The Problem of Untreated Gluten Allergies

I was speaking with my Aryuvedic practitioner who is also a registered nurse yesterday (who is allergic to gluten also). And she was saying that the real problem of untreated Gluten Allergies is that it can progress through several different stages over the years. Here are some of the potential stages. First, you might be a little allergic to gluten but you don't know it. Then maybe you travel to a foreign country or drink untreated well water or other untreated water sources in the U.S. and are exposed to Giardia but not to a point where you have symptoms (this happens 50% of the time with Giardia).

Then over the years you develop hypothyroidism from the gluten allergy when it causes your immune system to attack your thyroid glands. But after getting hypothyroid it still progresses if undiagnosed into other auto immune diseases like Lupus and arthritis and other much more serious auto-immune diseases. And at this point an untreated gluten allergy could contribute even to someone death beyond being ill with hypothyroidism, Lupus, arthritis, or even having been exposed to Giardia.

Most people in the U.S. don't die from Giardia as long as they can have a healthy enough diet. It is mostly  only in other countries where it is endemic where people cannot afford to buy enough food that people might die from it.

When I had Giardia in India and Nepal I lost about 40 pounds in 2 months so I was as thin as a rail and saw black spots before my eyes. But, because I had enough resources I could buy really good and healthy food and come out the other side of it. At that time the dust in places like Kathmandu, Nepal was thick with feces in the dust because many roads were not paved at that time. So, almost every American or European that went to Kathmandu at that time that I knew or knew of got Giardia at that time in 1985 and 1986 just from the dust in the air. One of the reasons so many people in India are thin is because of their exposure to Giardia in the water they drink. So, the problems I'm talking about here in this article likely affect them too.

Once you are able to diagnose through blood tests or buy just stopping eating any gluten that you have a problem with gluten in your diet she also said it is important to eliminate any traces of gluten from your diet because ANY gluten might bring on autoimmune diseases.

For example, in an emergency while traveling I was stopping and eating Chicken McNuggets from MacDonalds with Sweet and Sour Sauce. She was saying that even if I had no reaction physically like a stomach ache or inflammation of joints or muscles etc. that it could still cause me problems with autoimmune responses. So, she said it was really important for someone like me to avoid any and all gluten to avoid serious complications from other autoimmune diseases long term.

The other problem is that wheat is beneficial to most people even though gluten is harmful to about 40 percent of the world's population or more. So, when you eliminate wheat gluten, oat gluten and barley gluten from your diet you do have to replace it with something else that will replace those nutritional needs. One way is to increase your protein in your diet. But the problem is 93% of the soy grown in the U.S. now is genetically engineered so trying to use soy protein is now a problem here in the U.S.

So, some people who choose to are replacing their gluten based grains with other non-gluten grains like  Brown rice and quinoa and others as well as increasing their meat diet with chicken, turkey and fish as well. So, thinking about all this and maybe speaking with a nutritionist or registered nurse or doctor about this might be helpful.