In article >,
"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

> Emma wrote on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:01:44 -0600:
>
> ET> Like I said before, you seem to have no idea how often ET> wheat
> or other glutens (gliadin proteins to be specific) ET> are contained
> in food products you'd never suspect. Gluten ET> (mostly wheat) is
> commonly found in many (if not most) of ET> the following food
> items: ketchup, spaghetti sauce, mustard, ET> blue cheese, salad
> dressing, almost all frozen meals--not ET> just the ones with pasta,
> beer, tomato sauce, flavored ET> milks, ice cream, Rice Crispies,
> Corn Flakes, chocolate and ET> other candies, canned soups,
> processed cheeses, and many ET> more. The more obvious ones are of
> course, breads, pastas, ET> and cereals.
>
> I am puzzled by this. I can't argue that people can be intolerant of
> gluten and I don't know how much is needed to trigger a reaction.
> It's hard to believe that much gluten would be present in blue cheese
> or even beer, especially light colored lagers, but I guess one has to
> read the list of ingredients carefully.

There is a great deal of research going on right now because only a
decade ago, celiac was considered a rare disease in the US. Now the
incidence is rapidly approaching 1 in 100 persons. The most current
thinking by some scientists is that there is a spectrum of gluten
sensitive conditions ranging from gluten intolerance, wheat allergy to
celiac sprue. They do not know what is causing the increase but it is a
very serious problem.

Celiac is a genetically acquired auto-immune condition in which the body
has a toxic reaction to even the most minute amounts of gluten. By
amount, we're talking molecular level here....parts per million. The
FDA has recommended setting the limit at 20 parts per million though
this has not been finalized and is only a guess. Gluten is a generic
term for the gliadin protein molecule which is found in all forms of
wheat including triticale, spelt, rye, kamut, etc, as well as barley.
Some people with celiac also react to uncontaminated oats. Buckwheat is
a gluten free grass, not a true wheat.

Almost all beer contains large amounts of wheat or barley though there
are a few sorgum based, gluten-free lagers now. The color of the lager
is irrelevant with regard to gluten. Blue cheese mold is often, but not
always, cultured on wheat bread. And that is more than enough to cause
a reaction. It is very difficult to find gluten-free blue cheese.
Practically speaking, only a grain or two of wheat flour dust are enough
to cause reactions in some people.

With celiac, any reaction is a serious toxic reaction that causes
serious physical damage. The body reacts to gluten as a virus, first
attacking the small intestine causing severe injury and
nutritional/malabsorption problems. If the condition goes untreated for
long periods of time, which is usually the case, the immune system
starts attacking other organs in addition to the small intestine. This
is because the gliadin molecules easily transverse right into the
bloodstream where they are carried all over the body where they can
attach to other tissues.

Other auto-immune diseases (diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjrogrens
Syndrome, Lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and others) are strongly
related to celiac and as many as 1/3 of people with such conditions have
gliadin antibodies in their blood. People with celiac have an 80 times
greater chance than others of contracting lymphoma of the small
intestine. Celiac is fatal if untreated and the sole treatment is the
strict avoidance of foods or substances containing the slightest bit of
gluten. There are no realistic safe amounts. Though I feel confidant
this is more than you ever wanted to know, I hope you can see why
someone with celiac would take great pains to avoid gluten. Once you
understand the physiology, it's really not hard to believe at all.

Emma