The New Food Pyramid - Gluten's Link to Your Mood

• Research spanning 60 years shows gluten grain consumption leads to higher prevalence of both neurological and psychiatric problems, and schizophrenia in particular
• In a recent study, researchers compared the blood work of 950 schizophrenics with 1,000 healthy controls. The odds ratio of having anti-gliadin IgG antibodies was 2.13 times higher in schizophrenics, indicating that t the least schizophrenics are more likely to experience an adverse immune response to wheat proteins
• The discovery of antibodies to gliadin in the blood of both celiac disease patients and schizophrenics implies that the wheat protein gliadin does not break down during digestion, wheat proteins stimulate auto-immunity, and may cause your immune system to attack your nervous system
• Gluten can cause a host of problems with a broad range of symptoms that include but are not limited to: brain fog, exhaustion, anemia, premature osteoporosis, joint aches and pains, nerve pain and skin conditions such as eczema and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Bloating, gas, gastric reflux or heartburn, headaches, diarrhea, constipation, weight issues, and other food allergies to corn, eggs, soy and dairy are also not uncommon. For a more complete list of symptoms, please visit www.celiac.com.
  
  
  In general, gluten can be considered an aggravator in any autoimmune disorder. It has been well documented that 80 percent of our immune system resides in our digestive system. Most doctors are inclined to have patients with an autoimmune disorder tested for gluten intolerance and celiac disease. A great new book by Donna Jackson Nakazawa titledThe Autoimmune Epidemic suggests avoiding “wheat, rye, and barley and [to] use non-gluten grains” to quiet down any autoimmune activity.
  
  
  Studies show that high carbohydrate foods can be difficult for celiacs or gluten sensitives to break down. A high quality vitamin supplement, omega-3 fish oils, carbohydrate digesting enzymes, probiotics and vitamin D are also an important part of my daily regimen. Researchers from the University of Chicago are conducting studies that seem to confirm that “vitamin D helps maintain the intestinal mucosal barrier and the integrity of the tight junctions.” Since intestinal permeability or what is often referred to as “leaky gut syndrome” is so common with gluten issues and autoimmune problems.

Increasing Body of Research Implicates Gluten Grains in Schizophrenia Pathogenesis

Since then, a number of studies have been published linking the consumption of gluten-containing grains to schizophrenia:

• Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2011: Persons with schizophrenia have higher than expected titers of antibodies (7 fold increased prevalence) related to celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.4
• Schizophrenia Research, 2010: Individual with schizophrenia have a novel immune response to gliadin distinct from those with celiac disease (i.e. absence of antibodies to the transglutaminase enzyme and the HLA-DQ2/DQ8 genetic locus of susceptibility.5
• Acta Psychiatra Scandinavica, 2006: A review of the literature found a drastic reduction, if not full remission, of schizophrenic symptoms after initiation of gluten withdrawal has been noted in a variety of studies.6
• Biological Psychiatry, 1984: Only two chronic schizophrenics were found among over 65,000 examined or closely observed adults in remote regions of Papua New Guinea (PNG, 1950-1967) and Malaita, Solomon Islands (1980-1981), and on Yap, Micronesia (1947-1948), who do not consume grains. Researchers noted that when these peoples became partially westernized and consumed wheat, barley beer, and rice, the prevalence reached European levels.7
• Science, 1976: Schizophrenics maintained on a grain-free and milk-free diet challenged with gluten saw interruption of their therapeutic progress. After termination of the gluten challenge, the course of improvement was reinstated.8

New Research Confirms Gliadin-Schizophrenia Link

The latest study to confirm the gluten-schizophrenia link was published this month in the World Journal of Biological Psychiatryand titled, "Elevated gliadin antibody levels in individuals with schizophrenia." Researchers compared the blood work of 950 schizophrenics with 1,000 healthy controls. They discovered that the odds ratio of having anti-gliadin IgG antibodies was 2.13 times higher in schizophrenics, indicating that t the least schizophrenics are more likely to experience an adverse immune response to wheat proteins.

Gliadin is the alcohol soluble complex of proteins found within what is known colloquially as gluten (the term is misleading aswheat technically contains over 23,000 different proteins, not one), and is considered the primary immunotoxic class of proteins in wheat. For instance, in celiac disease, a genetically mediated immune process unfurls where upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue transglutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the small-bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction that results in the destruction of the intestinal villi.

The discovery of antibodies to gliadin in the blood of both celiac disease patients and schizophrenics implies several things:

• The Wheat Protein Gliadin Doesn't Break Down During Digestion: Undigested wheat-derived macromolecules can act as antigens, provoking an antibody-mediated immune response, particularly if they get through the intestinal lining and into the blood. The fact that antibodies to wheat protein gliadin can be found in the blood indicates that it is not being fully broken down into constituent amino acids.
• Wheat Proteins In the Blood Stimulate Auto-Immunity: The presence of gliadin in the blood also indicates intestinal permeability. It turns out that gliadin has been found to up-regulate the protein zonulin in the gut of those either with orwithout celiac disease, which essentially opens "pandora's box" of intestinal permeability, and subsequent autoimmunity. In another essay, we also described the intestinal permeability generating effects of wheat lectin, also known as Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) – [see Opening Pandora's Bread Box]
• Wheat Protein May Cause The Immune System To Attack the Nervous System: Anti-gliadin antibodies appear to cross react with neurological self-structures, which may explain how they contribute to schizophrenia. A study published in 2007 in the Journal of Immunology found that anti-gliadin antibodies bind to neuronal synapsin I, a protein found within nerve terminal of axons, which the study authors believe may explain why gliadin contributes to "neurologic complications such as neuropathy, ataxia, seizures, and neurobehavioral changes."
Another example of anti-gliadin antibodies possibly contributing to the formation of autoantibodies against neurological self-structures is in autism. A 2004 study in Nutritional Neuroscience found that children with autism show antibody elevations against gliadin and cerebellar (brain) proteins simultaneously. In other words, wheat proteins may simulate antibodies that cross-react, resulting in neurological damage. Learn more on the topic by reading our article: "Wheat: A Missing Piece In the Autism Puzzle."

Just a Problem for Schizophrenics? There Is One Surefire Way to Find Out...

A broader question is also raised by this research. Since anti-gliadin antibodies are found in approximately 27 percent of the population, and as high as 57 percent in those suffering from neurological dysfunction of unknown causes, is it then possible that gluten-containing grains are adversely affecting the mental health of the world at large, perhaps mostly on a subclinical basis? 

We actually explored this possibility in greater depth in our essay "The Dark Side of Wheat," focusing on the Roman empire's use of the wheat-based economy as a form of both cultural and biological imperialism.

Certainly we can say that wheat adversely affects the physical health of far more than present day conventional medical estimates which focus on celiac disease and food allergies to wheat. We have indexed over 200 adverse health effects of gluten-containing grains , with 20 adverse "modes of toxicity" described thus far. Interestingly, top on the list is neurotoxicity, with 23 articles describing this effect available to view here: Wheat Neurotoxicity Link.

There are likely far too many variables to ever point to gluten-containing grains as a singular cause of psychiatric problems, malaise, mania, addiction, depression, schizophrenia, etc. However, one thing is sure: Your first-hand experience is as valuable as a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized human trial. And so, if you remove them from your diet, and you feel better, and health conditions, both physical and mental, improve, then there is no better proof than that!

info from Sayer Ji is the founder and director of GreenMedInfo.com and http://seattlewomanmagazine.com