The Connection Between Wheat And Yeast

[tex]

Hi All,

I thought this was an interesting viewpoint:

Autoimmunity, molecular mimicry, and Candida. The wheat and yeast connection.

Singh has found that a high percentage of children with autism possess antibodies against their own tissues called autoantibodies (18). One of these autoantibodies is directed against myelin a fatty sheath that insulates the axons of nerve cells like the plastic insulator on electrical wire. Why is the body producing antibodies against its own tissue? Sometimes the body mounts an attack against an invading germ and produces antibodies against it. If one of the germs possesses proteins on its surface that resemble human tissue, then the antibodies may be "fooled" to react against the human tissue. The best known example of this molecular mimicry is rheumatic fever in which antibodies produced against a Streptococcal or "Strep" infection later react against the heart valve tissue (45,46). The autoimmune reaction from untreated Strep throat is the main reason that this condition is treated as a serious medical condition.

Vojdani has found that individuals with Candida infections often produce antibodiesagainst Candida that also react against various tissues of the human bodyincluding brain, kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, and liver (46). Furthermore, these same anti-yeast antibodies also reacted against wheat protein which may explain why so many children with autism have high titers of wheat antibodies and are sensitive to wheat. A portion of one of the major wheat proteins called alpha-gliadin is very similar to a portion of one of the yeast proteins that is involved in yeast reproduction (47). Antibodies produced against yeast may be "tricked" into reacting against wheat because of the great similarity of portions of the two different proteins. This protein could be an important link between wheat and yeast sensitivity in autism.

The red emphasis is mine. This is a quote from a book which has an excerpt on the Great Plains Laboratory site:

http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/book/bk7sect1.html

Tex

[cludwig]

Hi Tex,

Thanks sooo much for the link. This has been an agonizingly slow process but I strongly feel that I have discovered the source of a lot of my issues ..YEAST.

My body's reaction to sugar and fruit at this point is so tricky. Using the elimination diet I was just switching fruit and even when I eliminated it ..it takes weeks to see a change. My body takes away even more the little energy I had before the elimination of sugars. I would not have said that I had sinus issues, but since eliminating sugar...I have had stabbing pain in my sinuses and drainage. There are numerous other things that ..esp. with my skin.. are starting to clear up. It's a very slow process..esp. the first few weeks and then I started noticing small improvements. The elimination simply makes everything worse for a few weeks.

I would definitely look at yeast as a problem if as in my case a strict elimination diet and entocort did not produce great results.

Love, Cristi

[mle_ii]

Removing sugars/fruits from the diet would also affect you if you have bacterial overgrowth.

[tex]

Cristi,

I'm glad to see that you may finally be "on the home stretch", with regard to resolving the rest of your issues. You've had a long, hard, battle, and in spite of all the obstacles, (not the least of which were some of the doctors you've encountered along the way), you've stuck to it, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that you are slowly but surely getting your life back. I'm sorry that it took so long, but I'm very gratified to see that your persistence is finally paying off.

I would definitely look at yeast as a problem if as in my case a strict elimination diet and entocort did not produce great results.

Love, Cristi

I think that's very, very good advice, for anyone in that situation. Thanks for your insight. You've taught us a lot, in your journey back to health.

Love,
Tex

[Magyar]

Hi,

That's an interesting post. I have celiac and have heard there's a relationship between that and yeast.

Cristi, do you eat nuts? I am following a super strict yeast-free diet and have heard different views on nuts. They are among the few convenient things I can eat, so I'd hate to give them up. Also, what about lettuce?

Thanks,
Magyar

[harvest_table]

Cristi,

I'm glad to see that you may finally be "on the home stretch", with regard to resolving the rest of your issues. You've had a long, hard, battle, and in spite of all the obstacles, (not the least of which were some of the doctors you've encountered along the way), you've stuck to it, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that you are slowly but surely getting your life back. I'm sorry that it took so long, but I'm very gratified to see that your persistence is finally paying off.

I would definitely look at yeast as a problem if as in my case a strict elimination diet and entocort did not produce great results. Love, Cristi

I think that's very, very good advice, for anyone in that situation. Thanks for your insight. You've taught us a lot, in your journey back to health.

Love,
Tex

Cristi,

Ditto everything Tex said. Especially this......

Thanks for your insight. You've taught us a lot, in your journey back to health.

Love,
Joanna

[cludwig]

Thanks Tex and Joanna,

I will always be grateful to all of you. I have learned so much from this site...most importantly that if I want to get well I am going to have to take charge and not expect a doctor to figure this out for me.

Magyar...I eat walnut butter and macadamia nut butter. My midafternoon snack is about 8 brown rice snaps with nut butter.

For protein I eat chicken, cornish game hen, turkey, salmon, tuna, beef,and rarely pork.

For starch I eat small portions of sweet potato,white yam, acorn squash and tinkyada brown rice pasta.

For greens I eat unlimited spinach, carrots ,cabbage, asparagus,escarole,and peppers.

This is a lot of cooking and my husband has to help me because I can't do it all.We grocery shop, wash and chop one day and the next day cook all the meat and veggies for the next 3 days. Then we just re heat the following 3 days. I learned when I got sick that trying to be super woman was not an option...I needed help and luckily my husband has adjusted to give me that support.

So Magyar ...I am interested in how you came to think that yeast might be an issue with you. Have you started a diet and if so how are you feeling?

Love,
Cristi

[Magyar]

Hi Cristi,

It sounds like you've got the diet down to a science. That makes it more manageable. How are you feeling now?

I actually tested negative for Candida according to a blood test. But, a stool test showed that I had an overgrowth of bad bacteria and a complete lack of the good kind. So, I don't know if I have candida. But, I can relate to many of the symptoms -- fatigue, foggy brain, menstrual irregularities and very poor digestion. Also, my symptoms started after a course of antibiotics for ringworm, which is a fungal infection. And, I definitely do worse if I eat sugary candy or drink soda.

I started the diet Sunday evening. I'm eating fish, chicken and turkey, non-starchy vegetables (spinach, broccoli, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers) and nuts (walnuts and cashew butter). The diet is based on a Web site I found: http://www.biblelife.org/bowel.htm#starting So far, I noticed that my stomach is not gurgling or bloated, though I still have the D. I'm also taking probiotics. It's a tough diet and I think I will add beef because I'm running out of things to eat. At some point I hope to test eggs and plain yogurt.

I did hear of a product called Candex, which is supposed to digest the overgrowth of yeast in your gut without any die off reaction. I ordered some on Amazon and will give it a try. I also convinced my doctor to give me a two-week prescription for Diflucan. I haven't started it yet.

Do you eat salads? They have always given me trouble but they are very convenient.

Thanks for all the insight you've shared,
Magyar

[Pat]

I haven't responded to steroids and today I talked to my doctor and he is going to reevaluate my case. He said, "You're gonna be a tough case". Duh, I could of told him that. Anyway, he also recommended I take probiotics, either Flora Q or VSL#3. He said you have to take them a long, long time. He said to take 1 or 2 caps/day. He says he will call again tomorrow after he reevaluates my case.
Pat

[tex]

Pat,

It sounds like you've got a pretty good GI doc there. At least he isn't caught in a rut, like so many of them, and he's willing to try innovative solutions. As far as I'm aware, those are good probiotic choices.

Tex

[Matthew]

Notice that you eat rice pasta and rice crackers.

My research is five years out of date. Am not sure that it is not still the best advice.

Elaine Gottschalls’s research in her excellent book ”Breaking the Vicious Cycle” still has the best explanation of why what we eat promotes yeast over growth and bacterial overgrowth. I don’t mean by any means to denigrate all the web hunting that has been done but in the end I have found that when I eliminate all those excessive sugars and carbs that are part of the SAD diet I have no problems. What I eat now I would have considered to be an extreme restriction when i first started but now consider it the ultimate freedom .

I know that it is not good news for lots of you to have to give up all grains. It was not for me either but I can not argue with results.

Can’t remember when I last felt comfortable going to eat anywhere but home.

But just what if. What if you quit feeding the Yeast and Bacteria with any kind of grain and felt better than you can remember.

The grain free diet was the nicest thing I have ever done for my self. It is not an instant fix. Nine months to get rid of the D. Two years to feel great. A life time to enjoy all the new foods I have discovered

If you have not read Elaine Gottschalls’s ”Breaking the Vicious Cycle” I hope you will at least read the first half. It gave me an understanding of gut ecology that I still learn from today.

To Your recovery

Matthew

P.S.
Wayne

A point to ponder.

Was your reaction to oats a problem with the particular kind of Gluten in the oats or was it along time yeast and or bacteria overgrowth problem sitting in dormancy until you ate grains again, Certainly Polly, Jean, Karen, Joana and I have had problems with the smallest amount of grain and have found resolution by eliminating it.

Of course I have to thank my Paleo Palls for keeping me on the track to feeling great.

[tex]

Matthew,

Well, of course, I can't say positively that I don't have any issues with yeast or bacterial overgrowth. In fact, I would be surprised if my gut is totally devoid of them. The question, of course, is whether or not an overgrowth is present. Frankly, even if we were to completely eradicate candida, and/or "bad" bacteria from our gut, I doubt that it's possible to exist very long, before they are reintroduced into our systems, despite our best efforts. They are ubiquitous in our environment.

I do eat corn and rice on a fairly regular basis, however, with no noticeable symptoms. Now that I have antibodies to avenin circulating in my blood, oats trigger big-time D, in a matter of hours, every time. I'm just basing my observations on the obvious symptoms, and the timing of reactions.

Tex

[mle_ii]

FWIW Tex I was wondering the same thing as Matthew, specfically I was thinking bacterial overgrowth. It would be interesting to see if a local Dr tests using the lactulose breath test, making sure to test for methane which I bet you are higher than normal in.

As far as reactions to various things, it would depend on the combination, amount of processing, the actual amount of food and various other out of our control things that would cause a reaction or not.

In the book, that I recommended elsewhere called "A New IBS Solution" by Dr Pimentel, he goes into how these "sugars" need to be limited or eliminated to treat IBS caused by bacterial overgrowth. In fact is book has me wondering about the useage of probiotics, questioning whether they help or hinder some folks. I've had this question rolling around in my brain for a while, even while noting the various studies on them, a point that I believe Matthew was making to me that did hit a bit and start me wondering.

Mike

PS. My Dr Appt is today at 11:30 to talk to the new GI Dr. Hopefully I'm on my way to recovery or at least to a better understanding.