Posted on 05/04/2009 7:31:49 PM PDT by MetaThought
Scottish scientists believe that gluten-rich foods could help trigger schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the condition.
The researchers at the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) are looking at the links between schizophrenia and diabetes.
The two studies undertaken by geneticist Dr Jun Wei and his team in Inverness are to be funded by £300,000 from the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain.
The first project is to explore the links between schizophrenia and diabetes, while the second project focuses on the role of gluten in schizophrenia and diabetes.
Gluten is the protein commonly found in rye, wheat and barley, and it is already recognised as a trigger for serious diseases related to the gut, most notably coeliac disease.
It is now emerging that gluten might also be associated with other auto-immune diseases including schizophrenia and type 1 diabetes.
Professor Ian Megson, head of the UHI Department of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Science, said in a statement: "The reason that gluten might provide a link between these apparently quite different diseases is that, in people with a particular genetic make-up that results in their bodies' inability to handle gluten in the normal way, the immune system becomes unusually active.
"In this way, cells in the blood that are designed to combat infections begin to target healthy tissue, which can lead to impaired function of affected organs (gut, brain or pancreas) and disease."
He added: "This research is at an early stage, but if the theory is correct and those at risk are identified very early in life, a simple change in diet might prevent these diseases developing in some individuals."
Dr Wei said: "An individual's inherited genes, together with factors from the environment in which they have lived, are now considered to be central to development of both schizophrenia and diabetes.
"Gluten is one such environmental factor. More than 30% of schizophrenia sufferers have high levels of antibodies against wheat gluten in their body so a gluten-free diet might help to reduce the symptoms of this mental condition.
"We are also investigating if gluten acts as a trigger for schizophrenia in people who have a genetic predisposition to it."
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Thanks to the internet you can learn that this is a dangerous condition in just under 10 minutes.
There are already 12 different alleles credited with causing the condition referred to as Celiac Disease.
Post Dark Ages European civilization owes its rise directly to the potato.
Rice, corn and potato do not contain wheat gluten.
BY THE WAY the world's most ancient still celebrated custom is Passover. "Kosher for Passover" prohibits the use of Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats and I believe Rice ~ grains known to the ancients. In a number of ways the success of Western Civilization has depended on the "Kosher for Passover" standard.
Yes, there’s no wheat gluten in rice, but they flavor rice beers with malted barley (aka “malt”), and barley has plenty of wheat gluten.
The potato co-existed with the gluten-laden diet, so bringing that up is meaningless in this discussion, although I will concede that rice and corn were the staple foods of people in the Far East and the Americas, respectively.
ping
Further, Many, if not most of the greatest minds in the West were, as is easily seen in retrospect, gluten intolerant.
I also look to the advanced civilizations of the Greeks and the Romans, which were based on gluten-rich grains, and berift of potatoes.
I'm not familiar with lists of gluten-intolerant famous and/or prominent individuals, perhaps you have a source you can direct me to.
#1 is obviously Charles Darwin.
I didn't know that about him, perhaps there is a list of the gluten-intolerant, I'd like to see who's not on there.
I have been off gluten for over 6 months. I would never ever touch another piece of bread again, unless there were extenuating circumstances. My mind is 100% more clear (considering I have had 3 strokes) and I lost every gram of weight I had piled on in the last 2 yrs. Everyone makes fun of my “meat in a bowl” but I love it! I wish I could get my son on it, but he loves pizza.
Gluten-free pizza isn’t hard to make, especially since the dough isn’t as dependent on gluten for rising as it is for a loaf of bread. Do a Google search for gluten-free pizza dough and you’ll find plenty of recipes or even pizza dough mixes.
I also just recently discovered the Allergy Free Foods company; I haven’t ordered from them, but someone I know has, and was impressed with their products:
http://www.allergyfreefoods.com
I'd be really interested in seeing a list of these.
One of the arguments some have against gluten being so "evil" is that the Bible refers so often to the "bread of life" and to wheat and barley quite frequently. I'm curious what your take is on that.
One of my answers to such an argument is that wheat has been hybridized over the years to have more gluten than it did in its original form, thus causing so many health problems, and that our American diet contains far more gluten than the Israelites' diet did.
At the same time rye and barley haven't been much chainged since Biblical times and are just as troublesome.
Regarding "bread of life", that's obviously CORNBREAD or RICE CAKES eh.
Thank you. My daughter is in the process of being diagnosed as having celiac disease now.
Isn’t corn also prohibited during Passover?
I thought that was the reason Kosher soft drinks were produced during the season.
Cane sugar used instead of corn syrup.
The folks who provide commentaries on the question say it arises out of the question of FERMENTATION, not the particular grains involved.
If FERMENTATION is the only issue, then all starch sources, which would include potatoes, carrots, rutabegas, etc. should be banned ~ which they are not.
If the issue concerns the classical grains as understood by the Hebrews in the time of Moses, then you'd want to ban wheat, rye, barley, oats and rice.
I've bothered looking up such commentaries because I wanted to know much more about what is called "Kosher for Passover". It had simply escaped me previously, even when told about it by a rabbi, that "Kosher for Passover" doesn't mean simply "made of unleavened wheat and wheat byproducts".
Medically, low grade celiac disease is probably under diagnosed.
On the other hand, has anyone checked about Asians and others who don’t eat wheat?
Three days ago we decided to go on a little diet..just lose five to ten pounds before we go on vacation. We cut out all breads and starches and stuff.
Today, he said he feels good for the first time in years...we didn't put two and two together. I started doing some research online and one of the symptoms of gluten allergy can be these skin irritations. And the descriptions are not generic..they described his outbreaks exactly.
I can't tell you what a relief that this may POSSIBLY be it. We don't know yet, but we plan to go gluten free for a month and see what happens. I'm very excited.
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