Could Gluten Be Behind The Increase In Alzheimer's Disease?

[tex]

Hi All,

I'm just thinking out loud here, but I can't help but notice that the increase in Alzheimer's disease diagnoses in recent years in the U. S. seems to correlate with the transition to higher amounts of gluten in the average diet that began roughly 50 years ago. It took about 20 years or so for the diet changes to result in increased Alzheimer's development, but that's a reasonable fit with the development schedule typically seen with Alzheimer's.

Note that this pattern is supported by what happened in Japan, when they began to "Westernize" their diet (also roughly 50 years ago). Their Alzheimer's incidence increased by about 700 % between 1985 and 2008. Some studies claim that this increase was due to adding meat, dairy, and sugar to the Japanese diet, with the emphasis primarily on red meat. But these studies conveniently overlooked the increase in gluten intake in the average diet. Prior to their diet changes during the 1960s to the 1990s, gluten was an almost insignificant part of the traditional Japanese diet.

It's apparently politically incorrect to consider gluten as a possible contributor to the increase in Alzheimer's cases, so no one is likely to research that possibility.

Tex

[HappyBird]

You raise a valid point, the Japanese study is interesting and deserves further
investigation.

[tex]

The problem is that the so-called Western diet is considered to be a diet of red meat, sugar, and dairy, and that defines it, according to conventional thinking. You could have arsenic in there and no one would notice, because researchers looking for problems have tunnel vision, and they're going to focus on the red meat and sugar.

All the grains in the Western diet are ignored, because grains are considered to be healthy, especially whole grains. And since researchers cannot find what they are not looking for, the gluten link will never be discovered (at least not by mainstream medical researchers), because wheat is still mistakenly considered to be the "staff of life".

Tex

[Blueberry]

I was commenting to others recently about my noticing many with Alzheimer's and severe dementia seem to suffer from a wasting disease, such that their buttocks is missing. Maybe there is a recognized reason for that, but if there is a connection with diet and Alzheimers I remember the wasted buttocks is a classic sign of celiac and wheat, barley, rye/ gluten problems.

With that said, Alzheimers disease has happened in two grandmothers in my family, a mother and her daughter. Naturally, it is a disease that worries my father, sister and I. It tends to be a female disease though. I've often wondered if my MC disease could be connected possibly with what my grandmothers had. If that is the case, my latest theory on what causes my gut issues is grains, but also pork. (I'm also avoiding beef and dairy, but am less concerned about them of late. Fiber naturally is a huge problem too.)

i was commenting the other day on the sight that I've known for awhile that pork causes my gums to become sore, and bleed. I've wondered even if that is type 2 diabetes, which is a whole other story with some articles I've read on it and the lack of connection with blood sugar. Anyway, It's something I've wondered about knowing my dentist can become worked up over. I know if I eat pork a few days before a dental appointment, the prescription pad is coming out for some medications to helps gums, along with the usual stern talk of flossing more, use a high tech brusher, water pick, etc. all the things that have not helped me. I've done long pork avoidances in the past, but maybe not long enough. My energy levels have improved greatly once I stopped eating pork once again last week I believe. I'll eventually forget that feeling of tiredness and soreness, but figure I'm good for 6 months of pork avoidance. I must be one of the few on the planet that does not care for bacon!

[tex]

I remember the wasted buttocks is a classic sign of celiac and wheat, barley, rye/ gluten problems.

Yep, I had that symptom back when my reactions were at their worst.

Tex

[Erica P-G]

I feel strongly that gluten and Alzheimer's could be closely related....and the wasted buttock thing, I think that has hit me too during all this diet change and stuff as I sure don't feel the Gluts are doing a very good job at the moment I actually have felt my muscle mass in my arms were affected too, I'm just now feeling like my forearms are gaining a bit more muscle again, and I used to have good muscle definition in them due to riding horses a lot.

[crervin]

Interesting....... I kept thinking my MC may have come from my German grandmother's side, but my American Indian grandmother had Alzheimer's.

I do feel a lot better off gluten, I haven't felt bloated in months.

[Gabes-Apg]

Tex,
Did you watch the program I put the link up about gluten last week.

Acknowledgement that milling processes make it harder to digest, and highly inflammatory...

[tex]

Gabes,

I didn't watch the program, but I scanned much of the transcript, especially the comments made by Dr. Fasano. He seems to have significantly changed his viewpoint over the past few years. Maybe he's beginning to see the light.

IMO it may not make much difference how wheat is milled, because there is no way that we can completely digest it, regardless of how it is milled, and the peptides that are indigestible are the source of the inflammatory response. As Dr. Fasano pointed out:

We, as a species, we're not engineered to eat wheat because for the 2.5 million years of evolution, 99.9% our species has been gluten-free. Gluten came into the picture only 10,000 years ago, with the advent of agriculture.

And as the narrator correctly pointed out, everyone (not just celiacs) experiences increased intestinal permeability when they eat wheat:

Regardless of whether or not someone has coeliac disease, when they ingest wheat, the gliadin portion of gluten stimulates the release of zonulin which, in turn, opens the junctions between cells in the gut lining. This theoretically makes the intestine leaky.

But the production comment about wheat by "wheat farmer Craig" is misleading. While it's true that more acres (hectares) are planted to wheat than any other crop, worldwide, wheat is a long way from holding the top grain production title. Significantly more rice is produced than wheat, and much more corn (maize) is produced than either one of them.

But as far as I'm concerned (regarding the long-term risk to human health in general), 1 bushel of wheat production is 1 bushel too much.

Tex