Brains trust....are there any studies or even articles on gluten being a trigger for MC? I'm in a group of young ladies with MC and a couple are still eating gluten. I want to send them something to convince them it isn't a good idea, but when I searched I only found studies that said it didn't affect MC (which I don't believe).
TIA
Alice
Research on gluten and MC?
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Re: Research on gluten and MC?
Hi Alice,
I'm not aware of any direct proof, because there's a "Catch 22" issue here that prevents researchers from being perceptive enough to be able to set up food sensitivity trials correctly. Consequently, when they do food trials associated with MC treatments, they test only one or two foods at a time — they never include enough allergenic foods in their trials to actually control MC. It's necessary to avoid all food sensitivities, not just some or most of them, in order to control MC. The entire medical profession, including researchers, always make every effort to simplify every health problem they consider, and they treat it as a single, simple issue. That's why they don't understand microscopic colitis, because it's not a simple issue —it's a very complex disease that affects many organs, and many systems, in the body. Consequently, I doubt that they will ever be able to prove an association of the disease with food sensitivities —at least within our lifetimes.
That said, medical practitioners are slowly learning a few things about the disease. Here's an example:
The Mayo Clinic has been rated by USA Today as the number one gastrointestinal clinic in the United States for a period of many years. The Mayo's website contains various pages describing microscopic colitis. Here's a link to one of those pages.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20351483
Scroll down to the section on treatment, and note their diet recommendations.
I hope this helps,
Tex
I'm not aware of any direct proof, because there's a "Catch 22" issue here that prevents researchers from being perceptive enough to be able to set up food sensitivity trials correctly. Consequently, when they do food trials associated with MC treatments, they test only one or two foods at a time — they never include enough allergenic foods in their trials to actually control MC. It's necessary to avoid all food sensitivities, not just some or most of them, in order to control MC. The entire medical profession, including researchers, always make every effort to simplify every health problem they consider, and they treat it as a single, simple issue. That's why they don't understand microscopic colitis, because it's not a simple issue —it's a very complex disease that affects many organs, and many systems, in the body. Consequently, I doubt that they will ever be able to prove an association of the disease with food sensitivities —at least within our lifetimes.
That said, medical practitioners are slowly learning a few things about the disease. Here's an example:
The Mayo Clinic has been rated by USA Today as the number one gastrointestinal clinic in the United States for a period of many years. The Mayo's website contains various pages describing microscopic colitis. Here's a link to one of those pages.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20351483
Scroll down to the section on treatment, and note their diet recommendations.
- Eat a low-fat, low-fiber diet. Foods that contain less fat and are low in fiber may help relieve diarrhea.
Discontinue dairy products, gluten or both. These foods may make your symptoms worse.
Avoid caffeine and sugar.
Discontinue any medication that might be a cause of your symptoms. Your doctor may recommend a different medication to treat an underlying condition.
I hope this helps,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.