Tag Archives: Symptoms

You may have heard that gluten can cause over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications. This is true and we were the ones who brought this to light in our 2007 medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease.

This video uses our Gluten Free Works Health Guide to show you how gluten causes hundreds of health problems in a cascading effect.

What started as the printed book in 2007, has developed into an all encompassing online health manual that we know can revolutionize how celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and healthcare are treated by professionals and people at home.

Subscribe to the Gluten Free Works Health Guide to recover your health and stay healthy.

Living 100% Gluten-Free is a challenge. Most of us, even after we’ve learned about hidden sources of gluten and done our best to stay away from them….are going to get “glutened” from time to time. This happens most often with:

1-Cross contamination
2-Eating out at a new restaurant
3-Eating products that don’t have any “gluten” ingredients…but still aren’t 100% GF.

We have to be extremely careful with cross contamination in our own homes. Most of us are living with non-GF people. So make sure everyone knows which toaster is the GF one….and when your grandma is baking glutenous pies, cakes, and bread….stay far away from the kitchen.  Trust me, I know. Even a TINY bit of gluten will do THIS to me:

Of course, I often get the same reaction when eating out at a new place I’m unsure about. Many restaurants  offer “gluten-free” items, but they Read More »

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. About 99% of this essential nutrient is contained in bones and teeth with the rest being in blood and other tissues. Calcium is needed for strong bones and teeth and for nerve conduction, muscle contraction, heart muscle function, blood pressure regulation, glycogen to glucose conversion, initiation of blood clotting, many hormone actions, many enzyme activities and making acetylcholine, an important chemical for nerve transmission. Calcium plays a part in the prevention of colon cancer.

Most importantly, calcium opposes phosphorus as a buffer to maintain the acid-alkaline balance of the blood and is critical for milk production in the nursing of infants.

Calcium absorption in the small intestine is complex and has specific requirements.  Read More »

Editor’s note: In this case report of infants with severe malabsorption from celiac disease, the treating physicians found copper deficiencies based on blood studies that showed severe low copper levels and white blood cell count.  Treatment required copper supplementation in addition to the gluten-free diet.  Normally, in the last few months of gestation, an infant  stores a large amount of copper in their liver.  This storage must last about 6 months because infants must derive their nourishment from copper-poor milk.  This case report shows dramatically the terrible effect of malabsorption coupled with a naturally occurring huge demand for copper that could not be satisfied through digestion. Read More »

Osteoporosis, or brittle bones, is a generalized bone disorder involving the slow loss of bone mass throughout the skeleton that results in diminished bone mineral density (BMD). Thinning, fragile bones maintain normal cell appearance but have a rapid turnover so that more bone is taken up and removed than is laid down. The result is bone weakness that predisposes people with osteoporosis to fractures.

Osteopenia refers to the progression of bone tissue loss in the range between normal to osteoporosis.

What are Bones?

Bones are dynamic structures made up of living connective tissue and certain minerals. Connective tissue provides the shape of bones and holds calcium phosphate mineral for hardness and Read More »

Editor’s note: The study below, investigating whether the degree of villous atrophy (intestinal damage) correlates with the symptoms that are presented, found they do not. Therefore, more research is needed to find out why symptoms do not correlate with the degree of intestinal damage.

The pathologic range of villous atrophy seen on small intestinal biopsies ranges from severe (total villous atrophy and subtotal villous atrophy) to milder, partial villous atrophy. Read More »

Niacin, also called vitamin B₃, is required by all the cells of our body making it essential for vitality and life itself.

Niacin is essential for keeping our skin and digestive tract healthy, our brain and nervous system  functioning normally, certain key cell processes repaired, our adrenal glands producing steroid hormones at demand levels, sex glands producing the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone and, most especially, for producing energy to keep our body alive.¹

When absorbed from the small intestinal tract, niacin becomes part of a process including more than 200 enzymes involved in metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fatty acids, that is, chemical reactions that maintain life.¹ Niacin is stored by the liver.²

Niacin must be digested to release its absorbable forms, nicotinamide and nicotinic acid. These molecules are absorbed across the intestinal lining at low concentrations by sodium-dependent facilitated diffusion, meaning they need help to get into the bloodstream.¹ Read More »

Selenium is a trace mineral required for good health. We should not be complacent about the small amount of this essential nutrient needed because not having enough of it has serious consequences.

Selenium is required for antioxidant protection, DNA repair, thyroid hormone activation, immune system enhancement, production of prostaglandins, muscle function and protection against cancer. Read More »

In The Happening, Plants Kill Humanity

In the M. Night Shyamalan thriller, The Happening, a worldwide plague strikes humanity that causes anyone affected to kill themselves. The trigger turns out to be a substance released by plants into the air that affects the minds of humans. According to the movie, plants developed the toxin to save themselves from humans.

As we discover more about gluten, lectins and now a new protein called ATI, it seems Shyamalan’s film may have been closer to the truth than anyone could have thought. Plants may be fighting back against their predators, including us. Read More »

Photo credit: Celiac Disease Awareness Month

May is National Celiac Disease Awareness Month, so it seems appropriate to share some medical facts about this autoimmune disease that just might shock you.

These facts come from Dr. Tom O’Bryan who is is a nationally recognized speaker and workshop leader specializing in gluten sensitivity and celiac disease.  Dr. O’Bryan’s specialty is in teaching the many manifestations of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease as they occur inside and outside of the Read More »