Imagine being admitted to a psychiatric hospital and accused of being a pathological liar because no matter how carefully you follow the high-carb diet prescribed by your physicians, you continue to lose weight. In the introduction to his book, How Doctors Think, Dr. Jerome Groopman shares the story of a woman who was misdiagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The patient was ready to give up when one last doctor discovered villous atrophy and determined that it was celiac disease—not an eating disorder—that was causing her malnourishment.
Today the Gluten Free RN explores the reasons why celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are often mistaken for anorexia nervosa. She shares the limited research in the field, as well as the symptoms related to malnourishment that may be caused by gluten, including several mental health disorders.
Listen in as Nadine covers the use of PWAG (people who avoid gluten) as a derogatory term and shares her frustration with labels like ‘orthorexia nervosa’ which imply that gluten-sensitive patients are obsessed with healthy food: ‘I avoid gluten like the plague because it is, in fact, the plague for those of us who have celiac disease.’
The use of PWAG as a derogatory term
The new term orthorexia nervosa
The concept of food as medicine
Anecdotal evidence of celiac disease misdiagnosed as anorexia
Why celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are misdiagnosed as eating disorders
The prevalence of celiac disease
How gluten affects a celiac patient
Nadine’s recommended variation of a Paleo diet
The study of celiac disease and eating disorders
The issues associated with malnourishment
The anger and contempt Nadine has experienced as the Gluten Free RN
The mental health issues associated with malnourishment
The effect of gluten on epithelial tissue
The consequences of gluten getting through the blood-brain barrier
The shocking statistics around psychotropic medication in the US
Nadine’s advice for parents of children who miss multiple days of school
The process of a gluten detox
The benefits of maintaining a gluten-free diet
The foods Nadine recommends as part of a super-good, high fat diet
Why Nadine chooses not to eat if there is any risk of gluten contamination in her food
The places where gluten hides
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman, MD
“The Interaction Between Eating Disorders and Celiac Disease: An Exploration of 10 Cases” in the European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
“Orthorexia and Anorexia Nervosa: Two Distinct Phenomena? A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Orthorexic Behaviours in BMC Psychiatry
“Predictors of Orthorexic Behaviours in Patients with Eating Disorders: A Preliminary Study” in BMC Psychiatry
“Eating Disorders and Celiac Disease: A Case Report” in The International Journal of Eating Disorders
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Melodies of the Danube Gluten-Free Cruise with Nadine
Dough Nation: A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism
In his opening talk at the 2017 International Celiac Disease Symposium, celiac expert Dr. Abul Abbas of UC San Francisco said, “We are drowning in data, but thirsting for information.” Though there is still much debate around celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity (even among global experts), the featured ICDS speakers sifted through the numbers to help practitioners interpret what the latest studies can tell us about the negative effects of gluten and how celiac disease presents in populations all over the world.
Today the globetrotting Gluten Free RN is coming to us from Thailand, after attending the International Celiac Disease Symposium in New Delhi, India. Armed with the latest information from the ICDS clinical forum, Nadine covers talks given by Dr. Abbas on gluten and the immunological system, and Dr. Alessio Fasano on the spectrum of gluten-related disorders. She relays information regarding the barriers researchers face in studying autoimmune disease as well as gluten’s negative impact on body tissue, including that of our brain.
Nadine also shares the most up-to-date statistics around the big business that is celiac disease and the increasing prevalence of gluten intolerance in the US and Asia. She discusses the importance of celiac testing in patients with other autoimmune and neurological disorders and the need for a global education campaign. Listen as Nadine educates you about what gluten is, where it hides, what you can do to avoid it, and how to undo the damage and get healthy again!
The challenge of eating gluten-free in India
The highlights of Dr. Abul Abbas’ talk on the immunological system
The importance of the thymus gland
Why the ‘mouse model’ doesn’t work well in the study of celiac disease
The impossibility of in vivo experiments for celiac research
The significance of epithelial barriers in a functioning immune system
The difficulty of studying the dendritic cells
How the immune system recognizes double-stranded RNA (viruses)
Dr. Terry Wahls’ work around the mitochondria
Dr. Alessio Fasano’s presentation
The big business of celiac disease
Who is affected by the gluten protein
How infants exposed to gluten are at an increased risk for developing celiac disease
The value of avoiding gluten exposure for infants
The latest statistics regarding the prevalence of celiac disease
Celiac disease in the Asian population
How the Chinese diet has evolved over time
Other disorders that may indicate undiagnosed celiac disease
Why patients should be tested for celiac disease annually
The new information about a potential connection between Wilson’s and celiac disease
What celiac experts agreed on at ICDS 2017
Gluten Free RN Travel Podcast EP036
Gluten Free Passport Allergy Cards
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Melodies of the Danube Gluten-Free Cruise with Nadine
Dough Nation: A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the history of celiac disease in the US is its absence—from medical textbooks, the vast majority of research studies, and the news—from 1952 through the 1990’s. Why did celiac disease disappear from the healthcare consciousness as well as the public eye?
Today the Gluten Free RN takes a closer look at the story of celiac disease, starting with the first doctor to understand it as a dietary issue back in 1888. She highlights the important progress made by pediatricians Willem Dicke who is credited with identifying gluten as the issue and Sidney Haas who honed the gluten-free diet to exclude specific carbohydrates. Nadine explores the period of time when celiac disease seemingly ‘went dark’ in the United States, discussing the handful of renegade authors and researchers who continued to study the disease despite its absence from health education.
Nadine also explains the resurgence of gluten sensitivity to the public consciousness in the 1990’s, when medical professionals from abroad questioned the claim that there was no celiac disease in the US. She covers our evolving understanding of the symptoms of celiac disease and the woefully inadequate training around gluten in medical and nursing schools. Listen in to find out why the mass screening proposed by the National Institute of Health never materialized and how the for-profit healthcare system impacts celiac patients. Let’s honor the practitioners who dedicated their careers to understanding celiac disease and write our own history through celiac advocacy!
The first doctor to identify celiac disease
The role of Dr. Sidney V. Haas in advancing celiac treatment
The conclusions of a New York Times article from May of 1950
The grains that contain gluten
How Dr. Willem Dicke developed the gluten-free diet
The myth that celiac is a childhood disease
Elaine Gottschall’s work in developing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet
The elimination of celiac disease from medical training
The Paleo diet Nadine suggests for celiac and gluten-sensitive patients
Hilda Cherry Hill’s 1976 book Good Food, Gluten Free
The classical symptoms of celiac disease
The expanded picture of how celiac disease may present
The genes that indicate a predisposition to celiac disease
How recognition of celiac disease resurfaced in the 1990’s
The 2004 NIH Consensus Statement on Celiac Disease
How the US for-profit healthcare system impacts celiac patients
Nadine’s advice for celiac patients around choosing healthcare providers
What has changed since the NIH Consensus Statement in 2004
Dr. Rodney Ford’s role in celiac advocacy
Nadine’s guidance for vegetarians and vegans
The vulnerable populations particularly at risk for celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity
“Celiac Disease: Most Children are Now Cured but Cause is Still Unknown” in The New York Times
Management of Celiac Disease by Sidney Valentine Haas and Merrill Patterson Haas
“Whatever Happened to the Cure for Coeliac Disease? in Nutritional Therapy Today
“The Erie Country Survey of Long-Term Childhood Illness” in the American Journal of Public Health
Good Food, Gluten Free by Hilda Cherry Hills
Dr. Alessio Fasano’s 2003 Celiac Study
2004 NIH Consensus Statement on Celiac Disease
Gluten: ZERO Global by Dr. Rodney Ford
International Celiac Disease Symposium
“Small Intestinal Mucosal Abnormalities in Relatives of Patients with Dermatitis Herpetiformis” in Gut
“Adult Coeliac Disease and Other Disorders Associated with Steatorrhoea” in the British Medical Journal
The University of Chicago: Celiac Disease Facts and Figures
“A History of Coeliac Disease” in Digestive Diseases
“Dermatitis Herpetiformis in Two Patients with Idiopathic Steatorrhoea” in the British Medical Journal
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Melodies of the Danube Gluten-Free Cruise with Nadine
Dough Nation: A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism
According to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, 10% of MS patients also suffer from celiac disease. Studies conducted in Italy and Spain uncovered a significant increased prevalence of celiac disease in first-degree relatives of MS patients, 18% and 32% respectively. Additional research has identified situations in which celiac disease mimicked other neurological disorders such as MS and ALS.
With evidence like that, it is definitely worth it to further explore the relationship between MS and celiac disease. Today, the Gluten Free RN investigates whether MS and celiac disease are similar, related, or perhaps the same thing, as she shares case studies from the literature and her own experience.
Nadine discusses the story of Dr. Terry Wahls, explaining how she was able to resolve her symptoms of MS with a variation of a Paleo diet. She outlines the analogous symptoms of MS and celiac cerebellar ataxia, the neurological damage caused by gluten, and how malabsorption of nutrients caused by intestinal damage can extend to medication. Listen and learn how Nadine and others have resolved symptoms of MS and other neurological disorders on a gluten-free diet!
Nadine’s MS scare
Dr. Terry Wahls’ story
The commonalities between celiac disease and MS
How celiac disease affects the body
The symptoms of celiac cerebellar ataxia
The multi-organ manifestations of celiac disease in the central nervous system
Nadine’s patient who wasn’t responding to MS medication
The 2014 study in Vienna regarding celiac disease and MS
The new evidence around seronegativity in celiac disease
The 2014 Italian study of the genetic overlap between celiac disease and MS
The association between MS and celiac disease as reported by the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center
The genes that indicate a predisposition to celiac disease
The 2013 Iranian case study of a celiac patient diagnosed with MS
How gluten acts as a neurotoxin
The 2007 Oxford case study of celiac disease mimicking ALS
Why patients with neurological symptoms should be tested for celiac disease
Why it is acceptable to adopt a gluten-free diet if your antibody test is negative for celiac disease
The Paleo diet Nadine suggests for celiac and gluten-sensitive patients
The increased prevalence of celiac disease in MS patients revealed in a 2011 study
The fundamentals of MS
How to conduct your own research around celiac disease and neurological disorders
How long it takes to heal on a gluten-free diet
The nutrients a celiac patient is missing that contribute to neurological issues
The autoimmune symptoms Nadine resolved/reversed with a gluten-free diet
Why it’s important for celiac patients to work with educated practitioners who understand functional medicine
The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principle by Terry Wahls MD
“Celiac Disease with Cerebral and Peripheral Nerve Involvement Mimicking Multiple Sclerosis” in the Journal of Medicine and Life
“Celiac Disease in Multiple Sclerosis: A Controversial Issue” in the International Journal of Neurology and Neurotherapy
University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center MS Info
“Multiple Sclerosis or Neurological Manifestations of Celiac Disease” in Advanced Biomedical Research
“A Case of Celiac Disease Mimicking Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” in Nature Clinical Practice Neurology
“Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Multiple Sclerosis” in BMC Neurology
“A Case of Concurrent Multiple Sclerosis and Celiac Disease” in Govaresh
“Neurological Disorders in Adult Celiac Disease” in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
“A Case of Multiple Sclerosis and Celiac Disease” in Case Reports in Neurological Medicine
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Melodies of the Danube Gluten-Free Cruise with Nadine
Dough Nation: A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism
Did you know that it is possible to diagnose celiac disease with a smile?
Damage from gluten starts in the mouth, and today the Gluten Free RN explores the important role dentists can play in identifying undiagnosed celiac disease. She outlines the symptoms of celiac disease that present in the mouth, the follow-up questions dentists should ask when they notice dental enamel defects or aphthous ulcers, and the nature of the tongue as an indicator of overall health.
This episode covers how the plastics in orthodontic retainers might contain gluten and what to do if you are accidentally exposed. Nadine also explains the relationship between fat-soluble vitamins and celiac disease, as well as the nutrient deficiencies a potential celiac patient should test for. You’re never fully dressed without a smile, so listen in to understand how to keep your mouth healthy—and prevent the accumulation of complications from celiac disease with a whole food, gluten-free diet!
How the GI tract functions
How damage from gluten presents
How dentists can play an important role in identifying undiagnosed celiac disease
The symptoms of celiac disease that present in the mouth
How Nadine treats gluten exposure
The grains to look for in personal care products (e.g.: lip balm)
The relationship between fat soluble vitamins and celiac disease
How we tested for celiac disease in children in the early 20th century
Why parents should be tested for celiac disease prior to pregnancy
The fetal development issues that may present if an expectant mother is unable to absorb nutrients
Why Nadine advocates for a mass screening
How gluten in plastics, personal care products can prevent celiac patients from healing
The questions dentists should ask when they notice dental enamel defects, aphthous ulcers
Why we need to get much better at recognizing celiac signs and symptoms
Why Eastern medicine examines the tongue as an indicator of overall health
The genes that indicate a predisposition to celiac disease
Why it is acceptable to adopt a gluten-free diet if your antibody test is negative for celiac disease
The deficiencies a potential celiac patient should test for
Why thrush may be an indicator of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity
Why one negative test for celiac disease doesn’t rule anyone out
The importance of early diagnosis
The Paleo diet Nadine suggests for celiac and gluten-sensitive patients
“An Orthodontic Retainer Preventing Remission in Celiac Disease” in Clinical Pediatrics
“Oral Manifestations of Celiac Disease: A Clinical Guide for Dentists” in the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association
Gluten Free RN Podcast EP027: Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease
“The Association Between Celiac Disease, Dental Enamel Defects, and Aphthous Ulcers in a United States Cohort” in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology
“Small-Bowel Changes in Recurrent Ulceration of the Mouth” in Hepatogastroenterology
“Oral Signs and HLA-DQB1*02 Haploytypes in the Celiac Paediatric Patient: A Preliminary Study” in Autoimmune Diseases
“The Oral Manifestations of Celiac Disease: Information for the Pediatric Dentist” in Pediatric Dentistry
“Oral Aphthous Ulcers and Dental Enamel Defects in Children with Coeliac Disease” in Acta Paediatrica
“Oral and Dental Manifestations of Celiac Disease” in the New York State Dental Journal
“Jejunal Mucosal Abnormalities in Patients with Recurrent Aphthous Ulceration” in The British Medical Journal
“Dental Enamel Defects in Adult Coeliac Disease” in the European Journal of Internal Medicine
“Screening for Celiac Disease in Children with Dental Enamel Defects” in ISRN Pediatrics
“Celiac Disease Associated with Recurrent Aphthae” in Gut
“Importance of Oral Signs in the Diagnosis of Atypical Forms of Celiac Disease” in Recenti Progressi in Medicina
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Melodies of the Danube Gluten-Free Cruise with Nadine
Dough Nation: A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism