Here is a new guest post. written by Adrianne Cadiou. This time she shares her knowledge of gluten as a naturopath. 

Gluten info or intoxication? By what miracle does stopping gluten improve or even stop certain symptoms or pain? Deciphering in detail the favorite product of the French! It is legitimate for everyone to ask the question of gluten sensitivity since it seems to be responsible for all the ills.

Ease of use? When we don't know, we blame gluten?

I give you an unstoppable solution to find out if your ailments come from gluten!

Is it a fashion? Why should a food as noble and nutritious as wheat be accused? It has been consumed for centuries to the delight of all. So what are the reasons for this witch hunt? I have never been sensitive to gluten, is it possible to become sensitive all of a sudden?

It does sound crazy. In the simplest possible way, I will clarify this point. Wheat is, and remains, a very nutritious food, especially when it is eaten semi or wholemeal and with sourdough (because it removes the pythic acid that traps your minerals). Vitamins of the B group: B1, B3, B6, B9, phosphorus, magnesium, vegetable iron, zinc...

If so, why is it a problem?

Just to understand: wheat is sugar (starch) and proteins (gluten), gluten containing prolamins which are gliadin (proteins).

Problem #1: It comes from the fact that wheat as it was no longer exists. From a wheat with 14 chromosomes, it now contains no less than 42. It has been modified to produce high yields, to resist various insects... There is nothing physiological about it anymore. The increase of gluten (proteins) in processed foods is more and more difficult to digest for the body.

Problem #2: It is that it is hyperglycemic, the white baguette reaches the glycemic index record of 95/100 against 68/100 for white sugar. It is not sweetened and yet, to digest it, you need insulin, which leads to hypoglycemia (I let you imagine the atomic bomb when there is Nutella on it).

• Consequences: Diabetes, premature aging due to PTGs (terminal glycation products) basically the cells caramelize. PTGs harden arteries, disrupt nerve connections in the brain and general cellular communication. Not to mention that insulin and related IGF1s are a cancer cell-promoting factor.

Problem #3: Gliadin has the luxury of resisting enzymes in the stomach, pancreas and arrives almost intact in the small intestine. Normally, the intestine acts as a barrier, sending it to the colon: ejection and no more talk about it. These poorly digested proteins are pro-inflammatory, imagine the red side of the sponge inflaming the intestine? That's a bit of it.

• This is where the crucial problem comes from: Our gut barriers aren't as tight as they used to be. This is where the problem lies. A large proportion of people are now affected depending on their lifestyle. This is called intestinal hyper-permeability. Your naturopath will be able to determine the level of importance.

How do we get there.

• Important medication
• Pill
• Repeated antibiotics without correction with probiotics
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Too much sugar in the diet (which ferments, causes gas and microbial proliferation)
• Chemotherapy
• Junk food
• Alcohol
• Chronic stress (which is also hyperglycemic)
• Intensive or high level sport
• Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome...

You can see that we are all more or less concerned.

These decomposed foods produce bacteria that proliferate and unbalance a protein "zonulin" responsible for regulating permeability. All of these factors create inflammation in the gut.

This separation of the usually protective tight junctions of the intestine creates cracks and allows toxins and bacteria to pass into the body, but also leaves the door wide open to these large proteins, which was not the case before.

These proteins are not ours, our good immune system attacks them leading to an over-activity of the immune system and an overload of the liver which has to detoxify these toxins (if it is not clogged by our lifestyle!).

This intestinal hyperpermeability or "Leaky Gut Syndrome" and chronic inflammation can lead without correction over time to:

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• A candidiasis that can be both the origin and a consequence
• Allergies
• Sinusitis and ENT syndromes
• Acne, rosacea, psoriasis
• Eczema, increased asthma
• Autoimmune diseases if predisposition
• Digestive problems, bloating, alternating diarrhea, constipation...
• Joint pains...

This inflammation of the intestine promotes general inflammation of the body and deregulation of the immune system. Today, there is no longer a list of diseases that originate or result from inflammation and immune system dysfunction, such as autoimmune diseases.

Naturopathy, with its individualized dietary rebalancing, its targeted and natural action on the repair of mucous membranes and the improvement of flora, has been proven. The good news is that support is possible and quite effective in terms of improving symptoms. The sensitivity test is quite simple to perform at home. There is also a non-reimbursed intestinal permeability test. To do this, simply ask your laboratory.

Conditions

1. It consists of eliminating all cereals with gluten for a minimum of 3 weeks (wheat, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, beer and brewer's yeast) and dairy products, because casein (wheat protein) follows the same pattern. Therefore, if only one of the two proteins is suppressed, the inflammation will remain. Products containing "traces of gluten" are generally well tolerated.
2. You really have to be ready, motivated and have a minimum of organization in order not to break down. You need to go 3 weeks without a crumb of gluten and casein. Imagine a wound that is trying to heal, if you put your finger in it it will open up again. It is the same for the intestine which needs to heal and therefore not to receive a small hedgehog which comes to irritate it again.
3. If there is a breakdown, it is not serious, we start again at day 1 for 3 weeks. It is likely that you will not want to go back to the level of consumption you had before this test, if only because of the newfound energy, the improved sleep...

If you see some symptoms regress, at the end of the 3 weeks, it is because you are sensitive to gluten or casein. You will then reintroduce the foods one by one, bread, then pasta... to see what your tolerance level is, if your symptoms come back, it is because the dose or the food is not suitable for you. All this can be corrected quite easily. It takes time to restore intestinal permeability but the effects are felt very quickly.

A naturopath will be able to establish an adapted food rebalancing in favor of this healing, of the decrease of the inflammation, of the restoration of a healthy flora in order to start again on good bases.

No pre-established protocol exists for the moment and so much the better because your naturopath will decide the way to approach your concern so that this correction is done in the best conditions according to the other imbalances or other pathologies which he will detect (hormonal, nervous, imbalance of the sleep...).

You have understood that gluten is everywhere and inflames our intestines, but the fashion in question is mainly our unbalanced lifestyle, our consumption of foods that are empty of nutrients, processed, non-physiological, our stress that attracts us to sugar, transforms our intestines into a culture broth and a sieve that allows pathogens to pass through: including gluten and milk proteins.