutritional and dietary program, to restore their good health. This explains why many who are gluten intolerant continue to suffer with the symptoms mentioned above.

Therefore, even if your gluten intolerance has been diagnosed and you’ve instituted a strict gluten-free diet, if you haven’t also found a clinician who understands and specializes in restoring health and function to the adrenal glands, you may very well continue to suffer with the symptoms associated with adrenal stress.

Treatment is Easy and Drug-Free

The good news is that the treatment to normalize adrenal function is not at all difficult.Here at the Clinical Nutrition department of HealthNOW we utilize a natural program that involves no dangerous drugs or surgery. There are lab tests to determine the level of adrenal malfunction occurring, and these are called functional specialized lab tests. They differ from traditional adrenal lab tests that only look for disease, not malfunction. I mention this because I want to ensure that there is no confusion created when I mention adrenal function lab testing. We are measuring 'function' and therefore are looking for signs of malfunction rather than only looking for disease, which in the case of adrenal glands is quite rare, although dangerous.

If you ask your traditional medical doctor to test for adrenal malfunction he or she will test for adrenal disease – once again a rare occurrence – and will likely pronounce your adrenal glands ‘fine’ because they are not diseased. While adrenal gland disease is rare, adrenal gland malfunction is extremely common. It is this latter condition that we are speaking of here.

This is an important distinction because I want to make sure that if you are suffering from adrenal fatigue that you aren’t given a ‘clean bill of health’ incorrectly. Unfortunately this happens often. If it took you a while to receive a diagnosis of gluten intolerance then you understand this phenomenon. Sadly this area of health is fraught with misunderstanding and it is the patient who ultimately suffers, unnecessarily.

We Can Help!

If you need any help finding a clinician to help you, feel free to contact me. Normalizing adrenal function is one of our areas of expertise and patients visit us from across the country as well as internationally at our destination clinic to receive this treatment. If we cannot find a clinician close to you that specializes in this then we are more than happy to see you here. The good news is that the treatment is natural and inexpensive.

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!”

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!”

A Gluten Free Diet Helps Type 1 Diabetes

It has long been understood that two autoimmune diseases, celiac disease and type 1 diabetes are related. They share common genes and the incidence of celiac disease is higher among type 1 diabetics. There have been some anecdotal reports regarding children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes who were put on a gluten-free diet soon after their diagnosis and for a period of two years or more didn’t require any insulin. The thought was that the gluten-free diet effectively halted the progression of the diabetes, at least for the duration of the study.

Studies of mice have shown that despite utilizing a genetic strain of mice that was strongly in-bred to increase the risk of type 1 diabetes, 2/3 of the mice did not develop the disease when a drug was administered to prevent leaky gut. This study was performed by Dr Alessio Fasano and his team. Dr Fasano, Director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, is one of the world’s acclaimed researchers in the area of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Leaky gut is associated with the initiation and continuation of autoimmune disease and Dr Fasano’s work with these genetically predisposed mice shed a great deal of light on the power of an undamaged gut lining to effectively forestall  development of a genetic condition, in this case type 1 diabetes.

A study out of Immunology, dated August 22, 2012,  is titled “Dietary gluten alters the balance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in T cells of BALB/c mice”. The title is a mouthful but here is what the researchers out of Denmark found:

Their initial premise was based on the idea, as I mentioned above, that dietary modifications, specifically a gluten-free diet, could reduce the  risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The question they posed was, “How did this occur?”

They discovered that wheat gluten induced the production of pro-inflammatory chemicals called cytokines that would damage the intestinal lining and immune tissues of the small intestine. More importantly, a gluten-free diet didn’t just neutralize the negative effects just mentioned, but it actually caused the production of anti-inflammatory chemicals that would provide protection for the immune system and gut. So, while gluten is a known bad guy, a gluten-free diet doesn’t just take the negative away, it actually induces a positive, healing response.

Clinically, we frequently see this with patients here at HealthNOW Medical. As soon as we meet a patient with any history of autoimmune disease, we quickly test them for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity via lab tests and a 30 day elimination diet. If we discover any negative immune reaction to gluten, we begin a strict gluten-free diet.

Happily, we often see stabilization, if not reversal, of their autoimmune disease. We support the gluten-free diet with our other protocols for normalizing gut permeability (healing a leaky gut) and strengthening the immune system. Taken together this program yields excellent results.

I hope you found this information helpful If you know anyone suffering from an autoimmune disease, please show them this post. Gluten could be a component in worsening their disease while a gluten-free diet could be a positive influence in their journey to improved health.

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!”