What is Gluten?
Did you know gluten is an opioid? You shake your head. But it’s true: when digested, gluten proteins break down into opioid-like polypeptides called exorphins that some researchers say operate to mask the inherent toxicity of gluten, meaning people could be unknowingly suffering a wide array of complications from gluten in their diet.
A comprehensive review of medical literature conducted by Leo Pruimboom and Karin de Punder available on the PubMed Central website published by the NIH’s National Library of Medicine examined the mechanisms by which incomplete gluten-breakdown is related to a host of non-classical Celiac’s Disease (CD) symptoms, referred to as Asymptomatic Celiac Disease (ACD).
One striking statement in their paper is that “accumulating data provide evidence for the deleterious effects of gluten intake on general human health.” This is not yet well studied or consented to because patients often fail to exhibit “gastrointestinal symptoms even in individuals with proven CD.” As the authors relate, recent human studies evidence that “gluten can cause inflammatory injury in the gut, without [an individual] suffering any gastrointestinal symptoms.”
Non-classical Celiac’s Disease symptoms and related disorders observed in Asymptomatic Celiac Disease individuals include: “diabetes mellitus type I, severe hypoglycemia in diabetes mellitus type I, psoriasis, sleep apnea in children, neoplasia, atopic dermatitis, depression, sub clinical synovitis in children, autism, schizophrenia, and irritable bowel syndrome,” which suggests “that gluten intake is related to the development of these conditions.”
As far as prevalence of Asymptomatic Celiac Disease in the population of Celiac’s Disease patients, studies show “that only 17% of serologically diagnosed patients suffer from the classical [gastrointestinal] celiac symptoms.” With 1.4% of the global population suffering Celiac’s Disease—a percentage steadily growing at a rate of 7.5% per year!—this is an important field of research that affects hundreds of millions of people. If Pruimboom and de Punder are correct, gluten could be responsible for the development of a whole host of non-gut-related disorders, affecting a large and growing number of people. The long and short of it is that inflammation caused by incomplete gluten digestion in individuals with Celiac’s Disease and NCGS (non-Celiac gluten sensitivity) results in the imbalanced presence of opioid-like exorphins that could be masking the severe damage the gluten causes, and which results in a wide array of disorders.
The European Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease guidelines for coeliac disease published in the United European Gastroenterol as cited on the Celiac Disease Foundation’s website states that “in patients with celiac disease, a 10-22% increased risk of neurological disorders is reported,” which may result in a misdiagnosis of psychiatric illness.
In fact, a case report published in 2015 confirmed “psychotic disorder [can be] clearly related to Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity.” And, more recently, a systematic review of medical literature on gluten-related neurological disorders (GRND’s), published in 2020, concludes alarmingly that “neuropathological findings in GRND’s are widespread and not limited to the cerebellum,” but include epilepsy, encephalopathy, myopathy, small and large fiber neuropathy, and ataxia.
Is gluten ruining your life?
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GLUTEN FREE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Leaky Gut the Same as Celiac Disease?
No—but they are often related.
A 2024 study shed light on an ongoing debate in the celiac world as to whether chronic inflammation causes leaky gut or if gluten itself directly hurts the cell lining, causing leaky gut. Leaky gut syndrome, often a major symptom of celiac disease, refers to increased permeability in the intestinal lining, which allows things that shouldn’t enter the bloodstream to do so.
The 2024 Bielefeld University study isolated a specific gluten-derived peptide, known as the 33-mer deamidated gliadin peptide, seen to play a critical role in the development of leaky gut. The peptide created things called oligomers, which built up in the gut lining and interrupted the tight union between intestinal cells.
“Our findings reinforce the medical hypothesis that impairment of the epithelial barrier promoted by gluten peptides is a cause and not a result of the immune response in celiac patients,” said the study’s lead author, Dr Veronica Dodero from the Bielefeld Faculty of Chemistry, according to Science Daily.
All this reinforces the need to find the best flour for gluten free baking, so that those of you sensitive to gluten have good, clean alternatives.
How Do I know If I Have Celiac Disease?
Good question, especially since an estimated 17 million people could be asymptomatic!
The short answer is, if you want to know if you have celiac disease, you should do a biopsy. If you have a family history of celiac disease, you are much more likely to have it yourself.
The other thing you can do is keep tabs on GlutenID, which was cleared by the FDA in February. The direct-to-consumer test will, reports say, evaluate specific genetic HLA markers.
“The root cause of celiac disease is genetic, but understanding celiac genetics is confusing for everyone, including physicians,” Shelly Gunn MD, PhD, Founder and Medical Director of Targeted Genomics, said in a press release. “Our task in developing GlutenID was to simplify the testing and interpretation of celiac genetics allowing anyone to know their inherited genetic risk for developing celiac-related gluten sensitivity. Knowing the risk can help with diagnosis as well as treatment and prevention of celiac disease through a gluten free diet.”
If such a diet is warranted, we have everything you need for gluten free baking right here.