Gluten-Sensitivity

Musculoskeletal instabilities--particularly in the sacroiliac region--appear to be especially frequent in anyone suffering from gluten-sensitivity, celiac disease, and also from diabetes.

If your chiropractor or structural osteopath repeatedly needs to adjust your lower back in the same places it is time to look at possible gluten-sensitivity issues.

Searching for causes we may consider two processes:
1) Many grain carbohydrates contain gluten, a storage protein that carries morphine-like structures. According to my clinical experience, carbohydrate-addiction nearly always is found with individuals who turn out to be sensitive to gluten. Consequently, they eat more bread, muffins, bagels, pancakes, pizza, pasta, and breaded somethings; all of which contribute to greater levels of internal inflammation. The greater the inflammation the more acidic the body, the fewer minerals are absorbed, the more your tissues starve, the more your brain craves: a vicious cycle!

2) Apart from depriving you of your essential minerals and nutrients, gluten plays a role in the insulin conversion. Grain carbohydrates (including the gluten grains) convert to sugar in your body. In fact, as every diabetic should know, they are a very substantial source of blood sugar. High or fluctuating blood sugar levels directly affect you. They also affect your nerve impulses that control the muscles surrounding your skeleton.

These are the mechanisms at work here:
- An inflamed gut becomes porous (leaky gut syndrome) and releases toxic gluten proteins into your bloodstream.
- Grain carbohydrates, either due to lack of insulin or insulin resistance, can no longer be converted into energy and, instead, remain in the blood stream where they raise your blood sugar levels. It is assumed that a value of 7 mmol/l presents the threshold above which cellular damage becomes possible.

In both cases the result is a chronic metabolic acidosis, which directly affects your skeleton: Calcium, magnesium, and other elements may need to be mobilized from your bones and teeth (see below!) in order for your body to adjust the acid-alkaline balance of your blood.

Did you know that calcium is being absorbed exactly in the area of your gut that is affected by gluten-sensitivity: the duodenum and jejenum--the part that gets bypassed in gastric bypass-surgery performed on many obese diabetics!

In short, if you are sensitive to gluten, your body no longer can supply you with calcium (and some other important building blocks). Naturally, the result is bone loss and, quite obviously, a weakened structural support system.

Your skeleton is affected directly also if your tendons, muscles, and other surrounding tissues receive less than their share of essential nutritional substances and oxygen (a common problem with gluten-sensitivity). Your soft tissue no longer will be able to protect your hip and shoulder joints, or keep the blood flow to your extremities intact. Muscle weakness or even muscle cramps are frequent results.

According to my experience, individuals at risk of diabetes and diabetics alike tend to show similar patterns of musculoskeletal problems. A malposition of the sacrum tops this list. Pelvic or sacroiliac misalignments lead to low back discomfort and are probably directly connected to these mineral deficiencies and unbalanced mineral ratios further aggravated by fluctuating blood sugar values.

IN SUMMARY: musculoskeletal issues may be warning signs of imminent metabolic changes. Neck problems too may be indirectly indicative. Any chiropractor or osteopath will acknowledge a direct structural connection between neck problems and low back misalignment or discomfort.

It is hard to isolate one body part from another. Especially along your spine there are many links and interconnections. You should, therefore, pay close attention to any issues and problems that your musculoskeletal system seems to indicate. They point to nutritional deficiencies which, in turn, are frequently connected with gluten-sensitivity and celiac disease, as well as possibly diabetes.

In Italy, for this reason, chiropractors are advised to refer patients with repetitive sacroiliac issues for regular gluten-sensitivity testing.

Pointy shape teeth, mottling, yellowing, and loss of dental enamel are common issues with those of us suffering from gluten-sensitivity and celiac disease.

Since an Italian study pointed out this link several years ago many European dentists routinely refer patients for further testing for gluten-sensitivity if they detect any of these signs.

Several factors may play a role if you experience problems with thinning or loss (dental attrition) of your tooth enamel, tooth discolorations, and mottling.

Good teeth are essential for the wellbeing of your entire body. Since your dentist deals with your teeth your medical doctor rarely is aware of what is going on in your mouth and may miss the most likely early risk indicators of celiac disease, pre-diabetes and diabetes. Keep a close eye on the condition of your mouth and ask your dentist to keep you informed about even the very slightest changes of your teeth.

The loss of dental enamel nearly always indicates problems with the way your carbohydrates are processed. Several factors play a role in this. The natural acidity level of your stomach is of utmost importance. Excessive tissue acidity quickly erodes your tooth enamel by a process that is looking to neutralize your acid-alkaline blood balance. For this purpose calcium, along with several other essential minerals, is leached from your bones and teeth.

Let me mention another very interesting fact. As we have seen recently, an unusually high number of concurrent type 1 and type 2 diabetes cases is surfacing. For many years, researchers have made a link between type 1 diabetes and gluten-sensitive enteropathy and one of its specific forms, celiac disease. Could it be that much of what applies to individuals suffering from gluten sensitivity also applies to many diabetics?

We already know one link: diabetics and gluten-sensitive individuals share at least one DNA marker (HLA-DQ8), a factor presumably present in an astonishing 43% of the North-American population.

In my opinion it is entirely conceivable that the connections between diabetes and gluten sensitivity do not end there. I have seen these tooth patterns in both gluten-sensitive patients and diabetics. Could it be that gluten sensitivity precipitates any form of diabetes and that a gluten-free lifestyle actually might eliminate a slew of problems related to insulin production or resistance in individuals so pre-disposed, never-mind what type of diabetes? Or, is it more likely that metabolic acidosis simply is a predisposing factor for either disease?

One thing is certain: loss of tooth enamel is very common in celiac patients and in diabetics. For this reason many European healthcare environments use tooth enamel defects as a possible early indicator of gluten-sensitivity-even without a presence of the typical intestinal signs of atrophied vilii.
Maybe these same signs can serve as early risk detectors of gastrointestinal disease and a risk of pre-diabetes and diabetes?

Prompted by an Interesting Forum Question:
> If fasting blood sugar is too high, why does it not go down if food is completely avoided for even as long as 8 hours, drinking only water? But then it will go down, if small amounts of food are eaten? Thank you, Kady

A short answer to your question:
When the body goes more than four hours without food, the liver starts (over-)producing a form of sugar (glycogen) in order to compensate.
This liver activity also explains the "dawn-sugar high" and - few people know this - the nightly wake-up times between 1 and 3pm, when the liver is most active.

A long answer:
Individuals of genetic HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 background (on average 40% North-Americans, close to 90% of some Hispanics and Indigenous peoples) are NOT wired to digest grains.
Eating grain carbohydrates (especially those containing gluten: wheat, barley, rye, spelt, triticale and, due to contamination, also oats) prompts an inflammation in the duodenum (1st section of small intestines). Signs: bloating, tiredness, brain fog, cravings, etc.

The duodenum controls
- food release from the stomach to the small intestines for digestion;
- bicarbonate enzyme and insulin release from the pancreas;
- gallbladder activity and bile release (cues back to the liver and its glycogen production);
- produces vitamin K, which then gets stored in the pancreas, but only if the pancreas is not also inflamed by imbalanced enzyme production and hyper- or hypoinsulinism.

If the duodenum is inflamed, mineral and nutrient absorption are affected, as is vitamin K production. Hence the mineral deficiencies of diabetics, celiacs, and other people experiencing intestinal problems (tendon, muscle and bone issues, cravings!!).
Some other indicators:
- The duodenum is connected (ligament of Treitz) to the diaphragm. Brittle, tight ligaments may be behind your GERDs, heart burn, etc.
- The duodenum also is attached to the anterior lumbar spine (low back pain - often right-sided SI subluxations).

In summary:
When the duodenum is inflamed it no longer can fulfill its regulating role - particularly in those of HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 type.
Solution:
Withdraw all grain-carbohydrates. Fresh, green and colorful, non-starchy vegetables provide more than enough of the carbs the body needs. Add to that light proteins and omega-3s, and your blood sugar rollercoaster should disappear.

Rivkah Roth DO DNM
author of "At Risk? Avoid Diabetes by Recognizing Early Risk - A Natural Medicine View" and the DIABETES-Series Little Books.