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Arachidonic Acid (AA) Deficiency

QueijoFresco.
QueijoFresco.

What Is Arachidonic Acid?

Arachidonic acid is a major essential (must have/can’t make) omega-6 fatty acid.

Structurally, arachidonic acid is a key component of nerve membranes, together with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a major opposing omega-3 fatty acid, making up 15-20% of the brain’s dry mass and more than 30% of the retina.

In healthy human volunteers, positron emission tomography (PET) has shown that the normal human brain consumes 17.8 mg/day of arachidonic acid.1

Arachidonic acid is particularly concentrated in highly active membranes such as nerve synapses (junctions) and in photoreceptors in the eye retina.2

Arachidonic acid is an important building substance for the eicosanoids.

Q: What function do the eicosanoids have that are derived from arachidonic acid?

A: Eicosanoids are a large group of highly bioactive hormone-like substances including prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and thromboxanes that are involved in blood clotting, inflammation, and vasoconstriction. Eicosanoids derived from arachidonic acid are pro-inflammatory, pro-blood clotting, and constrict blood vessels in opposition to those derived from the omega-3 fatty acids which do the opposite in order to keep a balance in the body.

What Is Arachidonic Acid Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Rapoport SI. Brain arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid cascades are selectively altered by drugs, diet and disease. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2008 Sep-Nov;79(3-5):153-6. Epub 2008 Oct 29. [↩]
  2. Richardson AJ. The importance of omega-3 fatty acids for behavior, cognition, and mood. Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition. 2003;47(2):92-8. [↩]

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Deficiency

Chicken Kabobs on the Grill...umm Riboflavin.
Chicken Kabobs on the Grill…umm Riboflavin.

What Is Riboflavin?

Riboflavin, also called vitamin B2, is fundamentally required for the breakdown of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fats in metabolism, enables oxygen to be used by cells, and acts as a component of more than a dozen enzymes involved in energy production and use.

Some enzymes needing riboflavin also require magnesium to properly function.

In other activities, riboflavin is required for healthy cardiovascular and nervous systems, eye health, and supports antioxidant protection.  Functions are more fully described below.

Urinary excretion of riboflavin cannot be detected when vitamin intake is below the required levels. On the other hand, when intake exceeds saturation in the body, the vitamin and/or its metabolites are actively excreted into urine to prevent excessive toxicity of the vitamins.1

There is no specific name for riboflavin deficiency disease.

What Is Riboflavin Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Shibata K, Hirose J, Fukuwatari T. Relationship Between Urinary Concentrations of Nine Water-soluble Vitamins and their Vitamin Intakes in Japanese Adult Males. Nutr Metab Insights. 2014 Aug 5;7:61-75. doi: 10.4137/NMI.S17245. [↩]

Gluten Sensitivity

gluten sensitivity

Gluten Sensitivity is an umbrella term that refers to any and all problematic health responses to gluten in any body system. We first defined gluten sensitivity in our ground breaking text, Recognizing Celiac Disease first published in 2006.  Gluten Sensitivity includes celiac disease, gluten allergy, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity reactions.1 

Under Pathophysiology in Recognizing Celiac Disease, we confidently published the fact, against the opinion of some noted specialists but in accord with others, that “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” exists as a condition distinct from celiac disease and which must be distinguished from celiac disease for proper treatment of both.

Today, although there lacks a general agreement for the term “gluten sensitivity,” the medical community has accepted the reality of non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

As a result, researchers are calling this condition the “new frontier.” As Dr. Lundin has stated, “We are still challenged with finding stricter clinical criteria for the condition, developing a usable clinical approach for gluten challenge in these individuals, and understanding the pathogenesis of the condition.”2

  • Celiac disease is characterized by a specific immune reaction in the small intestinal lining that is both an innate response (inflammatory) and a humoral response (antibody production) to peptides of gluten that leads to malabsorption of nutrients and increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut).3 The humoral antibody response involves the production of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Only persons who have inherited this immune response are at risk to develop celiac disease. Celiac disease results in malabsorption and any of a great number of health problems that can develop from the toxic action of gluten peptides entering the body through a leaky gut.
  • Gluten allergies are immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated immune responses where hives, asthma, and similar reactions develop. Allergy involves the production of specific antibodies to specific antigens, which would be a peptide of gluten. For example, wheat allergy commonly targets gliadin as the antigen. IgE immune responses appear to be inherited.
  • Non-celiac gluten sensitivity can be diagnosed in those patients with gluten intolerance who do not develop antibodies that are typical either of celiac disease or of wheat allergy and who do not suffer from lesions in the duodenal mucosa characteristic of celiac disease.4 Symptoms that occur soon after gluten ingestion rapidly improve after gluten withdrawal and relapse in a few hours or days after gluten challenge.5

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is an innate immune response producing mild inflammation (Marsh I class) of the small intestine lining to gluten when present in the diet but negative to production of the anti-EMA, and anti-tTG immunoglobulins (humoral response), which are autoantibodies mounted in celiac disease.

Sources:
  1. Libonati, Cleo. Recognizing Celiac Disease, p. IX [↩]
  2. Lundin KE. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity – why worry? BMC Med. 2014 May 23;12:86. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-12-86. [↩]
  3. Brottveit M, Beitnes AC, Tollefsen S, Bratlie JE, Jahnsen FL, Johansen FE, Sollid LM, Lundin KE. Mucosal cytokine response after short-term gluten challenge in celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Am J Gastroenterol. 2013 May;108(5):842-50. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2013.91. [↩]
  4. Czaja-Bulsa G. Non coeliac gluten sensitivity – A new disease with gluten intolerance. Clin Nutr. 2014 Aug 29. pii: S0261-5614(14)00218-0. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2014.08.012. [↩]
  5. Caio G, Volta U, Tovoli F, De Giorgio R. Effect of gluten free diet on immune response to gliadin in patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. BMC Gastroenterol. 2014 Feb 13;14:26. doi: 10.1186/1471-230X-14-26. [↩]

Finding Gluten Free Medications with Pillbox

Choosing gluten-free medications can seem like walking through a minefield. Dozens of manufacturers and arcane lists of unpronounceable ingredients can be overwhelming. Now there is a website that will help you pick the medications based… 

Fitness Guide

gluten free fitness tipsWe all know that diet is crucial to getting well and staying healthy.

That said, regular physical activity and physical fitness make important contributions to our health,  well being, and maintenance of a healthy body weight.

Americans tend to be relatively inactive. In 2002, one out of four of adult Americans did not participate in any leisure time physical activities in the past month,1  and in 2003, 38 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 viewed television 3 or more hours per day.2

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles resulting in

Sources:
  1. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Surveillance for Certain Health Behaviors Among Selected Local Areas – United States, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 53, No SS-05. http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/. [↩]
  2. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2003 MMWR 53(SS-2):1;29, 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/. Calories burned per hour will be higher for persons who weigh more than 154 lbs (70 kg) and lower for persons who weigh less. Source: Adapted from the 2005 DGAC Report. [↩]

Gluten Food Substitutes

Use this section to learn about the wide array of safe starchy foods that are available to replace wheat, rye, barley, and oat as ingredients in recipes and as food selections.

Safe replacements can be in the form of flour and starch for use in baking and cooking.  They can be used whole as side dishes or ingredients in main dishes.

Popular gluten-free packaged goods include cereal, pasta, noodles, crackers, pretzels, muffins, bagels, cookies, cakes, and pies.

1.  Eliminate Unsafe Foods and Ingredients

This table shows how gluten is used in foods in various ways. 

Nature of Foods: Macronutrients and Micronutrients

gluten free foods and nutrientsFood is our nourishment.  We appreciate food for its appetizing qualities like taste, appeal and aroma.  “That looks delicious!” Or we search for food when we’re hungry, “What’s in the fridge?”

Beyond appetite and hunger, this section is about understanding food as our source of necessary nutrients, “Is this food good for me?”  Knowing what makes up food and how food functions in our body, gives us confidence to choose food wisely.

Food nutrients fall into two basic categories:

1. Macronutrients

2. Micronutrients

Additionally, in both categories there are foods called “functional” that have beneficial effects on health.  According to the American Dietetics Association, functional foods have physiologically active components from both plant (phytochemicals) and animal (zoochemical) sources, that provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients they contain.

MACRONUTRIENTS

“Macro” means large quantity.  Macronutrients are nutrients we need in large amounts in our diet.  They are the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in plant and animal structures that we need to obtain energy and the building materials for making our own unique body structures.

CARBOHYDRATES

These energy packed nutrients provide fuel for the body and bulk for proper elimination. The main categories are sugars, starches, and fiber.  Sugar and starches supply energy to the body in the form of

Selenium Deficiency

selenium gluten free celiac disease symptomWhat Is Selenium?

Selenium is a mineral that is required by the body  in trace amounts for a healthy immune system, normal thyroid function, and antioxidant protection.

Selenium is absolutely required in the production of at least 30 selenoproteins in the body. First, selenium is joined to the amino acids cysteine as selenocysteine and to methionine as selenomethionine before being used as components for selenoproteins. Many selenoproteins are important antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase.

Q: How does glutathione peroxidase work?

A: Glutathione peroxidase activity helps the recycling of vitamins C and E in optimizing the performance of the antioxidant system. The antioxidant properties of selenoproteins help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. Free radicals are natural by-products of oxygen metabolism that may contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

In the immune system, selenium stimulates immune properties of lymphocytes (white blood cells) by contributing to higher natural killer lymphocyte activity. Natural killer lymphocytes have the ability to destroy cancer cells and bacterial and viral agents.

Other selenoproteins help protect the thyroid gland from anti-oxidants and regulate thyroid function. Specifically, selenium plays an integral role in thyroid gland metabolism.1 Functions are more fully described below.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, approximately 30 percent of tissue selenium is contained in the liver, 15 percent in kidney, 30 percent in muscle, and 10 percent in blood plasma.

What Is Selenium Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Stazi AV, Trinti B. Selenium status and over-expression of interleukin-15 in celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid diseases. Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2010;46(4):389-99.DOI: 10.4415/ANN_10_04_06. [↩]

Potential Wellness Program Survey

Please help us determine whether a Wellness Program is needed by reading our description below and completing the three question survey at the end. Thank you!

Gluten Free Works Wellness Program

 

own-your-health

Our wellness products and services would help you lead a healthy, energized, more productive life!

 

The Gluten Free Works Optimal Wellness Program would have two main parts:

Wellness Coaching by Mayo Clinic Trained Professionals
Health and Wellness Website Offering Health Assessments and Wellness Resources

The STRENGTH of our program would begin with the knowledge and expertise of our Mayo Clinic trained wellness coaches whose roles are to engage, assess, clarify, educate, and serve. At the core of our service is