Feeding your gut bugs may provide relief from celiac disease.
Walk down the isle of your local grocery store and you’re likely to encounter more than a handful of “gluten-free” offerings ranging from cookies, breads, beer, pastas, and even pet food. It’s safe to say that gluten intolerance, or the idea that gluten-free is better, is trending.
Though this trend is not the good kind, new research reveals dietary inputs that improve the balance of good to bad gut bacteria may offer some relief for those suffering from this wicked disease.
First some basics: According to the National Institutes of Health, celiac disease affects several million people in the U.S. alone, with many more going undiagnosed. It causes damage to the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi – the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Without healthy villi, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly, leading to malnutrition, no matter how much food one eats and furthermore, it can be downright painful. Most of us know at least one person that has moved away from foods containing gluten.
New research just published in the May 2010 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology reveals differing intestinal bacteria in celiac patients could influence inflammation to varying degrees and that dietary changes that include probiotics and/or prebiotics (found in some foods and each and every slice of NakedPizza) may help alleviate the severity of celiac disease for some patients.
According to the research, elevated levels of certain less-than-desirable bacteria such as some bacteroides and strains of E. coli trigger inflammation, and since celiac disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the small intestine — a place where lots of bacteria live — more inflammation is exactly what you want to avoid. In science speak, these not-so-good gram-negative bacteria induce higher secretion of Th1-type proinflammatory cytokines, that is, more painful inflammation. On the flip side, health giving bifidobacterium did not cause the same elevation in proinflammatory cytokines. So, if you suffer from celiac disease you want a bacterial population that has less of these bad bugs and more of the good ones.
According to Louis Montaner, D.V.M., M.Sc., D.Phil. Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, “For people with celiac disease, this opens a line of research into new therapies that may be as accessible as a grocer’s shelf.” Translation: eat foods that stimulate the growth of healthy bifidobacterium. Just so happens that each and every slice of NakedPizza — both our traditional and “gluten-free” crusts — contain special prebiotic fiber that is clinically proven to stimulate the growth of bifidobacterium.
Eat well my friends.
love the info! (and love the gluten free pizza! it’s the best i’ve tried!)
as a diagnosed celiac, it worries me about the gluten-free trend without proper diagnosis – i’m afraid america will stop taking celiac disease seriously, and think my gluten free lifestyle is something i can grow out of. but i appreciate you all making gluten free pizza… and it’s great to know that it’s pretty darn healthy!!
(one last note – i would LOVE nutrition info for the gluten free crust; i called my local place, and they said that the calorie count would be no more than the original crust, but i would adore that info specific info.)
It’s posts like this that keep me coming back and checking this site regularly, thanks for the info!
Interesting, and not surprising. We should look at incidence of celiac after surgeries or other cases when modern, super powerful antibiotics zorched all gut bacteria. In this frankly over pasteurized and disinfected world, I could see such a clean slate gut being inoculated with strange/bad bacteria, rather than the ones we evolved with. Maybe a course of kombucha or live yogurt should be part of the recovery regimen for those who have had to use strong antibiotics.
good points.
Interesting, and not surprising. We should look at incidence of celiac after surgeries or other cases when modern, super powerful antibiotics zorched all gut bacteria. In this frankly over pasteurized and disinfected world, I could see such a clean slate gut being inoculated with strange/bad bacteria, rather than the ones we evolved with. Maybe a course of kombucha or live yogurt should be part of the recovery regimen for those who have had to use strong antibiotics.