This article is part of a special report on Thyroid Disorders. To see the other articles in this series, click here.
In the first article in this series, I showed that hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disease in 90% of cases. In this article we’re going to discuss the connection between autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and gluten intolerance.
Several studies show a strong link between AITD (both Hashimoto’s and Graves’) and gluten intolerance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] The link is so well-established that researchers suggest all people with AITD be screened for gluten intolerance, and vice versa.
What explains the connection? It’s a case of mistaken identity.
These antibodies to gliadin also cause the body to attack thyroid tissue. This means if you have AITD and you eat foods containing gluten, your immune system will attack your thyroid.
Even worse, the immune response to gluten can last up to 6 months each time you eat it. This explains why it is critical to eliminate gluten completely from your diet if you have AITD. There’s no “80/20” rule when it comes to gluten. Being “mostly” gluten-free isn’t going to cut it. If you’re gluten intolerant, you have to be 100% gluten-free to prevent immune destruction of your thyroid.
So how do you find out if you’re gluten intolerant? Unfortunately, standard lab tests aren’t very accurate. They test for antibodies to gluten in the bloodstream. But antibodies in the blood will only be found in cases where the gut has become so permeable that gluten can pass through. This is a relatively advanced stage of disease. Blood tests will miss the many milder cases of gluten intolerance that haven’t yet progressed to that stage.
Stool analysis is far more sensitive, because it detects antibodies produced in the digestive tract that aren’t yet escaping into the bloodstream. Using this method at Entero Lab, Dr. Kenneth Fine, a pioneer in the field, has found that up to 35% of Americans are gluten intolerant.
In addition to the stool analysis, Dr. Fine’s lab uses a cheek swab to test for the genes connected with gluten intolerance and celiac disease. People with HLA DQ genes are more likely than the general population to have autoimmune disease, celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Dr. Fine’s research shows that more than 80% of Americans have one of these gene types.
When I first read Dr. Fine’s research, I was astounded by the implications. It suggests that 1 in 3 Americans are gluten intolerant, and that 8 in 10 are genetically predisposed to gluten intolerance. This is nothing short of a public health catastrophe in a nation where the #1 source of calories is refined flour. But while most are at least aware of the dangers of sugar, trans-fat and other unhealthy foods, fewer than 1 in 8 people with celiac disease are aware of their condition. I would guess that an even lower proportion of people are aware they are gluten intolerant.
As much improved as Dr. Fine’s methods are, they aren’t perfect. In some patients with autoimmune disease, their immune system is so worn out they can no longer produce many antibodies.
Hashmioto’s, the most common autoimmune thyroid condition, is primarily a Th1 dominant condition. I’ll explain what this means in further detail in a future article. For now, what you need to understand is that in Th1-dominant conditions, the Th2 system is suppressed. The Th2 system is the part of the immune system responsible for producing antibodies. When the Th2 system is severely depressed, the body’s ability to produce antibodies is impaired. The levels may be so low that they won’t show up on a test. So, even if you have gluten intolerance, your test for gluten antibodies may be falsely negative if you have Th1-dominant Hashimoto’s.
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This is why I recommend that you avoid gluten if you have AITD, regardless of whether tests show an active antibody response. This is especially true if you have one of the genes (HLA DQ1,2, or 3) that predisposes you to developing gluten intolerance. In my opinion continuing to eat gluten when you have a confirmed autoimmune condition simply isn’t worth risking the immune destruction it could cause.
In fact, the more I learn about gluten and its effects on the body, the more I think we’d all probably be better off not eating it. Mark Sisson has written extensively about the dangers of gluten and gluten-containing grains, so head over there and have a look if this is new to you.
The good news is that if you have AITD and are gluten intolerant, removing gluten completely from your diet will dramatically improve your health. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
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Thank you for a very interesting and informative section. I am in the UK. I have underactive thryoid due to radiotherapy to me neck back in 1981 surviving Hodgkins Disease. It was some 10 years ago that my symptons of an underactive thryoid started to show. Not wanting to go down the convenentional medicine route attempted to go it alone with diet and supplements etc. Eventually I gave in and I know take 125mg of levothyroxine daily. I have recently tried strict Paelo and started to shift some weight again but after 3 weeks I was noticeably tired again so I reintroduced white rice as per The Perfect health Diet recommendation for allowed starches. I really was wondering if anyone here could relate to this and maybe also offer some useful tips re diet and supplementation. Thanks in advance. Shaz
Sounds exactly like my situation… 2001 was the onset of my symptoms. Tried in vain to ‘cure’ the Hashimoto’s. I realize now that I was doing more damage than necessary to my thyroid by avoiding the hormone for over a year. The ONLY thing that took away the symptoms of hypothyroidism for me was switching to Armour Thyroid hormone. A doctor had me ignore the TSH and we only watched the free T3 and free T4 levels; both needed to be in the high normal range and boom… virtually all symptoms disappeared. I still had a few lingering mild symptoms but when I began to split the dose… half in the morning and half before bed I felt the closest to my old self. What a waste of a decade!
Hi finndian,
Just wondering, why does free T4 also need to be in the high normal range? I find that when I feel best (not perfect, but best so far), my free T3 is in the high normal end and my free T4 is in the low normal end. If my T4 gets any higher, the T3 shoots up out of normal range and I get hyper symptoms (a sign I need to lower my dose again). I have always wondered how my T3 can be high when my T4 is low, but just figured I convert well to T3 and that is as close to “normal” as I can get. Any thoughts? Does a low T4 with a high T3 indicate anything?
Thanks!
For me it was about a year, although I also gave up dairy, sugar too. Plus detoxed, took liver supplement to help that [milk thistle], healed my gut with kefir and kombucha and made own live yoghurt, fermented for 24 hours to get the lactose out. Beware soya milk, best to make your own almond or rice milk. I also took siberian ginseng alternated with rhodiola rosea, all recommendations from here and other websites/books like Stop the Thyroid Madness..
Both my daughter and I have Hashimotos. I have removed gluten from our diet for three weeks. How long does it take to detect a difference in the thyroid function via blood work? I would like to retest to see if it is making a difference…is three weeks enough or should it be much longer?
Based on my experience it took months and the changes are very gradual. It’s been a year and half now for me and I’ve halved my dose of meds, but it goes very slowly. I know when I need to lower my dose when I start to feel hyper symptoms for several days in a row. I would go based on how you feel rather than blood work, using blood work to comfirm things rather than as the main feedback. How you feel is the main way of knowing if it’s working. It’s a slow and sometimes frustrating process, so you’ll need loads of patience. The antibodies also can have up to a 6 month lag before you start to see a difference as well.
Hi Dr Chris thanks for your article and followup comments.
I have Graves’ disease (diagnosed 14 years ago), generally well managed on low dose Carbimazole. I understand that gluten intolerance is not necessarily the cause, and I do not really have reason to suspect that I have gluten intolerance. Giving up gluten completely (as you indicate is necessary to achieve results!) is quite an effort to make, and I wouldn’t want to do it unless I thought it was likely to help manage my GD. I would ideally like to get off the meds eventually.
You said in one comment that even after withdrawing gluten from the diet the antibodies marking the thyroid tissue for attack will continue, since the gluten is no longer in the body but the thyroid tissue is still there! So what I am wondering is whether withdrawing gluten once the Graves’ Disease has already developed, is likely to achieve anything in terms of improving the GD?
Many thanks again for your article, very interesting.
I would just get a Diagnos-tech labs Expanded GI panel (stool/saliva) test to see if there are anti-bodies to gluten, soy and casein…if you want proof of an intolerance. It also checks for parasites (including toxoplasma from cats) and bacteria levels (good and bad). Digestive enzymes from the pancreas are assessed as well. Its a great test. Its $280 if your insurance doesn’t pay. Mine does.
After eliminating gluten, maybe you have increased your consumption of another food that you are intolerant to. For example, my niece eliminated gluten but increased the amount of corn products she was eating and felt much worse. I personally can’t eat gluten or corn. Corn products especially corn starch causes my fibromyalgia, arthritis, eczema, and allergies to come back. It’s hard to avoid corn it’s in so many things including over-the-counter medications.
I have been GF for 3 months and all of my symptoms are dramatically worse than they were before eliminating gluten from my diet. I don’t know if I can keep this up for another 3 months.
Then I would say you have something else wrong with you. What made you think you had gluten intolerance?
I never said I had gluten intolerance. I have Hashimoto’s.
and you believe lack of gluten is making the symptoms worse?
Boy, it’ hard to imagine anyone feeling worse just from eliminating gluten…..unless maybe if they’re loading up on every gluten-free goodie imaginable – cookies, donuts, cakes, etc.
Just eliminating gluten and sticking with real food – meat, veggies, beans, nuts, fruit – can’t imagine that wouldn’t help just about anyone.. Packaged/processed stuff, not so much.
Try cutting out ALL Grains, yes even rice, I thought it would be a disaster but once you get into it, and you just try and replace with vegetables, you don’t crave them anymore. The trick is to replace with a veg, ie instead of rice, try butternut or sweet potatoe, or finely sliced cabbage, or shred baby marrows into spaghetti strips. Once you get it waxed, your life WILL change. Have gone carb free for 3 months now and am having to adjust my thyroid meds down every two weeks but best of all – MY HEAD IS CLEAR!!!! no more brain fog so my work rate has soared and my stress levels are dropping. My husband and says he loves me again…
Anyone who suspects they have thyroid issues but could not get anything confirmed with tests…please check out this awesome information on how to use a thermometer and track your basal temperature. It helps you to see if you have thyroid issues, adrenal issues, or a combination of the 2….I found this VERY useful. Since adding adrenal support I have further decreased thyroid-related symptoms. My temps are not perfect and I still have a lot of work to do, but it is a start…
http://www.drrind.com/therapies/metabolic-temperature-graph
This article says antibodies that attack gluten also attack the thyroid. However, then it says lab tests aren’t accurate because they test for antibodies to gluten in the bloodstream and antibodies will not be found in the bloodsteam unless the gut has become very permeable, so that gluten can pass through (this is an advanced stage of the disease). So then, if antibodies shouldn’t be found in the bloodstream till an advanced stage in the disease, how are they attacking the thyroid?!?!?!?
After my second pregnancy my doctor keeps increasing my levoxyl levels three times already within 6 months. I just stop using levoxyl .112 due to the medicine being not available in the U.S. The doctor switched me to synthroid and I feel terrible. I am so exhausted, tired, fatigued. I also have difficulty concentrating. This has lead me to do research on hypothrodism and I have decided to start the gluten free diet. I am going again to get my levels checked today and I have a feeling they will be bad. I am so thankful to have found a doctor who has written upon this subject and all the individuals who posted here. Thank you everyone for writing your story. I am also going to get tested for celiac disease as all the sighs point to it. (rash, iron deficiency anemia, excessive bloating)
Katie, have you come across the “Stop the Thyroid Madness” website? It is a great resource. In your position, knowing that levoxyl worked for you and that synthroid doesn’t, I would seek a doctor who will prescribe either Armor or Naturethroid, which is not synthetic forms of thyroid. You may have to hunt around – perhaps try “integrative” or “environmental” doctors… Good luck!
Thank you. I just started my research on thyroid issues and did come upon that website. Taking a levoxyl is not the answer. With time I just keep increasing my medicine dosage. I went gluten free 2 days ago and I am having awful symptoms. I hope I will have it somewhat under control being gluten free. My doctor said she does not believe in a gluten free diet. Oh well. Yes, its time to go hunt down another endro doctor. Thanks for the advice!
Katie, a new doctor sounds like a great idea. We have seen soooooo many sub-standard doctors over the years (including an allergist who argued that food allergies have absolutely no relationship to eczema!)…they are such a waste of time, energy and money…it is definitely worth the time to keep looking.
Yes I have had some of the same issues.. Had my fillings removed and ha d a decline in my health.. I have candidia and leaky gut and food intolerances. I found foot detoxing to be a help and watch my diet.. Take probiotics, garlic, and other supplements and watch my diet closely and feel much better now. good luck!
I’m curious to know if anyone else who has gluten/thyroid issues had any possible mercury exposure around or not long before their symptoms appeared. This is the case for me. I had amalgam fillings removed (2 in 2006, and 2 in 2008), and while my dentist attempted to do it safely, and used a rubber dam, I believe I was still exposed. Mercury is incredibly dangerous. This time marked the start of a general decline in my health. Unfortunately, I believe this exposure has also been passed (in utero and through nursing) to both my children. They have gluten intolerance, multiple food and environmental sensitivities, behavioral issues, and severe chronic eczema. I don’t believe this is a coincidence, and I don’t believe it is purely genetic, although I do think some families have a genetic predisposition to be more sensitive to poisons such as mercury (thus autism etc), and are not efficient at detoxifying themselves. I have done a lot of research and am now convinced that mercury exposure (usually through dental work, but vaccines and other forms of exposure can happen too) is the root cause of our issues. Does anyone else find or suspect a connection with mercury and their own health decline? I believe mercury can damage the intestine (and other organs, including the brain), particularly the natural microbial balance in the gut, and when coupled with antibiotics this is particularly harmful and will lead to leaky gut, followed by the sensitivities to gluten and more. Candida that persists no matter what you try is a good indication that mercury is an issue. Tests will generally fail to show it, because mercury tends to “hide” inside various organs in the body. It is hard to remove and there are some dangerous methods out there, and various forums filled with people trying to recover after inappropriate chelation techniques (IV, cilantro etc). We are currently preparing to chelate using the Andy Cutler protocol (Cutler is a biochemist who healed himself of mercury poisoning). I’d love to hear if anyone else has found this out or suspects a link….I have gone down many paths hoping to find the “root cause” of our issues, and found small pieces of the puzzle, but I really do believe this is it….mercury is a poison, pure and simple, and it damages us. I’m not saying gluten is great anyway (read “Wheat Belly”), but to a mercury-exposed person it is absolute poison.
Thanks,
Henny
I have a very strong feeling my wife has become gluten intolerant but she has eaten these foods her entire life and loves them. Within the past year, she has began to experience an intense all over body itch without a rash. As she puts it – “it’s a deep itch under the skin that she will literally scratch herself to the point of bleeding. Do you know if gluten sensitivities manifest themselves this way without the GI issues? We have done lots of work and we know it’s not allergies to lotions or soaps. I’ve combed the internet and I haven’t been able to find much info on her condition.
Lotions can soothe and help repair the skin, but as your wife says, the itch is from deep inside. This is inflammation and an immune response. Some people have success with creams etc. because this can calm it down just enough to break the itch-scratch cycle, but if the inflammation is systemic the creams will not do much, and steroids will just lead to longer-term issues. Detoxifying the body (esp. kidney, colon and liver) as well as removing gluten and dairy are a really good start. Building up the immune system and strengthening the intestine are important. (And per my post below, did she have dental work done before this suddenly started to occur? Or break any CFL light bulbs or anything? Mercury exposure is linked with eczema, food sensitivities and more…)
We are trying NAET for my son, and also homeopathic solutions, just to bring some relief. I hope your wife is lucky and finds an easier fix. Borage oil (applied to skin and internally may help – you can google it)
Henny
That sounds horrible, I’m so sorry. Isn’t itchy under the skin sometimes a symptom of menopause or hormone imbalances? I think that’s where I’d go first.
Chris, Lots of doctors are recommending an increase in vitamin D these days, and while that’s all well and good, I have found that if someone gets too much D it can cause this very sort of under-the-skin, nervie-type itching. I have experienced it myself. I backed off the vitamin D, which did alleviate it. I don’t know if your wife has been dosing vitamin D or not, but if so, she might try lowering her dose a bit and monitor the results. Whatever it is, removing gluten from the diet is never a bad idea! Good luck to you both. :o)
Keri
I must add that I didn’t eat any cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc anyway. Jan
I had my thyroid removed completely in 2003 after finding a goitre. It was considered to be such a mess with nodules and growing fast it needed to be removed quickly. This diagnosis came after I had had frequent thyroid tests at my request all of which showed I had no thyroid disease. My mother also had a goitre. Since then I have been taking Levothyroxine (I’m in the UK). Throughout the whole period my weight has increased and has been very difficult to remove despite a basic healthy diet.
Two weeks ago I decided to try Weight Watchers again in desperation. When the leader heard I took Thyroxine she said cut out bread/biscuits/cakes etc and cheese. Over the 30 years she had been running the class she had found that this was the answer for these people. Without changing anything else in my diet I lost over 5lb in the first week. As I said I did not change anything else – in fact I haven’t had time to read the pamphlets she gave me thoroughly. I feel great! My whole body feels better and sort of ‘relieved’! I can feel that I’ve lost more weight since then.
When I googled Thyroid and Gluten this article came up. I read the first paragraphs and just cried and cried. It was with relief, excitement and anger.
I shall continue cutting out gluten no matter what the medics say. Thanks so much.
When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, I found Dr. Kharrazian’s site and went completely gluten-free for about six weeks. Until I went to three doctors, GP, integrative medicine, and a thyroid/Grave’s specialist, and all of them told me there was no connection between gluten and thyroid. So I’m looking for any citations I can find.
Where does the statistic about 1 in 3 Americans being gluten intolerant come from? The link you give to Dr. Fine brings you to a speech transcript that doesn’t contain that statistic.
And the five references you give about the gluten-thyroid connection do not all make that connection. The strongest statement in them is that both celiac and hashimoto’s are auto-immune disease so both stem from the same causes and thus many people will have both if they have one (along with other auto-immune diseases).
Anything you could point me to will be great, thank you.
I found the following which might help you, Nanci:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/318895-hypothyroid-and-gluten/
Researchers have shown a strong link between the autoimmune diseases celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD), as reported by Chin Lye Ch’ng, et al., in a 2007 article in “Clinical Medicine and Research.”
There are some references at the bottom too, and it mentions a report by A.J. Naiyer, et al., in the journal “Thyroid.” Would be fascinating to get access to all these!
This site:
http://thyroidbook.com/blog/eating-gluten-increases-need-for-thyroid-hormones/
links to a study (3rd word of the article), but it is over the top of my head – maybe you can get something from it.
And this book has been around for a few years, but may have something:
http://glutendoctors.blogspot.com/2009/06/gluten-sensitivity-and-thyroid.html
Thank you, I’ll check that out.
It seems pretty clear that people with celiac are more likely to have Hashimoto’s (and maybe visa versa? though I don’t recall citations for that). This makes sense because they’re both autoimmune diseases, and at least a couple of studies I’ve seen have said they’re basically siblings — i.e. stemming from the same basic immune system issue, rather than parent/child, i.e. one stemming from the other.
What I *haven’t* been able to find is anything on the idea that gluten activates the anti-thyroid immune system response. If that’s true, eating gluten would make Hashimoto’s worse and not eating it would help control it. But I can’t find any research on it.
Thanks everyone.
I have Hashimoto’s and had my daughter tested with Enterolabs stool test as she has GI symptoms. Strangely her Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA was 8 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units) but she has HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 1 0201
HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 2 0303
Serologic equivalent: HLA-DQ 2,3 (Subtype 2,9) and I think this means she has gluten sensitivity.
Strange that she looks uneffected by this?
I worry about her developing Hashis as I struggle with it now and no matter how suppressed my TSH is, my FT4 is always so low it is out of range, yet FT3 is low, but in range. I do take selenium so maybe I convert too much.
Well its good you have a doctor that knows to check Free T3 and T4. Sounds like you are just not taking enough hormone. When I was overly reliant on checking my TSH to determine my dosage I was at 3 grains of Armour thyroid and felt terrible even though TSH was very low. When I realized that the Free’s where more closely associated with how I felt I titrated up to 5 grains and got to just above mid range FT4 and high normal range FT3 and suddenly felt the best I had in ten years. Oh, last thing was splitting the dosage…. half at noon and the rest before bedtime. T3 can make you very tired if you already are… for some reason I thought it would speed me up. I does not.
If I could go back and do it all over again with what I know now… I’d have made sure to have kept myself methylated to try to prevent the Hashimoto’s gene from expressing itself during all my troubles. I believe my undiagnosed food allergies led to stomach inflammation and resulting nutritional deficiencies. The ability of the stomach to make its own B12 got interrupted and slowly I lost my own natural defenses (methylation) against these nasty gene variations that are waiting in the wings to express themselves. With proper nutrition, treatment and diet for food allergies they never will. I will forever take methylcobalamin B12 now that I know I also have a genetic difficulty absorbing B12 as well.
While I don’t doubt that avoiding Gluten is a powerfully positive step for Thyroid autoimmune patients, I want to be scrupulous in our fact-checking of the mechanism from which we benefit from avoiding Gluten.
You cite a study in your second paragraph “The presence of the antigliadin antibodies in autoimmune thyroid diseases” and it’s results state : “Twenty two patients (5.5 per cent) with autoimmune thyroiditis had positive antigliadin antibodies. Polyglandular endocrine syndrome was diagnosed in most of these patients.”
Less than 6% is hardly a strong correlation.
and further the conclusion of the study states “We claim that polyglandular endocrine syndrome is the commonest cause of positivity of antigliadin antibodies in the patients with autoimmune thyroid disease.”
Which has little to do with the statement you made in citing the study, so why cite it?
It’s commonly claimed nowadays that bio-mimicry is the reason that immune cells attack the thyroid when people eat gluten but I’m having trouble finding a scientific basis for that either.
Hi Karl
Yes, I’ve been looking at lots of published articles on auto-immune diseases and molecular mimicry and the only glint so far is this article which I can’t find on google except as something that is referred to repeatedly. It contains a mention of thyroid disease and molecular mimicry but how closely they’re associated can’t be inferred.
Kamaeva OI, Reznikov IuP, Pimenova NS, Dobritsyna LV. Antigliadin antibodies in the absence of celiac disease. Klin Med (Mosk) 1998;76(2):33-35
I’ll keep searching though. There was an article on Direct-ms but all the articles they had on molecular mimicry failed to mention autoimmune thyroid disease yet last time I stumbled on this site, that’s where I read that autoimmune thyroid disease was included in this phenomenon and the causative bacteria/viruses were named.
How can someone go gluten-free? I’m having such a hard time with it. It’s horrible! I feel so left out on things and sometimes I just don’t eat because I hate the gluten free foods I am finding. Is there a good website for good recipes?
I’m finding just the opposite. The gluten free food is too good (and expensive) and the calories are usually higher than regular. Everyone in my house prefers my products! Udi’s bread, rolls… muffins and cakes are amazing. One trip to the gluten free isles at Whole foods and maybe some questions to others also buying the GF products for advice on the best tasting products will lead you to a more satisfying meals.
Ash, I was very frustrated in the beginning as well and tried to substitute some gluten free processed products for my usual gluten containing products. When I learned that most of those products are also not what one should be eating as they raise your blood sugar so much and also contributes to inflammation, it became easier to abandon the idea all together. I still eat a little rice to satisfy me, but I mostly eat lots of veggies, lots of good fats like coconut, olive, avocados, lard – all from the very best sources, and very good quality meats from pasture raised animals. I also include wild fish several times a week. People keep asking me how I can be satisfied, but I have no problems with it. Eating lots of fat has stabilized my blood sugar, and I can go hours without eating, unlike when I had to eat every two to three hours on a carb high diet. On top of it I lost five pounds last summer without doing anything else differently when I was not even trying to lose weight (I am 5ft 3in and 107 lbs now) , I used to hover around 120lbs before I really started to cut back the sugars and grains 5 or 6 years ago. I still eat fruit, but try to be mindful not to eat too much because I love them so much and try to stay away from extremely ripe fruit. I still eat dark chocolate too, but read the ingredient label carefully. Good luck! It is a lifestyle change, and I feel so much better these days. I don’t really feel like I am missing out so much any more. Even at parties and eating out, it’s so nice that I can pass up even having one bite of that something decadent without feeling sorry for myself. There are so many people out in the world who have absolutely NO choice in what or if they can eat a meal – but I have a choice in feeding myself what is the best available on a particular day or situation. And if I miss a meal, I am not going to faint from low blood sugar. Mind you, I do not feel superior to anyone else, but for I do feel glad that my mind has been strong enough to keep me on the path to better health – and I really think it is the higher fat intake that has helped the most.
A good start for you would be to check out this website and get Nora’s book. Your thinking will be turned inside out and upside down. But it’s always good to challenge your brain!
http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/
Let us know how you fare in the months to come.
Pinterest.com is an excellent resource – Join and search “gluten free” and you will get a ton of ideas. There are so many ways to replace gluten in the diet that you just don’t consider when it’s been a major staple your whole life, but if you’re open to trying new things and doing some learning in the kitchen, there’s a lot left to enjoy when grains are removed.
I hate gluten free foods, it is not good. I’ve even went to local gluten free bakery and did not like anything but the reviews are great. I hate Udi’s. I can eat the gluten free pizza at a few restaurants so far and that is it. I do eat some vegetables and fruit and rice. Bread is the hardest…I love sandwiches and French bread for soup and stews. I can’t seem to eliminate it totally. I am trying though. It is depressing.
Our son is two years old and both my husband and I have autoimmune diseases in our families. I, the mom, have Hashimoto’s. To prevent the onset of autoimmune disease we have our son eat gluten free. The problem is, we live in Italy and all school menu’s are the same (gluten gluten and gluten), you only get an exception if the pediatric fills in a form. Ours is only willing to do that only if our son is celiac, which he may not be, but we don’t know, cause we don’t want to give him gluten for the sake of the blood test. Do you know anyone in Italy who understands why our son shouldn’t eat gluten and can help us? I would be so grateful.
I only found out I had Hashimoto’s when I was diagnosed with follicular Thyroid cancer at 24 years old.
The tissue of my thyroid was patchy and inflamed which correlated with Hashi’s, I only had my antibodies slightly elevated in blood tests before full removal. My thyroid hormone levels had not been effected yet.
I had blood tests and a gastroscopy to look for Coeliac disease, all negative. Doctors constantly telling me I have no problem with wheat. My Vitamin D is non existent and is now only 16 nmol/L. I’m only 27 years old and feel old.
I am now trying to eliminate wheat from my diet to see if it has any added benefits to my health. Chris I wonder from your experience if from what I’ve said means I have a problem with gluten? I understand you are extremely busy, but I’m so lost and confused about my health. I have no thyroid and I take levothyroxine 150mg every day.
A negative gastroscopy for celiac does not rule out non-celiac gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy, so your doctors are misinformed. There’s no way to determine whether you are gluten intolerant from what you’ve written, nor is there a conclusive diagnostic test. The gold standard is still the elimination/provocation protocol, where you remove it from your diet for about 3 months, then add it back in and see what happens. If you feel better off gluten, and then have a bad reaction when you add it back to your diet, that means you’re gluten intolerant.
You’re saying that a stool test for antibodies against gluten is worthless? Diagnos-tech’s expanded GI panel for instance.