http://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/03/glut ... it-up.html
So what happens in cross-reactivity? In this case the amino acid sequence that an antibody recognizes is also present in another protein from another food (in the case of molecular mimicry, that sequence is also present is a protein in the human body). There are only 20 different amino acids, so while there are millions of possible ways to link various amount of each amino acid together to form a protein, there are certain amino acid sequences that do tend to repeat in biology.
The take home message: depending on exactly what antibody or antibodies your body forms against gluten, it/they may or may not cross-react with other foods. So, not only are you sensitive to gluten, but your body now recognizes non-gluten containing foods as one and the same. Who needs to worry about this? Any of the estimated 20% of people who are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, i.e., have formed antibodies against gluten.
A recent study evaluated the potential cross-reactivity of 24 food antigens. These included:
◦Rye
◦Barley
◦Spelt
◦Polish Wheat
◦Oats (2 different cultivars)
◦Buckwheat
◦Sorghum
◦Millet
◦Amaranth
◦Quinoa
◦Corn
◦Rice
◦Potato
◦Hemp
◦Teff
◦Soy
◦Milk (Alpha-Casein, Beta-Casein, Casomorphin, Butyrophilin, Whey Protein and whole milk)
◦Chocolate
◦Yeast
◦Coffee (instant, latte, espresso, imported)
◦Sesame
◦Tapioca (a.k.a. cassava or yucca)
◦Eggs
They did not find cross-reactivity with all of these foods (as is implied by the Cyrex Labs gluten cross-reactivity blood test, a.k.a. Array 4). But, they did find that their anti-gliadin antibodies (antibodies that recognize the protein fraction of gluten) did cross-react with all dairy including whole milk and isolated dairy proteins (casein, casomorphin, butyrophilin, and whey)—this may explain the high frequency of dairy sensitivities in celiac patients—oats, brewer/baker’s yeast, instant coffee (but not fresh coffee), milk chocolate (attributable to the dairy proteins in chocolate), sorghum, millet, corn, rice and potato.
Zizzle had a bunch of those tests, if my memory is correct, but I'm not sure that she actually learned anything from them, that we didn't already know.
