2013 International Celiac Disease Symposium

[JLH]

Dr. Rodney Ford said on Facebook that a myth busting session at this symposium made fun of him. I wanted to find it for myself but I only found this so far. At the end it says "Gluten/wheat does not remain in the muscle tissues of animals who eat gluten. Meat is gluten free – so stop telling me to eat grass-fed beef." DogtorJ believes otherwise, calling it "secondary glutenization."


http://celiacandthebeast.com/2013/09/in ... hs-busted/

[JLH]

Dr. Ford also posted that they said derogatory things about Dr. Fine.

A different report http://www.thesavvyceliac.com/2013/09/2 ... debunking/

[Gloria]

All of my cosmetics, lotions, hair products must be gluten free because the skin absorbs gluten
No. Dr. John Zone, who is a dermatologist says the skin has stratum corneum which is like a “Saran Wrap” or a protective barrier to keep gluten from permeating into the body. The same holds true for hair follicles which have a protective barrier. A break in the skin will allow absorption. Lipstick needs to be gluten free.

Anyone agree or disagree with this? I just let my hairdresser talk me into buying a shampoo that will extend the life of my hair dye. When I got home, I noticed that wheat and wheat protein are listed in the ingredients. I'm considering returning it, since it was $12. I haven't used it, of course.

Gloria

[tex]

Hi Gloria,

Of course I disagree with that. Remember what I wrote about that in the book? I'll quote the entire section here for ease of reference, and I'll highlight in red, the part that pinpoints where the experts make a very dumb mistake:

Can gluten in skin care products be a problem for someone who is gluten-sensitive?
The experts appear to be unanimous in their opinion on this issue; they are convinced that there is no way that skin care products that contain gluten can cause any problems for people who are sensitive to gluten, as long as the products only contact the skin and are not ingested. Unfortunately, the personal experiences of many people who have microscopic colitis or celiac sprue, indicate that the experts are wrong.

I have a theory to explain how the experts may be confused on this issue
The epithelia of the intestines contains vertically-elongated cells known as enterocytes, between which lie the tight junctions (the zonula occludens). After the digestive process breaks down molecules of food into peptides and individual amino acids, the tight junctions regulate the passage of these nutrients into the bloodstream. The outer layer of the skin is an epithelia, very similar to the epithelial lining of the intestines, except that it does not contain a mucosal layer (because there is no reason for it to be able to produce mucus). The skin is set up somewhat differently, in that instead of having a single layer of enterocyte cells, that surround the tight junctions, the skin is composed of mutiple layers of keratinised squamous cells, but the tight cell junctions still play a vital role in the barrier function of the skin just as they do in the epithelia of the intestines.

Since the intact gluten molecule is too large to pass through the tight junctions of the intestines, it certainly would not be unreasonable to assume that it is also too large to pass through the tight junctions of the skin. The experts cite this as the reason why gluten in skin care products cannot cause problems. In my opinion, this is where the experts miss the boat, because unfortunately, this observation is totally irrelevant to the issue at hand.

The point is, none of us react to the gluten molecule when it’s inside their intestines, either. Actually, we react to certain peptides that are cleaved from the gluten molecule when it is broken down by the digestive system. Specifically, when the amino acid chain that comprises the gluten molecule is broken down by the digestive system, certain segments of the chain cannot be digested into individual amino acids, and some of these short to medium length chains (known as peptides) are responsible for causing the reactions associated with gluten sensitivity.

Though I don’t have the luxury of a well-equipped research laboratory to verify my theory, it seems rather logical that if these peptides can pass through the tight junctions of the lining of the intestines, then there is a very good chance that they might also be capable of passing through the tight junctions of the skin, as well. After all, this isn’t rocket science. And if any of the peptides should be successful in passing through those tight junctions into the skin, then there is a very good chance that they might also be capable of triggering a reaction of some type, because if the immune system recognizes them as foreign invaders when they are absorbed in the gut, then it will very likely view them as foreign invaders if they penetrate the skin, as well. After all, the same immune system that is so dedicated to protecting the tight junctions in our intestines is also in charge of monitoring the tight junctions in our skin.

Of course, skeptics will immediately raise a question regarding how those peptides might be present in a skin care product. I think the answer is rather obvious. Have you ever read the complete ingredient list on any of those products? They contain many, many ingredients, and some of them are pretty potent chemicals, with the potential to generate, or enhance, various reactions with other chemicals. It is quite likely, in my opinion, that one or more of those chemicals used in certain products, or the processing steps that are used in manufacturing the products, may be capable of partially breaking down the gluten molecule, to produce some of the same peptides that our digestive system produces when we attempt to digest gluten.

Furthermore, most skin care products are formulated with a chemical ingredient known as a chemical penetration enhancer (CPE) that’s specifically included in order to enhance the absorptivity of the skin. In fact, that's often a selling point and what it means is that the CPE is there to artificially force the tight junctions in the skin to open, thus allowing any gluten-derived peptides that might be present to pass through the tight junctions, so that they will have easy access to epithelial mast cells.31 Obviously, this could create the potential for a mast cell reaction and possibly other adverse immune system events if those products contain antigenic peptides.

Certainly, as the experts point out, just having gluten in the product would not necessarily cause a problem. But if the right combination of chemicals, or processing, is used so that the gluten molecule is somehow broken down into peptides, then clearly, an immune system reaction could occur, because the peptides would almost surely be able to pass through the tight junctions, triggering a reaction of some type. The reaction might be restricted to the skin, but depending on the chemistry involved, it might also cause systemic effects.

Probably not all of us would be affected, and not all skin care products that contain gluten would necessarily cause a reaction. To be on the safe side though, if you choose to use skin care products that contain gluten, and you are sensitive to gluten, keep the risks in mind and carefully test any skin care products that you might want to use, before wholeheartedly accepting them for regular use.

Here's reference 31 from that quote:

31. Karande, P., Jain, A., Kaitlin Ergun, K., Kispersky, V., & Mitragotri, S. (2005). Design principles of chemical penetration enhancers for transdermal drug delivery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(13), 4688–4693. Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/102/13/4688.full

Experts (and wannabe experts) who make that mistake are good examples of a little education being a bad thing. If Dr. Zone were correct with his "Saran Wrap" analogy, we wouldn't be able to absorb anything through our skin, because Saran Wrap is impervious to moisture, so obviously he doesn't know what he's talking about. The skin is actually quite porous to certain chemicals.

Tex

[JLH]

Thanks, Tex. JMHO, too many people are drinking the Kool Aid.

From Dr. Ford's Facebook Forum
"Nadine Grzeskowiak Dr. Ford, Lisa Shaver and I attended the ICDS 2013 conference together & both were shocked when you & Dr. Fine were mentioned in a non-flattering & slanderous way. The scientific sandbox must be a closed playground in some circles. I am pleased & proud to have you as a professional resource. Thank you for ALL of the great work you do! BTW, people were afraid to say they were on a grain free or Paleo diet."

[JLH]

What about transdermal patches and spray magnesium?

Oops, I should have read Tex's citation above (31).

[tex]

They are obvious proof that what I am saying is correct, and what guys such as Dr. Zone say is just plain false.

Tex

[JLH]

YES!

Certainly a trained dermatologist would know of transdermal products.

[JLH]

http://www.glutino.com/blog/internation ... symposium/

[tex]

Hi Joan,

As you probably recall, I had an exchange with Beth Hillson over some misinformation that was published in her newsletter back in 2009:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10087

Here's a post that includes the original email that I sent her:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10098

Tex