Speaker 1 – Welcome back to the coast live, about 3 million Americans live with the autoimmune disease known as celiac disease, and millions have difficulty tolerating gluten. So loaves of bread and other foods with specific proteins are off the table for them. I know all about that. Dr. Erica Steele from holistic family practice is here today to talk about gluten-free diets. Hey, Dr. Steele, good to see you.
Speaker 2 – Good to see you as well. Good morning to you.
Speaker 1 – Good morning, So National Raising Celiac Disease Awareness Day was yesterday. Explain what Celiac disease is to people.
Speaker 2 – Celiac is an intolerance or an allergy to wheat, wheat gluten. Soy wheat gluten is found in many everyday products such as bread and pasta and sometimes has it. And many packaged foods also have it, crackers and things like that.
Speaker 1 – So why can a gluten-free diet be so important? And so life-changing?
Speaker 2 – a gluten-free diet helps lower inflammation in the body helps to lower histamine responses, all contributing factors to any kind of autoimmune condition.
Speaker 1 – Gotcha. So I know when I realized I had gluten issues, my main points were all in my gut. So what are some symptoms of gluten reactions? I know for celiac, it’s a lot worse.
Speaker 2 – of course, celiac is an allergy; there are sensitivities and intolerances. So some things to look for. I see that little kid; they’ll have rashes on their arms, almost like a chicken arm look to it. You can have redness, itch, gassing bloating, and a gluten baby after you eat. So that’s a classic one.
Speaker 1 – Oh, I call that the food, baby. Yep, I know; I’ve gotten that for a long time; people say, “Oh, are you expecting? No, it’s just my food, baby. So I know all about that. And so you don’t have to be celiac to be gluten sensitive, right?
Speaker 2 – No, actually, I’ve seen a lot of people that if they can’t process B complex as well, and folic acid, they have that MTHFR genetic variant. Raising celiac disease awareness, Those often are gluten sensitive and gluten reactive.
Speaker 1 – So it’s so interesting when you talk about all this stuff because how do you diagnose it? I know this can be a complicated thing.
Speaker 2 – It can be. Well, you know, you can do a salivary MTHFR DNA panel to assess that. You can also look at your Secretory IgA, which will be in an organic acid, a urine profile. There are also many IgG tests you can take, like blood tests. But a lot of times, I find that just eating it and feeling how your body responds is really, you know, very helpful. You can take your pulse before you put it in your mouth; you can also put it in your mouth and then retake your beating; if your pulse goes up more than six, that lets you know that your body’s having some reaction to whatever it is you’re eating.
Speaker 1 – I never knew about the pulse thing and eating gluten-free. I know some people think it’s daunting, but it’s gotten a lot easier over the years.
Speaker 2 – Oh my gosh, it’s so easy. There are so many, like bonza, chickpea portions of pasta, etc. And then you know, even with the bread, the bread has come a long way, and making your own is like some cashew bread recipes Dr. Perlmutter puts out. In addition, he wrote a book called The Grain Brain, which is all about gluten sensitivities and the reaction to the brain. And so there are a lot of excellent resources out there. And now, more than ever, it’s gotten much more accessible.
Speaker 1 – So if you text gluten For more information, what will you learn? And how else can people know more? And how else can you help them?
Speaker 2 – Yeah, so we have an app that we use for education within our practice. Our practice is built on education, accountability, and coaching. And so our app has education on it. So if you’re interested in going gluten-free, please text our office, and we’ll send you the link.
Speaker 1 – All right. Dr. Steele, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Always good to see you. Awesome. Have a fantastic day. You and all the information on the screen visit holistic family practice VA to contact Dr. Steele or call the number right there. Thanks so much again.
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