Posted: August 12, 2010 07:00 AM

Cholesterol could easily be described as the smoking gun of the last two decades.

It’s been responsible for demonizing entire categories of foods (like eggs and saturated fats) and blamed for just about every case of heart disease in the last 20 years.

Yet when I first opened my medical practice in the mid 80s, cholesterol, and the fear that yours was too high was rarely talked about.

Somewhere along the way however, cholesterol became a household word — something that you must keep as low as possible, or suffer the consequences.

You are probably aware that there are many myths that portray fat and cholesterol as one of the worst foods you can consume. Please understand that these myths are actually harming your health.

Not only is cholesterol most likely not going to destroy your health (as you have been led to believe), but it is also not the cause of heart disease. And for those of you taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, the information that follows could not have been given to you fast enough. But before I delve into this life-changing information, let’s get some basics down first.

What is Cholesterol, and Why Do You Need It?

That’s right, you do need cholesterol.

This soft, waxy substance is found not only in your bloodstream, but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function.

Your liver makes about 75 percent of your body’s cholesterol ,[i] and according to conventional medicine, there are two types:

High-density lipoprotein, or HDL: This is the “good” cholesterol that helps to keep cholesterol away from your arteries and remove any excess from arterial plaque, which may help to prevent heart disease.

Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL: This “bad” cholesterol circulates in your blood and, according to conventional thinking, may build up in your arteries, forming plaque that makes your arteries narrow and less flexible (a condition called atherosclerosis). If a clot forms in one of these narrowed arteries leading to your heart or brain, a heart attack or stroke may result.

Also making up your total cholesterol count are:

– Triglycerides: Elevated levels of this dangerous fat have been linked to heart disease and diabetes. Triglyceride levels are known to rise from eating too many grains and sugars, being physically inactive, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol excessively and being overweight or obese.

– Lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a): Lp(a) is a substance that is made up of an LDL “bad cholesterol” part plus a protein (apoprotein a). Elevated Lp(a) levels are a very strong risk factor for heart disease. This has been well established, yet very few physicians check for it in their patients.

Understand this:

Your Total Cholesterol Level is NOT a Great Indicator of Your Heart Disease Risk

Health officials in the United States urge everyone over the age of 20 to have their cholesterol tested once every five years. Part of this test is your total cholesterol, or the sum of your blood’s cholesterol content, including HDL, LDLs and VLDLs.

The American Heart Association recommends that your total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL, but what they do not tell you is that total cholesterol level is just about worthless in determining your risk for heart disease, unless it is above 330.

In addition, the AHA updated their guidelines in 2004, lowering the recommended level of LDL cholesterol from 130 to LDL to less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk.

In order to achieve these outrageous and dangerously low targets, you typically need to take multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs. So the guidelines instantly increased the market for these dangerous drugs. Now, with testing children’s cholesterol levels, they’re increasing their market even more.

I have seen a number of people with total cholesterol levels over 250 who actually were at low heart disease risk due to their HDL levels. Conversely, I have seen even more who had cholesterol levels under 200 that were at a very high risk of heart disease based on the following additional tests:

– HDL/Cholesterol ratio

– Triglyceride/HDL ratios

HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 24 percent.

You can also do the same thing with your triglycerides and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.

Keep in mind, however, that these are still simply guidelines, and there’s a lot more that goes into your risk of heart disease than any one of these numbers. In fact, it was only after word got out that total cholesterol is a poor predictor of heart disease that HDL and LDL cholesterol were brought into the picture.

They give you a closer idea of what’s going on, but they still do not show you everything.

Cholesterol is Neither “Good” Nor “Bad”

Now that we’ve defined good and bad cholesterol, it has to be said that there is actually only one type of cholesterol. Ron Rosedale, MD, who is widely considered to be one of the leading anti-aging doctor in the United States, does an excellent job of explaining this concept :[ii]

“Notice please that LDL and HDL are lipoproteins — fats combined with proteins. There is only one cholesterol. There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” cholesterol.

Cholesterol is just cholesterol.

It combines with other fats and proteins to be carried through the bloodstream, since fat and our watery blood do not mix very well.

Fatty substances therefore must be shuttled to and from our tissues and cells using proteins. LDL and HDL are forms of proteins and are far from being just cholesterol.

In fact we now know there are many types of these fat and protein particles. LDL particles come in many sizes and large LDL particles are not a problem. Only the so-called small dense LDL particles can potentially be a problem, because they can squeeze through the lining of the arteries and if they oxidize, otherwise known as turning rancid, they can cause damage and inflammation.

Thus, you might say that there is “good LDL” and “bad LDL.”

Also, some HDL particles are better than others. Knowing just your total cholesterol tells you very little. Even knowing your LDL and HDL levels will not tell you very much.”

Cholesterol is Your Friend, Not Your Enemy

Before we continue, I really would like you to get your mind around this concept.

In the United States, the idea that cholesterol is evil is very much engrained in most people’s minds. But this is a very harmful myth that needs to be put to rest right now.

“First and foremost,” Dr. Rosedale points out, “cholesterol is a vital component of every cell membrane on Earth. In other words, there is no life on Earth that can live without cholesterol.

That will automatically tell you that, in and of itself, it cannot be evil. In fact, it is one of our best friends.

We would not be here without it. No wonder lowering cholesterol too much increases one’s risk of dying. Cholesterol is also a precursor to all of the steroid hormones. You cannot make estrogen, testosterone, cortisone and a host of other vital hormones without cholesterol.”

Vitamin D and Your Cholesterol

You probably are aware of the incredible influence of vitamin D on your health. If you aren’t, or need a refresher, you can visit my vitamin D page.

What most people do not realize is that the best way to obtain your vitamin D is from safe exposure to sun on your skin. The UVB rays in sunlight interact with the cholesterol on your skin and convert it to vitamin D.

Bottom line?

If your cholesterol level is too low you will not be able to use the sun to generate sufficient levels of vitamin D.

Additionally, it provides some intuitive feedback that if cholesterol were so dangerous, why would your body use it as precursor for vitamin D and virtually all of the steroid hormones in your body?

Other “evidence” that cholesterol is good for you?

Consider the role of “good” HDL cholesterol. Essentially, HDL takes cholesterol from your body’s tissues and arteries, and brings it back to your liver, where most of your cholesterol is produced. If the purpose of this was to eliminate cholesterol from your body, it would make sense that the cholesterol would be shuttled back to your kidneys or intestines so your body could remove it.

Instead, it goes back to your liver. Why?

Because your liver is going to reuse it.

“It is taking it back to your liver so that your liver can recycle it; put it back into other particles to be taken to tissues and cells that need it,” Dr. Rosedale explains. “Your body is trying to make and conserve the cholesterol for the precise reason that it is so important, indeed vital, for health.”

Cholesterol and Inflammation – What’s the Connection?

Inflammation has become a bit of a buzzword in the medical field because it has been linked to so many different diseases. And one of those diseases is heart disease … the same heart disease that cholesterol is often blamed for.

What am I getting at?

Well, first consider the role of inflammation in your body. In many respects, it’s a good thing as it’s your body’s natural response to invaders it perceives as threats. If you get a cut for instance, the process of inflammation is what allows you to heal.

Specifically during inflammation:

– Your blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding to death

– Your blood becomes thicker so it can clot

– Your immune system sends cells and chemicals to fight viruses, bacteria and other “bad guys” that could infect the area

– Cells multiply to repair the damage

Ultimately, the cut is healed and a protective scar may form over the area.

If your arteries are damaged, a very similar process occurs inside of your body, except that a “scar” in your artery is known as plaque.

This plaque, along with the thickening of your blood and constricting of your blood vessels that normally occur during the inflammatory process, can indeed increase your risk of high blood pressure and heart attacks.

Notice that cholesterol has yet to even enter the picture.

Cholesterol comes in because, in order to replace your damaged cells, it is necessary.

Remember that no cell can form without it.

So if you have damaged cells that need to be replaced, your liver will be notified to make more cholesterol and release it into your bloodstream. This is a deliberate process that takes place in order for your body to produce new, healthy cells.

It’s also possible, and quite common, for damage to occur in your body on a regular basis. In this case, you will be in a dangerous state of chronic inflammation.

The test usually used to determine if you have chronic inflammation is a C-reactive protein (CRP) blood test. CRP level is used as a marker of inflammation in your arteries.

Generally speaking:

– A CRP level under 1 milligrams per liter of blood means you have a low risk for cardiovascular disease

– 1 to 3 milligrams means your risk is intermediate

– More than 3 milligrams is high risk

Even conventional medicine is warming up to the idea that chronic inflammation can trigger heart attacks. But they stop short of seeing the big picture.

In the eyes of conventional medicine, when they see increased cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream, they conclude that it — not the underlying damage to your arteries — is the cause of heart attacks.

Which brings me to my next point.

The Insanity of Lowering Cholesterol

Sally Fallon, the president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and Mary Enig, Ph.D, an expert in lipid biochemistry, have gone so far as to call high cholesterol “an invented disease, a ‘problem’ that emerged when health professionals learned how to measure cholesterol levels in the blood.”[iii]

And this explanation is spot on.

If you have increased levels of cholesterol, it is at least in part because of increased inflammation in your body. The cholesterol is there to do a job: help your body to heal and repair.

Conventional medicine misses the boat entirely when they dangerously recommend that lowering cholesterol with drugs is the way to reduce your risk of heart attacks, because what is actually needed is to address whatever is causing your body damage — and leading to increased inflammation and then increased cholesterol.

As Dr. Rosedale so rightly points out:

“If excessive damage is occurring such that it is necessary to distribute extra cholesterol through the bloodstream, it would not seem very wise to merely lower the cholesterol and forget about why it is there in the first place.

It would seem much smarter to reduce the extra need for the cholesterol — the excessive damage that is occurring, the reason for the chronic inflammation.”

I’ll discuss how to do this later in the report, but first let’s take a look at the dangers of low cholesterol — and how it came to be that cholesterol levels needed to be so low in the first place.

If Your Cholesterol is Too Low …

All kinds of nasty things can happen to your body. Remember, every single one of your cells needs cholesterol to thrive — including those in your brain. Perhaps this is why low cholesterol wreaks havoc on your psyche.

One large study conducted by Dutch researchers found that men with chronically low cholesterol levels showed a consistently higher risk of having depressive symptoms.[iv]

This may be because cholesterol affects the metabolism of serotonin, a substance involved in the regulation of your mood. On a similar note, Canadian researchers found that those in the lowest quarter of total cholesterol concentration had more than six times the risk of committing suicide as did those in the highest quarter. [v]

Dozens of studies also support a connection between low or lowered cholesterol levels and violent behavior, through this same pathway: lowered cholesterol levels may lead to lowered brain serotonin activity, which may, in turn, lead to increased violence and aggression. [vi]

And one meta-analysis of over 41,000 patient records found that people who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol as much as possible may have a higher risk of cancer, [vii] while other studies have linked low cholesterol to Parkinson’s disease.

What cholesterol level is too low? Brace yourself.

Probably any level much under 150 — an optimum would be more like 200.

Now I know what you are thinking: “But my doctor tells me my cholesterol needs to be under 200 to be healthy.” Well let me enlighten you about how these cholesterol recommendations came to be. And I warn you, it is not a pretty story.

This is a significant issue. I have seen large numbers of people who have their cholesterol lowered below 150, and there is little question in my mind that it is causing far more harm than any benefit they are receiving by lowering their cholesterol this low.

Who Decided What Cholesterol Levels are Healthy or Harmful?

In 2004, the U.S. government’s National Cholesterol Education Program panel advised those at risk for heart disease to attempt to reduce their LDL cholesterol to specific, very low, levels.

Before 2004, a 130-milligram LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk.

Keep in mind that these extremely low targets often require multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs to achieve.

Fortunately, in 2006 a review in the Annals of Internal Medicine [viii] found that there is insufficient evidence to support the target numbers outlined by the panel. The authors of the review were unable to find research providing evidence that achieving a specific LDL target level was important in and of itself, and found that the studies attempting to do so suffered from major flaws.

Several of the scientists who helped develop the guidelines even admitted that the scientific evidence supporting the less-than-70 recommendation was not very strong.

So how did these excessively low cholesterol guidelines come about?

Eight of the nine doctors on the panel that developed the new cholesterol guidelines had been making money from the drug companies that manufacture statin cholesterol-lowering drugs.[ix]

The same drugs that the new guidelines suddenly created a huge new market for in the United States.

Coincidence? I think not.

Now, despite the finding that there is absolutely NO evidence to show that lowering your LDL cholesterol to 100 or below is good for you, what do you think the American Heart Association STILL recommends?

Lowering your LDL cholesterol levels to less than 100. [x]

And to make matters worse, the standard recommendation to get to that level almost always includes one or more cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The Dangers of Cholesterol-Lowering Medications

If you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, taking a drug should be your absolute last resort. And when I say last resort, I’m saying the odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that you don’t need drugs to lower your cholesterol.

To put it another way, among the more than 20,000 patients who have come to my clinic, only four or five of them truly needed these drugs, as they had genetic challenges of familial hypercholesterolemia that required it..

Contrast this to what is going on in the general population. According to data from Medco Health Solutions Inc., more than half of insured Americans are taking drugs for chronic health conditions. And cholesterol-lowering medications are the second most common variety among this group, with nearly 15 percent of chronic medication users taking them (high blood pressure medications — another vastly over-prescribed category — were first). [xi]

Disturbingly, as written in BusinessWeek early in 2008, “Some researchers have even suggested — half-jokingly — that the medications should be put in the water supply.” [xii]

Count yourself lucky that you probably do NOT need to take cholesterol-lowering medications, because these are some nasty little pills.

Statin drugs work by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver that’s needed to manufacture cholesterol. What is so concerning about this is that when you go tinkering around with the delicate workings of the human body, you risk throwing everything off kilter.

Case in point, “statin drugs inhibit not just the production of cholesterol, but a whole family of intermediary substances, many if not all of which have important biochemical functions in their own right,” say Enig and Fallon.3

For starters, statin drugs deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is beneficial to heart health and muscle function. Because doctors rarely inform people of this risk and advise them to take a CoQ10 supplement, this depletion leads to fatigue, muscle weakness, soreness, and eventually heart failure.

Muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, is actually the most common side effect of statin drugs, which is thought to occur because statins activate the atrogin-1 gene, which plays a key role in muscle atrophy. [xiii]

By the way, muscle pain and weakness may be an indication that your body tissues are actually breaking down — a condition that can cause kidney damage.

Statin drugs have also been linked to:

– An increased risk of polyneuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain in the hands and feet and trouble walking)

– Dizziness

– Cognitive impairment, including memory loss [xiv]

– A potential increased risk of cancer [xv]

– Decreased function of the immune system[xvi]

– Depression

– Liver problems, including a potential increase in liver enzymes (so people taking statins must be regularly monitored for normal liver function)

And recently a possible association was found between statins and an increased risk of Lou Gehrig’s disease. [xvii]

Other cholesterol-lowering drugs besides statins also have side effects, most notably muscle pain and weakness.

IMPORTANT NOTE

If, for whatever reason, you or someone you know or love does not believe the information in this report and chooses to stay on statin drugs, then please make sure they at least take one to two Ubiquinols per day.

This will help prevent all the side effects mentioned above.

Ubiquinol is the reduced version of Coenzyme Q-10 and is far more effective if you are over 35-40 years old. It is the form of the supplement that actually works, and if you take CoQ-10 and your body can’t reduce it to uniquinol you are just fooling yourself and wasting your money.

Are Cholesterol Drugs Even Effective?

With all of these risks, the drugs had better be effective, right? Well, even this is questionable. At least, it depends on how you look at it.

Most cholesterol lowering drugs can effectively lower your cholesterol numbers, but are they actually making you any healthier, and do they help prevent heart disease?

Have you ever heard of the statistic known as NNT, or number needed to treat?

I didn’t think so. In fact, most doctors haven’t either. And herein lies the problem.

NNT answers the question: How many people have to take a particular drug to avoid one incidence of a medical issue (such as a heart attack)?

For example, if a drug had an NNT of 50 for heart attacks, then 50 people have to take the drug in order to prevent one heart attack.

Easy enough, right?

Well, drug companies would rather that you not focus on NNT, because when you do, you get an entirely different picture of their “miracle” drugs. Take, for instance, Pfizer’s Lipitor, which is the most prescribed cholesterol medication in the world and has been prescribed to more than 26 million Americans. [xviii]

According to Lipitor’s own Web site, Lipitor is clinically proven to lower bad cholesterol 39-60 percent, depending on the dose. Sounds fairly effective, right?

Well, BusinessWeek actually did an excellent story on this very topic earlier this year, [xix] and they found the REAL numbers right on Pfizer’s own newspaper ad for Lipitor.

Upon first glance, the ad boasts that Lipitor reduces heart attacks by 36 percent. But there is an asterisk. And when you follow the asterisk, you find the following in much smaller type:

“That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.”

What this means is that for every 100 people who took the drug over 3.3 years, three people on placebos, and two people on Lipitor, had heart attacks. That means that taking Lipitor resulted in just one fewer heart attack per 100 people.

The NNT, in this case, is 100. One hundred people have to take Lipitor for more than three years to prevent one heart attack. And the other 99 people, well, they’ve just dished out hundreds of dollars and increased their risk of a multitude of side effects for nothing.

So you can see how the true effectiveness of cholesterol drugs like Lipitor is hidden behind a smokescreen.

Or in some cases, not hidden at all.

Zetia and Vytorin: No Medical Benefits

Early in 2008, it came out that Zetia, which works by inhibiting absorption of cholesterol from your intestines, and Vytorin, which is a combination of Zetia and Zocor (a statin drug), do not work.

This was discovered AFTER the drugs acquired close to 20 percent of the U.S. market for cholesterol-lowering drugs. And also after close to 1 million prescriptions for the drugs were being written each week in the United States, bringing in close to $4 billion in 2007. [xx]

It was only after the results of a trial by the drugs’ makers, Merck and Schering-Plough, were released that this was found out. Never mind that the trial was completed in April 2006, and results were not released until January 2008.

And it’s no wonder the drug companies wanted to hide these results.

While Zetia does lower cholesterol by 15 percent to 20 percent, trials did not show that it reduces heart attacks or strokes, or that it reduces plaques in arteries that can lead to heart problems.

The trial by the drugs’ makers, which studied whether Zetia could reduce the growth of plaques, found that plaques grew nearly twice as fast in patients taking Zetia along with Zocor (Vytorin) than in those taking Zocor alone. [xxi]

Of course, the answer is not to turn back to typical statin drugs to lower your cholesterol, as many of the so-called experts would have you believe.

You see, statins are thought to have a beneficial effect on inflammation in your body, thereby lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke.

But you can lower inflammation in your body naturally, without risking any of the numerous side effects of statin drugs. This should also explain why my guidelines for lowering cholesterol are identical to those to lower inflammation.

For more in-depth information about cholesterol-lowering drugs, please see my recently updated statin drug index page.

How to Lower Inflammation, and Thereby Your Risk of Heart Disease, Naturally

There is a major misconception that you must avoid foods like eggs and saturated fat to protect your heart. While it’s true that fats from animal sources contain cholesterol, I’ve explained earlier in this article why this should not scare you — but I’ll explain even further here.

This misguided principle is based on the “lipid hypothesis” — developed in the 1950s by nutrition pioneer Ancel Keys — that linked dietary fat to coronary heart disease.

The nutrition community of that time completely accepted the hypothesis, and encouraged the public to cut out butter, red meat, animal fats, eggs, dairy and other “artery clogging” fats from their diets — a radical change at that time.

What you may not know is that when Keys published his analysis that claimed to prove the link between dietary fats and coronary heart disease, he selectively analyzed information from only six countries to prove his correlation, rather than comparing all the data available at the time — from 22 countries.

As a result of this “cherry-picked” data, government health organizations began bombarding the public with advice that has contributed to the diabetes and obesity epidemics going on today: eat a low-fat diet.

Not surprisingly, numerous studies have actually shown that Keys’ theory was wrong and saturated fats are healthy, including these studies from Fallon and Enig’s classic article The Skinny on Fats: [xxii]

A survey of South Carolina adults found no correlation of blood cholesterol levels with “bad” dietary habits, such as use of red meat, animal fats, fried foods, butter, eggs, whole milk, bacon, sausage and cheese. [xxiii]
A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine. [xxiv]
Of course, as Americans cut out nutritious animal fats from their diets, they were left hungry. So they began eating more processed grains, more vegetable oils, and more high-fructose corn syrup, all of which are nutritional disasters.

It is this latter type of diet that will eventually lead to increased inflammation, and therefore cholesterol, in your body. So don’t let anyone scare you away from saturated fat anymore.

Chronic inflammation is actually caused by a laundry list of items such as:

– Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)

– Eating lots of sugar and grains

– Eating foods cooked at high temperatures

– Eating trans fats

– A sedentary lifestyle

– Smoking

– Emotional stress

So to sum it all up, in order to lower your inflammation and cholesterol levels naturally, you must address the items on this list.

How to Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally…

1. Make sure you’re getting plenty of high-quality, animal-based omega3-fats. I prefer those from krill oil. New research suggests that as little as 500 mg may lower your total cholesterol and triglycerides and will likely increase your HDL cholesterol.

2. Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your daily diet. It is especially important to eliminate dangerous sugars such as fructose. If your HDL/Cholesterol ratio is abnormal and needs to be improved it would also serve you well to virtually eliminate fruits from your diet, as that it also a source of fructose. Once your cholesterol improves you can gradually reintroduce it to levels that don’t raise your cholesterol.

3. Eat the right foods for your nutritional type. You can learn your nutritional type by taking our FREE test.

4. Eat a good portion of your food raw.

5. Eat healthy, preferably raw, fats that correspond to your nutritional type. This includes:

– Olive oil

– Coconut and coconut oil

– Organic raw dairy products (including butter, cream, sour cream, cheese, etc.)

– Avocados

– Raw nuts

– Seeds

– Eggs (lightly cooked with yolks intact or raw)

– Organic, grass-fed meats

6. Get the right amount of exercise, especially Peak Fitness type of exercise. When you exercise you increase your circulation and the blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system are also better circulated, which means your immune system has a better chance of fighting an illness before it has the opportunity to spread.

7. Avoid smoking and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

8. Address your emotional challenges. I particularly love the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) for stress management.

So there you have it; the reasons why high cholesterol is a worry that many of you simply do not need to have, along with a simple plan to optimize yours.

If someone you love is currently taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, I urge you to share this information with them as well, and take advantage of the thousands of free pages of information on www.Mercola.com.

For the majority of you reading this right now, there’s no reason to risk your health with cholesterol-lowering drugs. With the plan I’ve just outlined, you’ll achieve the cholesterol levels you were meant to have, along with the very welcome “side effects” of increased energy, mood and mental clarity.

Too good to be true?

Hardly.

For the vast majority of people, making a few lifestyle changes causes healthy cholesterol levels to naturally occur.

As always, your health really is in your hands. Now it’s up to you to take control — and shape it into something great.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder and director of Mercola.com. Become a fan of Dr. Mercola on Facebook, on Twitter and check out Dr. Mercola’s report on sun exposure!

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References
[i] American Heart Association January 23, 2008

[ii] Mercola.com, Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease, Ron Rosedale May 28, 2005

[iii] Fallon, S. and Mary Enig. “Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines,” The Weston A. Price Foundation

[iv] Psychosomatic Medicine 2000;62.

[v] Epidemiology 2001 Mar;12:168-72

[vi] Annals of Internal Medicine (1998;128(6):478-487) The Journal of the American Medical Association (1997;278:313-321)

[vii] Journal of the American College of Cardiology July 31, 2007; 50:409-418

[viii] Annals of Internal Medicine October 3, 2006; 145(7): 520-530

[ix] USAToday.com October 16, 2004

[x] American Heart Association, “What Your Cholesterol Level Means,” accessed May 22, 2008

[xi] MSNBC.com More than half of Americans on chronic meds May 14, 2008(accessed June 9, 2008)

[xii] BusinessWeek Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good? January 17, 2008 (accessed June 9, 2008)

[xiii] The Journal of Clinical Investigation December 2007; 117(12):3940-51

[xiv] Mercola.com Sudden Memory Loss Linked to Cholesterol Drugs

[xv] Nature Medicine September, 2000;6:965-966, 1004-1010.

[xvi] Nature Medicine, December, 2000; 6: 1311-1312, 1399-1402

[xvii] Edwards, I. Ralph; Star, Kristina; Kiuru, Anne, “Statins, Neuromuscular Degenerative Disease and an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Like Syndrome,” Drug Safety, Volume 30, Number 6, 2007 , pp. 515-525(11)

[xviii] IMS Heallth. IMS National Prescription Audit Plus July 2007.

[xix] BusinessWeek.com, “Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good?” January 17, 2008 (accessed June 10, 2008)

[xx] New York Times, “Cardiologists Question Delay of Data on 2 Drugs,” November 21, 2007 (accessed June 10, 2008)

[xxi] New York Times, “Drug Has No Benefit in Trial, Makers Say,” January 14, 2008 (accessed June 10, 2008)

[xxii] Enig, M and Sally Fallon, “The Skinny on Fats,” The Weston A. Price Foundation,

[xxiii] Lackland, D T, et al, J Nutr, Nov 1990, 120:11S:1433-1436

[xxiv] Nutr Week, Mar 22, 1991, 21:12:2-3

I’ve found that the majority of my patients with chronic, misdiagnosed health problems are gluten sensitive. It is the most commonly missed underlying cause of many common health complaints from depression to fatigue, from female hormone imbalances to compulsive overeating. It has proven to be the single most important factor in the healing process of the majority of my most difficult cases. As a genetic, autoimmune disorder, gluten sensitivity can devastate whole families and you will see evidence of it in each generation, from an alcoholic grandparent to a child with constant tummy aches.

My professional commitment to identifying clients with this problem was established by the benefits my family and I have personally received by implementing this simple dietary change and I welcome any questions or comments by those interested in the subject.

ALLERGY vs. INTOLERANCE

There is a great deal of confusion and misinformation about food allergies and gluten. Gluten intolerance is not a food allergy. It is an inherited condition that leads to a mucotoxic, or inflammatory response due to the reaction to the gliadin molecule in gliadin sensitive individuals. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance has a genetic basis, meaning it passes from generation to generation. Gluten intolerance is found most frequently in those with Irish, English, Scottish, Scandinavian, and other Northern European and Eastern European heritages. The latest research study published in the British Medical Journal in November of 1998 found previously unheard numbers of people suffering from celiac disease, the medical condition related to gluten intolerance. They found approximately one in 150 people with this condition. It is suspected the levels of sub-clinical gluten intolerance are much higher. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance and celiac occur less frequently in non-European populations.

It is important to note that many people who are gluten intolerant do not test positive on food allergy testing for wheat, oats, rye, barley, and other gluten containing grains. Do not be mislead by the fact that you do not test positive to these gluten-containing foods. You still must avoid the offending gluten foods if you are gluten intolerant. Many people live for thirty or forty years with sub-clinical gluten intolerance and do not experience obvious symptoms. Some people who are constitutionally strong and have good adrenal function and eat moderate amounts of gluten containing foods may never experience obvious symptoms. With or without obvious symptoms, intestinal damage is still taking place.

FOOD ALLERGIES/ FOOD CRAVINGS

Along with food allergies come food cravings and it has frequently been observed that people crave that which they are allergic to. There have been many theories postulated as to why this is the case, at this point they are all speculative as there is no definitive scientific proof of any one theory. Please take note, if you crave certain foods all the time there is a high probability that you are allergic to them.

INDIVIDUALITY: THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING DIETS & HEALTHY EATING

There is no more contention around any health issue than the subject of how to choose foods that are right for you. People who want to eat healthy, nutritious foods are frequently confused about what to do. Many follow what they assume are healthy diets with the best intentions, only to unwittingly be causing health problems by eating foods that are harmful to them.

It is difficult for even the most well educated person to understand all the different opinions presented by doctors, nutritionists, fitness experts, magazine articles, etc. It is clear that there is little to no consensus on what constitutes a healthy diet or how to go about choosing foods wisely.

There are dozens of diets to lose weight, others to enhance athletic performance, many women now eat soy products to help their hormones, in fact there are diets for every imaginable purpose, but sorting through the contradictory advice has become so challenging that many people simply give up. Each week the media reports more and more information about the beneficial aspects of certain foods and the harmful attributes. Even the official government recommendations changed recently and the new “food pyramid” has replaced the old four food groups. The challenge is to wade through all the available information and find what is right for each of us as individuals.

GETTING HELP FROM SCIENCE

First and foremost any diet related advice must be based on sound physiological principles, not on personal experiences, preferences, current fads or product marketing. Science can guide us in terms of explaining the basic requirements for normal human physiology and function when it comes to how to eat. Additionally, there are sophisticated laboratory tests available that screen for food intolerance’s and food allergies to determine what specific foods are right for you. These lab tests can be used by anyone seeking to determine reliable, science based dietary recommendations.

There are two general topics to investigate when determining what diet is best for you. The first subject is coming to an understanding of the basic physiological principles around food and diet that apply to all of us. Scientists have known for decades that proper blood sugar control is absolutely required for maintenance of appropriate fat levels, to have good cognitive function and to stimulate healthy immune function. The second issue each of us must investigate is what specific foods are harmful and which foods are well tolerated and health promoting for our unique body chemistry.

BENEFITS OF LAB TESTING

The Functional Adrenal Stress Profile, available from the Asula Chiropractic and Wellness Center reveals valuable data on how well you have maintained your blood sugar control over time. Similarly, there are diagnostic tests available to evaluate your unique biochemistry and how you react to specific foods. The Gluten/ Food Profile let’s you know how well your body tolerates gluten-containing grains such as wheat, oats, rye and barley. It also tests for food reactions to milk proteins, which includes cow’s milk, cheese, yogurt and other dairy products in addition to food reactions to soy, corn and rice. Scientific-based information allows you to learn whether food related problems are a significant factor in your overall health picture.

GLUTEN SENSITIVITY

The subject of sub-clinical (or hidden) gluten intolerance is frequently the missing link in creating a health promoting diet. This recently discovered health problem is at epidemic proportions in certain populations in the United States and sadly is largely unrecognized. Later, I will discuss lactose intolerance, sucrose intolerance and the subject of food reactions in more detail.

DEFINITION OF SUB-CLINICAL

Sub-clinical means hidden. In other words, there are often no obvious symptoms that would direct a doctor or patient to suspect sub-clinical conditions and it is for this reason that sub-clinical gulten intolerance goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

GLUTEN/ GLIADIN

What exactly is sub-clinical gluten intolerance? Sub-clinical gluten intolerance refers to exposure to the gliadin molecule and to a specific inflammatory reaction taking place in the small intestine of afflicted individuals. In fact, gliadin intolerance would be a more scientifically accurate term than gluten intolerance to refer to this condition.

This subject is confusing and there is much misinformation about gluten and gliadin. To clarify, gliadin, the molecule that causes the problem, is present in some, but not all gluten containing foods. People with this problem must avoid glutens from the grains of wheat, rye, barley, oats, kamut, spelt, quinoa, amaranth, teff and couscous. Some of these grains, like oats have lower concentrations of both gluten and gliadin than wheat does, but any food containing this specific gliadin, even from a lower concentration food source, is not tolerated by people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance.

This dietary restriction eliminates bread, pasta, bagels, and cereals. There are rice and almond based breads available, usually found in the refrigerated section of your local health food store. There are also rice and corn-based noodles, cereals and crackers as well as other gluten free substitutes on the market.

SAFE GLUTENS

Rice, corn, buckwheat, and millet have glutens, but the glutens in these foods do not contain the gliadin molecule that can provoke the inflammatory reaction, therefore they are usually safe. In some cases people are allergic to rice, corn, buckwheat or millet, independent of the reaction to gluten/gliadin. Reading labels can be very misleading, don’t trust them. Some companies list their products as gluten free, without understanding the scientific basis of the problem with gliadin. For clarity of communication sub-clinical gluten intolerance will be used to refer to this sensitivity to gliadin in the rest of this discussion.

SOY

Soybeans are another food that many people with gliadin intolerance are allergic to. It is best to avoid all concentrated forms of soy protein such as soy protein powders, tofu, and tempe while you are first eliminating gliadin and then to reintroduce it back into the diet at a later time to see how reactive you are to soy. Even though soy has gotten a lot of attention in terms of its ability to help women with hormonal imbalances and bone loss, this does not hold true for those women who are gluten intolerant as soy can actually cause inflammation and ultimately exacerbate hormonal imbalances and accelerate bone loss. Soy products can be very helpful for women who tolerate gliadin and have no allergy to soy. Much of the original research on the benefits of soy comes from Japan and China where gluten intolerance is not as common as it is in the United States. Additionally, the traditional diet of these Asian countries is rich in foods that help balance the negative issues associated with soy consumption.

So, if you have sub-clinical gluten intolerance what can you eat? As already mentioned, unless you are allergic to the following: Rice, corn, millet, and buckwheat are o.k. Oats are somewhat controversial, some people can tolerate them, many cannot.  Quinoa, amarinth and several other less commonly eaten grains only need to be eliminated in those with a more extreme level of sensitivity to gluten.  The main offenders are wheat, rye and barly.  With sub-clinical gluten intolerance you can also safely eat any type of meat, poultry or fish, including chicken, turkey, beef, pork, lamb, tuna, salmon, etc. All vegetables and any type of fruit is o.k., as are all beans, except in some cases soybeans may be a problem.

COMMON MISDIAGNOSIS: CELIAC DISEASE

Sub-clinical gluten intolerance is often confused with a medical condition called celiac disease, celiac sprue or non-tropical sprue, sometimes referred to as gluten enteropathy or gluten intolerance. The reaction to gluten in celiac disease is similar to sub-clinical gluten intolerance, except as to the degree of intensity. Comparing sub-clinical gluten intolerance to celiac disease is like comparing first-degree sunburn from a day at the beach, to a third degree burn from a fire victim. They are both burns, but vastly different based on the severity or degree of damage.

Celiac disease is not hidden, or sub-clinical, and as such it is easier to diagnose. A person with celiac disease may have blood in their stool or experience disabling pain when they consume gluten-containing foods. Other symptoms of celiac include steatarhea, which is undigested, and unabsorbed fat in the stool and dermatitis herpetiformis, a skin condition. These obvious symptoms often lead doctors to recognize those with celiac in childhood when grains are first introduced in the diet. Others with celiac disease are not diagnosed until the adult years. In addition to the clinical presentation, celiac disease can be detected by a blood test and confirmed with a biopsy of the small intestine. The clear signs and symptoms of celiac disease make its identification relatively straightforward. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance, however, is difficult to diagnose based on symptoms alone.

INFLAMMATION

In those with sub-clinical gluten intolerance gliadin causes a mucotoxic inflammatory reaction as it comes into contact with the wall of the small intestine. This reaction usually goes unnoticed at first. In fact, this low-grade inflammation may go undetected for years or even decades before it results in the expression of symptoms. The ultimate effect of this hidden wear and tear is the slow destruction of the healthy mucosa, or lining tissue of the small intestine. In some cases there may be symptoms in childhood such as allergies, asthma, reoccurring infections, a constant upset stomach, or milk intolerance. Often these symptoms fade in the early adult years only for the problem to reappear when a person is between 30 and 60 years of age.

Inflammation comes from the Latin root inflammare, which translates as “to set on fire” or “to flame within.” This “setting on fire” is a literal description of the actual destructive process gluten initiates. Inflammation is your body’s way of reacting to injury. When exposed to gliadin, the inflamed small intestine undergoes significant structural changes.

TREATMENT

Obviously the main treatment for this problem is total avoidance of the offending gluten containing foods. In addition to this dietary change you can help decrease the inflammation associated with the gluten reaction with several natural products. Hawthorne Berry extract can be used for the first 30 to 60 days of being gluten free to reduce inflammation and soothe irritated tissue in the intestinal tract. Deglycerized licorice root can also be used to assist in the healing process by further reducing inflammation and helping protect irritated tissue. There are several other natural products that can relieve inflammation in the GI tract and speed healing time.

Most people don’t feel better immediately after eliminating gluten from their diets as it may take 30 to 60 days for the inflammation to subside and up to 9 to 12 months for the lining of the small intestine to heal. On rare occasions an individual may experience significant improvement within weeks of beginning on a gluten free diet. In certain cases people may feel considerably worse upon initially starting a gluten free diet. This is usually due to unidentified food allergies. For most people with this food intolerance, by around 6 to 9 months of being gluten free, noticeable changes have taken place. 

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Good health requires proper digestion and absorption. Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of the food we eat. As food is digested it needs to be absorbed. Absorption is the process of bringing the nutrients from our gastrointestinal tract into the rest of our body’s tissue. Digestion is initiated when we chew food and begin to break it down with digestive enzymes. Food then enters the stomach where further breakdown occurs from the presence of stomach acid, called hydrochloric acid, and pepsin which together begin the breakdown of proteins. From the stomach the products of digestion enter the small intestine.

The small intestine is called “small” because it is smaller in diameter than the large intestine. However, it is in fact longer and in many ways more crucial to our health than the large intestine. The lining of the small intestine consists of villi which are fingerlike projections that stick out from the wall of the intestine into the lumen or center. These villi are between 1⁄2 and 1 1⁄2 mm long, just barely visible to the human eye. On the ends of the villi are microvilli, sometimes referred to as the brush border. These two adaptations, villi and microvilli, increase the surface absorption area of the small intestine up to 1,000 fold. It’s estimated that the entire absorptive area of the small intestine is roughly the size of a basketball court.

This total area for absorption can be compromised by any condition that irritates the lining of the small intestine. In gluten intolerance there is a destruction of the villi referred to as villus atrophy. This leading to poor digestive function affects many vital structures on the intestinal wall. This poor intestinal function caused by improper digestion of food is referred to as maldigestion or literally “bad digestion”. Inadequate absorption of nutrients is referred to as malabsorption. In other words the inability to get the vital nutrients your body needs delivered to your cells.

IMMUNE SYSTEM/ HORMONAL SYSTEM

One system significantly impacted by maldigestion and malabsorption in the small intestine is the hormonal/immune system. Sub-clinical gluten intolerance creates a significant stress on the immune system and can lead to a compromised immune system. The mechanism of action occurs in several different ways. There are specialized immune cells that line the small intestine called immunocytes. These immune cells produce secretory IgA, a critical component of the thin, healthy mucous that is makes up your first line immune defense. The inflammatory response produced in individuals that are sensitive destroys a certain percentage of these cells, and this in turn can lower your immune defense thereby opening the door to intestinal infections. Therefore, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and yeast or fungal organisms can more easily infect someone who is gluten intolerant and suffering from a weakened first line immune defense. This lowered immune defense is commonly referred to as depressed secretory IgA. Also can result in many other food reactions. This is because secretory IgA also helps the body handle food antigens.

CORTISOL

Another avenue through which sub-clinical gluten intolerance affects the immune system is through the inflammatory response. When under chronic low-grade inflammation from gluten intolerance, or for that matter, any stress that inflames the digestive tract, our bodies produce increased levels of cortisol. Since cortisol is also one of the major modulators of immune function, this suppresses our immune response.

When cortisol production becomes abnormal our entire hormonal/immune system is affected. While elevated cortisol suppresses our immune response, it also causes a catabolic/breakdown state to exist in our body and symptoms of adrenal exhaustion will eventually appear such as: fatigue, depression, loss of libido, allergies, frequent illness, etc.

LEAKY GUT

There are also many connections between sub-clinical gluten intolerance and other intestinal problems. To describe this connection in more detail I will review the structure and function of the small intestine.

The small intestine is constructed like a tube. The inside of the tube is the healthy mucosal lining. Mucosal tissues also line the sinus passageways, the lungs, the urogenital tract, the mouth, throat, and vaginal tract. These lining tissues act as vital barriers to defend the body from infectious organisms. The small intestine lining tissue also performs the crucial function of absorption of nutrients. Under chronic inflammatory stress this healthy mucosal tissue breaks down and a condition called increased permeability, also known as leaky gut syndrome occurs.

Leaky gut syndrome refers to the loss of integrity of this mucosal or lining tissue. Having leaky gut syndrome is like having a screen door with large holes in it, that allows flies and other insects to get through. With leaky gut syndrome the lining of your intestine becomes overly permeable and molecules that were not intended to cross into your blood stream enter, or leak in. This leads to a great deal of immune stress as your body tries to handle all these uninvited guests.

LACTEAL DESTRUCTION

Gluten reactions also cause other problems. There are structures called lacteals that are located in the tips of the villi, which can be destroyed by reactions to gluten. These lacteals are responsible for helping in the absorption of fats by breaking them down into fine droplets. If this process is compromised it can result in healthy fats/oils not being absorbed that are critical to your health.

This depletes the body’s source of fat-soluble nutrients leading to essential fatty acid deficiencies, low levels of vitamin A and vitamin E. Even if taken in supplements the full benefit of fat-soluble nutrients will not be realized. Deficiencies of these nutrients depletes nutrients critical for the function of every cell in the body and negatively effects blood sugar control, burning body fat, nerve cell function, steroid hormone production, anti-oxidant formation and many other processes.

It is common for people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance to develop blood sugar handling problems, sometimes referred to as hypoglycemia. This is due to the negative affects on digestion and absorption in sub-clinical gluten intolerant individuals

LACTOSE/ SUCROSE INTOLERANCE

Lactose intolerance is defined as the inability to digest the carbohydrate portion of milk products. The carbohydrate portion of milk is referred to as lactose or milk sugar. Lactose intolerance frequency accompanies gluten intolerance. Lactase, a specialized enzyme that aids digestion of lactose in milk products is usually lacking in people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance. Lactase breaks down lactose or milk sugar in the same way sucrase enzymes breaks down sugar or sucrose. Damage to the architecture of the intestinal wall and the subsequent decrease in enzymes for lactose and sucrose digestion leads to problems in digesting dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, and all types of milk products as well as sugar containing foods.

This enzyme deficiency is why people with sub-clinical gluten intolerance need to avoid cow’s milk products. As the villi on the intestinal lining heal from a gluten free diet some individuals will be able to tolerate dairy products again in nine months to a year. In other people, there will be a more or less permanent sensitivity to dairy products.

However, in the initial 6 to 9 months of eliminating gluten it is absolutely required to avoid all lactose containing milk dairy products because they will inflame the intestine lining just like gliadin does and prevent healing. This includes the complete elimination of cow’s milk products such as cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk. Goat’s milk yogurt and goat or sheep’s milk cheeses such as feta cheese and others are usually acceptable alternatives. In this instance, eggs are not considered as dairy products.

MULTIPLE DELAYED FOOD ALLERGIES

Sub-clinical gluten intolerance often leads to the development of multiple delayed food allergies. Leaky gut syndrome and the accompanying premature leaking of food antigens into the bloodstream cause this. In time this overexposure to food antigens causes the immune system to react and foods that would otherwise be tolerated can become allergenic. Although the problem with food allergies is generated by the damage from gluten, removal of gluten and milk dairy from the diet is not always sufficient to remedy this problem. Depending on your circumstances, your doctor may recommend a 4 to 5 day food rotation diet. Many books are available from your local bookstores on food rotation diets.

There are different types of food allergies, some are immediate and some are delayed. Immediate food allergies are usually easy to recognize, for example you eat a strawberry and get a rash. These don’t usually require testing to determine. However, delayed food allergies are hard to identify because the reaction may not appear for hours or days after eating the offending food. For example, eating an allergic food on a Monday night could generate a migraine headache or cause fatigue on Tuesday or Wednesday. Due to this difficulty in identification of delayed food allergies one of two strategies should be followed. The first choice is to follow a four to five day rotation diet. By doing this, even though the exact foods to which you are allergic have not been identified, you will be rotating all your foods, so that any delayed allergic responses will be significantly reduced. This reduces the stress on your hormonal/immune system.

The second option is to pursue additional testing for delayed food allergies. Multiple pathway food allergy testing is designed for this purpose. This testing is done from a blood sample and identifies exactly which foods you are reacting to. You will then know what foods to avoid and what foods are safe.

It is important to employ one of these options since eating foods that you are allergic to every day can interfere with healing of the intestinal tract.

A NOTE ABOUT ALCOHOL AND GLUTEN

All beers are made are made from grains that contain gliadin and are to be strictly avoided. Hard alcohol is distilled and does not contain gliadin due to its elimination during the distillation process. Wines on the other hand, are made from grapes and therefore do not contain gluten/gliadin. However, gluten/gliadin is ingested along with any alcohol, the gliadin is immediately put into solution and can amplify the inflammatory response up to 100 fold. Therefore, if you are gluten intolerant you must be 100% sure your meal is gluten free if you are to have any form of alcohol with your meal.

PARASITES

The structural changes to the environment of the small intestine from gluten intolerance create the perfect habitat for development of pathogenic infections. Inflammation in the small intestine causes a structure called the crypts of Liberkuhn to deepen. The elongating of these crypts, referred to as crypt hyperplasia and deepening of the crypts, makes for a deep pocket where a pathogen such as a parasite can survive by evading the usual immune surveillance that occurs in the lining tissue. Inflammation also slowly destroys the immune cells that help protect this area and these two factors taken together create a situation where parasite infections can take hold and become chronic. Parasites deeply embedded in the intestinal lining can even be resistant to powerful antibiotic treatments.

Because of this, people with gluten intolerance need to rule out the possibility that they are harboring a chronic parasitic infection. Eliminating gluten from their diet can be the first step in getting these chronic infections cleared.

CANDIDA

There is a relationship between Candida, an opportunistic organism in the gastrointestinal tract and food intolerances. Inflammation caused by sub-clinical gluten intolerance and/or lactose intolerance weakens the immune response in the intestinal lining. This weakened mucosal immune defense can open the door for Candida to overpopulate and become invasive Candida that is invasive means to invade and attach itself to the healthy mucous lining of the intestines.

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

Gluten intolerance causes multiple nutritional deficiencies, including inability to absorb fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Malabsorption of fats leads to deficiencies in the fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A and E and K and importantly, the essential fatty acids from which we manufacture all our reproductive hormones and adrenal hormones including estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, cortisol and DHEA. Other nutritional deficiencies that appear early in the disease process include lack of calcium, folic acid, iron and vitamin B12. Lack of reproductive hormones leads to disruption of the normal menstrual cycle and PMS or menopausal symptoms. The combination of calcium deficiency and female hormone imbalances leads to osteoporosis, or weakening of the bones. Even if women take estrogen and calcium supplements they may not be adequately absorbed. Folic acid, B12 and iron deficiencies lead to anemia, depression and increased risk of heart disease and neurological diseases. Lack of the anti-oxidants vitamins E and A compromise our ability to fight free radicals and can further contribute to degenerative conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

The best way of determining if you have sub-clinical gluten intolerance is to complete the various types of laboratory tests available.

Believe it or not, there is life beyond a diet of gluten and gliadin containing foods! If we stop and consider for a moment, most of our primitive ancestors never ate grains. Our origins come from hunters and gatherers whose diets were rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, proteins and natural fats – all of those foods that could be gathered from the earth’s harvest. There are a number of studies and research findings that show how native tribes experienced a profound sense of health that has been altered dramatically by the introduction of processed foods into their traditional diets.

Our American diet has become very grain and process-food oriented. Eating gluten/ gliadin-free in many ways is a return to an earlier way of eating, a way that our body genetically, hereditarily, digestively and metabolically better understands and functions with. Enjoy a diet rich in proteins (chicken, beef, eggs, lamb, turkey, fish), vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and the grains rice, millet, wild rice and buckwheat. You will feel greatly better for your efforts! Please note that the intestinal healing process takes a minimum 2-3 months of a gluten-free diet, the more dramatic health changes are usually seen after 6 months.

The gluten-free world is one that is growing. Know that you are not alone in this dilemma, but rather part of an expanding group who are realizing the benefits of improving their diet. To help you in your meal planning and preparation we offer the following places to start. Each of these references will lead you to further suggestions, ideas and references. Enjoy the learning process!

Books

The Diet Cure – Julia Ross

Gluten Free Girl- Shauna James Ahern

Cookbooks

The Gluten-free Gourmet – Bette Hagman

More from the Gluten-free Gourmet – Bette Hagman

Special Diet Solutions – Carol Fenster, PhD

Special Diet Celebrations – Carol Fenster, PhD

Our Favorite Products from Trader Joes

Brown Rice Pasta

Brown Rice Crackers

Polenta

Brown Rice Tortillas

Rice Almond Bread

Gluten Free Waffles

Gluten Free Brownies (for special occasions!)

Gluten Free Granola

Corn Tortillas

Corn Chips

Rice of any kind (wild, brown, white)

New Cascadia Traditional

New Cascadia Traditional is a dedicated gluten free bakery. The specialize in hand crafted artisan breads and baked goods that are safe for those with Celiac Disease or who are gluten intolerant. By combining traditional baking techniques with gluten free whole grains they offer a new and refreshing perspective on what it means to eat gluten free.

Some of Their products include: Gluten Free Baguette, Gluten Free Sourdough Bread, Gluten Free Croissant, Gluten Free Bavarian Soft Pretzel as well as numerous other Gluten Free breads, pastries and cookies.

They are located right next door to the NW Trader Joes at 2120 NW Glisan Street, Portland OR 97210. Or find them online at http://www.newcascadiatraditional.com/

Websites

www.celiac.com – Celiac Disease and Gluten-free Diet Support Center

www.authenticfoods.com – Authentic Food Products / Flours

www.glutenfree.com – The Gluten Free Pantry

Search online – New sites come out all the time.

Restaurants

Any restaurant that serves grilled, poached or sautéed fish, chicken, turkey, beef and lamb – ask that bread basket not be delivered to table and ask if your menu choice has any hidden flours (see below). Accompany your meal with a Salad, Vegetable, Rice or Potato. Our culture has become very bread/pasta oriented. Do not hesitate to break the cultural rules.

Hidden Glutens

Read food labels carefully. Glutens can be hidden under such names as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, modified food starch, dextrin, and “natural flavorings.” Gluten might also be found in the alcohol used in flavorings such as vanilla and in distilled vinegar and veined cheese such as Blue Cheese and Roquefort. Even the smallest amount could be enough to keep you from feeling the best that you can, so you will want to take extra care in finding those places that it might be hidden.

Not OK / Intolerable Foods / Drinks:

Wheat

Rye

Oats

Couscous

Kamut

Teff

Spelt

Soy

Beers (as they are made from grains)

OK / Tolerable Foods / Drinks:

Corn

Rice

Wild Rice

Buckwheat

Millet

Arrowroot

Amaranth

Quinoa

Wheat Grass

Tapioca

Taro

Barley Grass

Barley Malt

Vinegars-Apple Cider/Balsamic

Bean Flours

Potato Based Vodkas, Tequila, Wine

The focus of a gluten-free cookery is often on replacing gluten flour in baked goods with starches made from rice, arrowroot, potato, other legumes like chickpeas and wheat starch (all the protein has been carefully removed).

In many respects it is easier and nutritionally wiser to forgo the baked goods in large measure and eat other foods. The task of changing your diet is very much like moving to another country and culture. You may try to bring all your old habits with you, and struggle to get all of the ingredients that you are used to forming into meals, or you can gracefully, and with a sense of adventure try the new cuisine. Certainly, bakery foods are delicious and tempting, but so are creatively prepared rice, vegetable, fruit, fish, and meat meals. Even with multiple exclusions, an appealing, varied diet is within reach if you are willing to change your eating style. The main thing is to be inspired to create and enjoy a new cuisine that will diminish your disturbances, sustain your interest in food, and provide balanced nutrition.

Often, those being treated for food problems make odd, exotic food choices and use new food products of doubtful safety. Exotic legume products, new flours and a host of new snack foods are all put on the questionable food list. We cannot be sure how your body will tolerate these products, so eat them with caution. In food-related illness even the most wholesome-appearing food may be harmful to those with allergies, and digestive, or metabolic abnormalities.

Even though the food industry and grocery stores are awakening to the demand for wheat & gluten-free products and providing them in new and interesting products, do not get caught up in using these new products. The best choice is still to eat those foods that come directly from the earth – those foods which Mother Nature provides.

Dr. Laila Nematbakhsh www.asulawellenss.com 503-719-5335

1828 NW Overton, Portland OR 97229
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• No sugar, no sweeteners, no candy. Sugar disrupts the body’s balance on many levels.  It makes a spike in your blood sugar, leading to a crash, and a release of cortisol (stress hormone).  Practically speaking for you this means irritability, anxiety, cravings, weight gain, acne, and mood swings, just to name a few.
• Choose whole grains.  White bread, pasta, and baked goods quickly break down into sugar, leading to the above described scenario.  Whole wheat and rye, brown and wild rice, as well as whole grains such as barley, quinoa, and millet are nourishing carbohydrates.  Make sure you aren’t gluten intolerant!
• Include protein with every meal and snack.  This helps the body to use the calories you feed it for the purposes it needs rather than translate them to fat and sugar.  Nuts and seeds, eggs, beans and legumes, soy products, fish and lean meat are excellent sources of protein.  
• Eat every 3 hours.  It doesn’t need to be a full meal, but some healthful snack between meals to keep your blood sugar balanced and prevent your body from making/storing fat to protect itself.  Starving yourself is the worst thing you can do for your figure and your health.
• Good Fats vs. Bad Fats:  Contrary to popular belief, you need fat for your body to function on even the simplest level.  Avoid hydrogenated oils (margarine, junk food, fast food) and trans-fats: these do nothing but cause inflammation in your body.  Take the time and read the labels.  The fat found in olive oil and organic butter is actually good for you.  
• Chew your food.  Many people are guilty of vacuuming food rather than eating.  Take your time, taste your food, enjoy your food, sit down to eat.  This can dramatically improve digestion.
• Avoid liquids with your food.  Having liquid in your stomach while you are trying to digest can dilute the stomach acid any ruin the whole process.  Try not to drink liquids ½ an hour before or after eating.
• Plenty of Water!  Every one knows this, but not everyone complies.  The general rule is 8-12 glasses a day, but it varies depending on your size, health and intake of caffeine and alcohol.  Use your urine as an indicator.  If it is light, you are probably hydrated.  If it is dark or has an odor, your body is under stress.
• Choose a rainbow diet:  A stress free method of insuring you are eating a balanced diet and getting the nutrients you need is using the rainbow rule: make sure every meal has at least 4 colors, the more the better!
• Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables!  This is not easy for everyone, but essential.  Find at least 7 veggies you like and eat them every week.  Potatoes do not count.  This is your health, don’t cheat yourself.

If these suggestions do not make drastic improvements in your health and digestion, you may have a food allergy or intolerance.  Many people have allergies to wheat, dairy, soy, corn, yeast or eggs and have no idea.  There are simple tests to find out if this is your problem.

BE REALISTIC ∞ START SLOW ∞ MAKE WEEKLY GOALS ∞ ENJOY FEELING BETTER!