Fortunately, you can do something about gluten intolerance. Yes, you can—that’s the empowering message of Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host on The View , who has written The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide , which offers advice, information and recipes to those who live with celiac disease, have gluten intolerance or just want to eliminate gluten from their diet.

GLUTEN-FREE LIVING HELPS TV STAR

“The intention of the book is twofold. First, I want to spread awareness about celiac disease,” she noted in a recent interview. “One out of every 133 people has celiac disease, but only 3 percent know. They’re on the path for intestinal cancer, infertility, miscarriages and diabetes. Secondly, I want to let people in on a diet I found through celiac disease that is incredibly beneficial. I enlisted a medical team that certainly agrees that this is the most powerful way to eat and get more bang for your bite.”

WHAT IS CELIAC DISEASE?

In this condition, the body’s immune system identifies gluten as a harmful or noxious substance. This leads to inflammation response and damage in the small intestine.

While the immune system frequently attacks the body to cause allergies, this is different, focusing itself to cause harm in the gastrointestinal tract.

According to Ms. Hasselbeck symptoms include:

• Upset stomach
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Intermittent diarrhea
• Abdominal pain & bloating
• Irritability, depression or anxiety
• Muscle cramps
• Bone or joint pain
• Mouth sores (inside the mouth)
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Gastric ulcers
• Tingling numbness in the hands and feet
• Unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
• Arthritis
• Seizures
• Bone loss or osteoporosis
• Missed menstrual periods
• Infertility or recurrent miscarriage
• Skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis)

Small amounts of gluten can damage the small intestine. With impaired food absorption, malnutrition and related conditions, including weight loss, weakening bones, and infertility, occur frequently among sufferers. Some experts have linked lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes to gluten intolerance.

With proper diet and care, the gastrointestinal lining’s damage can be healed, nutrient absorption improved, and noticeable improvements in overall health will occur.

Nowadays, health food stores and supermarkets offer gluten-free foods, including cereals, breads, pastas, and cookies. Also, meats, fish, poultry, most dairy, fresh produce, beans, rice, and potatoes are gluten free. Flours made from rice, soy, corn or potato, are now available, too.

Yet, so many flavor enhancers and undisclosed additives contain gluten—staying away from these foods can present a challenge.

Many of the world’s leading gluten experts and researchers are now finding that gluten-related health conditions, especially irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and celiac sprue, respond favorably to digestive enzymes that work by assisting the body in breaking down difficult-to-digest peptides found in gluten.

HELP IS ON THE WAY

The body has a specific gluten-digesting enzyme known as dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP IV) that, when supplied in supplement form, “plays a significant role in the hydrolysis of prolyl peptides and assimilation of proline-rich proteins,” say researchers reporting in the July 1993 American Journal of Physiology . These are precisely the offending remnants that exacerbate the condition. DPP IV enzymatic activity breaks down these peptides that may amplify these conditions. According to published literature about this clinically studied gluten-digesting enzyme, “Certain peptide sequences resulting from the partial digestion of gluten proteins have been linked to the exacerbation of gastrointestinal conditions... One of the enzyme activities required to break down these peptides has been identified as DPP IV. The lack of this enzyme activity in the small intestine due to the above conditions prevents the digestion of these peptide fragments. These fragments, if left undigested, are thought to elicit immune responses that can inflame the lining of the small intestine.”

The use of DPP IV is further supported by research in the October 2002 issue of the American Journal of Physiology Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.   Researchers found that DPP IV was instrumental in the breakdown of gluten’s peptides. “These results suggest a possible enzyme therapy strategy for celiac sprue, for which the only current therapeutic option is strict exclusion of gluten-containing food.”

In the May 2007 issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology,   researchers noted that people with gluten intolerance have “deficient activity” of gluten-digesting enzymes.

Gluten-FREE from Metabolic Response Modifiers (MRM) provides a proteolytic enzyme blend designed to provide exogenous DPP IV activity. But, what makes the Gluten-FREE formula better than any other is that it also has a contingent of carbohydrate- and cellulose-digesting enzymes that breakdown the carbohydrate outer cover protecting the gluten peptide, allowing DPP IV to do its job more efficiently. Plus, it also contains lactase, necessary for proper digestion of milk sugars, which can play a role in exacerbating gastrointestinal membrane permeability.

Going gluten-free is extremely difficult these days because of the widespread undisclosed presence of gluten in prepared foods, and dining in restaurants can prove to be even more difficult. But with important information from public advocates such as Elisabeth Hasselbeck, improving food choices, and a supplemental gluten-digestion formula—the number of tools at hand is growing.

Resources

Gluten-FREE from MRM (Metabolic Response Modifiers) is available at health food stores as well as natural pharmacies and natural formula sections nationwide. Visit them at www.mrm-usa.com. Call them at 800-948-6296 or 760-477-8177 in California.

Visit also www.gfreediet.com for more gluten-free living tips.

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.