Why not go gluten free?

[nerdhume]

I am still awaiting results from Enterolab. I have cut way back on carbs in general and gluten specifically.
Several sources seem to indicate that if a person goes gluten free the bacteria that digest gluten will die off. This leaves the person in worse shape to handle gluten. That might explain why after a while even a trace of cross contamination will cause a reaction.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3023594/
http://gicare.com/diets/gluten-free-diet/

[tex]

That's an interesting article, and there's little question that the effect is real, but the reason why it happens and other details, are of academic interest only, IMO, since avoiding gluten is not optional for someone who has celiac disease (or non-celiac gluten sensitivity). But I disagree about the suggested reason for the increased sensitivity. The increased sensitivity is not a result of bacterial activity (or rather, the loss thereof), but by the reduction in our antibody levels as the numbers decay (and then suddenly rebuild), and the way that our immune system perceives that event.

The immune system is not as responsive to a long-term, steady state occurrence as it is to a sudden increase in antibodies (which occurs when gluten is reintroduced into the diet, and which the immune system perceives as a new threat). When a reaction has been ongoing for an extended period of time, the senses eventually become somewhat dulled and subdued (no one can jump up and down, screaming with excitement, forever — eventually the excitement loses some of it it's edge. But renewed stimulation provokes a prompt and vigorous response. And while anti-gliadin antibodies decay very slowly, they rebuild relatively quickly (by comparison) upon re-exposure, and that rapid increase in antibody levels provokes a potent response.

It's irrelevant whether bacteria digest gluten or not, because if they were actually doing an effective job, celiac disease would not exist.

Tex

[MBombardier]

Great explanation, Tex. I venture to say that's why some of us are asymptomatic until we do a challenge, purposefully or not, like how I found out that I cannot eat dairy products.