The Link Between Gluten and Schizophrenia

Fascinating article from the BBC on the link between gluten and schizophrenia.
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Researchers believe gluten-rich foods could help trigger schizophrenia in people with a genetic predisposition to the mental condition.

The protein is found in cereal grains which are used to make bread and pasta. Scientists at Inverness-based UHI have been studying the role of gluten in schizophrenia and diabetes and also links between the two illnesses.

The researchers said sufferers' bodies were unable to handle gluten resulting in damage to healthy tissue.

Gene Profile Breakthrough Helps to Study Probiotic Benefits

Very interesting article from NutraIngredients.com on Probiotic benefits and a gene profile breakthrough that helps to study them.

Dutch researchers have shown that probiotic bacteria adapt to our intestines, results that will deepen our understanding of how probiotics impact health.

Probiotic bacteria exhibited molecular changes, particularly on the cell surface, which are bound to impact on gene expression and function of the human intestine, according to findings published in The ISME Journal.

“These results identify the niche-specific adaptations of a dietary microorganism to the intestinal ecosystem and provide novel targets for molecular analysis of microbial–host interactions which affect human health,” wrote the researchers, led by Prof Michiel Kleerebezem from NIZO Food Research.

There are major changes in cell surface properties, said Prof Kleerebezem, and the new study showed that the form of the probiotic perceived by the intestinal mucosa may not be the same as the form of the probiotic added to the food product. The bacteria adapt to the gastrointestinal conditions.

Fatigue, Thyroid Function and Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a serious condition found in people with and without food allergies. However, people with food allergies, particularly those with celiac disease (a gluten allergy), frequently suffer from hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism causes fatigue and weight gain as well as other problems, and is often overlooked and misdiagnosed due to complexities in thyroid testing and symptoms which may overlap or contradict the symptoms of food allergies. These issues are discussed in this article.

What Is the Thyroid Gland?

The thyroid gland sits in the neck in front of and on both sides of the trachea and secretes thyroid hormones. These hormones regulate metabolism and thus affect many aspects of health.

More Questions...and More Answers...

Question:

I am a new celiac disease patient am I am trying to make my way in the
 gluten free diet. What do you look for in the label on salad dressing? I found
 two that say "gluten free" on the label, but there is about 100 bottles on the
 shelf to look through. Is it the vinegar in the dressing? HELP.

Question and Answer with Dr. Wangen

Question:

My daughter and I have some extreme allergies. We have actual allergies to foods and animals, Oral Allergy, hayfever allergies. Antihistamines don't make a difference. To get any relief we have to avoid the current allergen completely- which even attending school because of dander on folks clothes has become an issue.

Interesting though that my daughters allergies seem to fade in and out over the years. Even her skin testing is erratic. I understand she can "outgrow" them, but after a year or 2 of total tolerance she will suddenly have a reaction. And, she continues to develop new reactions to items she has never reacted to before.

Gluten-Free Friday Recipe - Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Another wonderful recipe from Jules Gluten Free! Please click HERE to visit her website.

The absolutely easiest way to make these awesome cookies is to use my new Jules Gluten Free™ Cookie Mix. Follow the quick directions, refrigerate or freeze the dough until cold, make the cookies to the size you like for your sandwiches, let them cool and you're ready to add the ice cream for the finishing touch!

If you prefer to start from scratch, here's the hands-down best homemade cookie recipe ever. That's right -- ever.

About: Parasites

How do you get parasites?

You can only get parasites if you travel to a third world country, right? Or if you like to spend time in the outdoors and you drink water straight from a stream or a lake, then you can get parasites, right?

Of course, it’s a lot more likely that you’ll pick up parasites if you do those things. But it is a common misconception that you have to do those things to get parasites.

I’ve seen patients who don’t travel, haven’t left the state much less the country, and they have parasites. Oh, and they don’t drink untreated water either.

So where did they pick up parasites?

Parasites are great hitchhikers. If you don’t go to them, they might come to you. Most parasites, like bacteria, are microscopic. You can’t see them with the naked eye, so you aren’t going to see them if they are around.

Good Science vs. Not-So-Good Science

A recent news item republished in the American College of Gastroenterology’s “Digestive Health Smartbrief” provides us with an opportunity to examine the difference between good conclusions and bad conclusions in science.

The article was headlined: “Study: No link between allergies, constipation in kids”. This study was done this year (2009) on a group of children with chronic constipation.

2,068 children aged 6 months to 6 years were evaluated to determine if they had chronic constipation. 69 children qualified. These children were then tested for cow’s milk (dairy) food allergies by measuring IgE antibodies in the blood and/or doing skin-prick tests.

Eleven children were found to not respond to laxatives (it didn’t relieve their constipation) and only 3 of these had positive tests for a dairy allergy. These 11 children were put on a 4-week dairy-free diet and none improved. The proportion of children with positive dairy allergy test results was approximately equal in the group with chronic constipation and the control group.

A Greeting from Dr. Stephen Wangen

ABC News: Can Writing Help Your IBS?

We came across this article today and wanted to share it. Feel free to add your comments...!

The below excerpt from ABC News and Reuters Health:

NEW YORK - Jotting down your deepest thoughts and emotions might improve your symptoms if you're one of the 15 percent of Americans with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers say.

Their study is the first to test so-called "expressive writing" in people with IBS, and the results are still very preliminary.

However, they support with earlier research showing that this particular type of writing, in which participants are encouraged to "really let go" and get to the bottom of their feelings, can be beneficial for some.

The exercise has helped people with depression, for instance, as well as rheumatoid arthritis , chronic pain, high blood pressure and AIDS, the authors of the new study note in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The Role of Intestinal Microbiota in IBS

The following study comes from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The goal of the NCBI is to advance science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information.

From NCBI:

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic abdominal symptom complex that is heterogeneous (mixed) in terms of its clinical presentation and underlying pathophysiology and pathogenesis. It is now established that enteric infection can trigger the syndrome in at least a subset of patients. In addition, there is growing evidence of low grade inflammation and immune activation in the distal bowel of some IBS patients.

These observations now prompt the question as to what maintains gut dysfunction in these patients. The intestinal microbiota influences a broad array of host organs that include the gut and the brain, and is an important determinant of normal function in these systems.

National Food Producers Specializing in Dairy-Free Products

In continuing with today's theme of providing information on food producers specializing allergy-sensitive products, we bring you our dairy-free list.

Like the previous post, this information comes from the Innate Health Foundation Wiki site (INHWiki.org). Please feel free to contribute to the INHWiki as it is designed to be a resource for us all.

Dairy products and the waste products from producing them are very inexpensive and as a result are used in all kinds of processed foods. Whey powder, casein, milk solids, and various other dairy products can be found in everything from bread, to soup, to mixed nuts.

National Food Producers Specializing in Allergen-Free Foods

Here is a brief list of national, specialized food producers that specialize in making foods that are free of common allergens.

These are companies that have taken big steps, like dedicated gluten-free factories or constant batch testing, to ensure that the products they provide are safe for the intended consumer.

This information comes from the Innate Health Foundation Wiki site (INHWiki.org)

IHFWiki was created to enable better sharing of information that supports the food allergy/intolerance community about restaurants and food producers, etc. It is funded by donations.

Please support the work of the Innate Health Foundation, including this wiki, by donating.

Tips for Dining Away From Home

In keeping with our "Gluten Intolerance Group" theme for the day, we wanted to highlight one more article. The GIG has a great section on tips for dining away from home...

Tips for Dining Away From Home

1. Selection of eating establishment.

Your success at gluten-free dining will be determined by a number of factors, including the type of restaurant you choose.

What is Dermatitis Herpetiformis and How Does It Relate to Gluten Allergies?

The following article is from the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (GIG).

The GIG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by private donations including the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way Designated Giving, Employer Matching Funds; proceeds from memberships, the sale of products and our educational resources. They rely on your contributions, which are tax deductible. 85% or more of our revenue is used to support GIG programs.

From Gluten.net:

Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a chronic disease of the skin marked by groups of watery, itchy blisters that may resemble pimples or blisters. The ingestion of gluten (from wheat, rye, and barley) triggers an immune system response that deposits a substance, lgA (Immunoglobulin A), under the top layer of skin. IgA is present in affected as well as unaffected skin. DH is a hereditary autoimmune gluten intolerance disease linked with celiac disease. If you have DH, you always have gluten intolerance. With DH, the primary lesion is on the skin, whereas with celiac disease the lesions are in the small intestine. The degree of damage to the small intestine is often less severe or more patchy than those with celiac disease. Both diseases are permanent and symptoms/damage will occur after consuming gluten.

Gluten-Free Friday Recipe - A Gluten-Free Flour!

The following excerpt comes from BrandonSun.com:

Wendy Turnbull, a Calgary-based celiac, has developed, through years of testing, a recipe for a gluten-free flour which she calls GEMS.

It’s a carefully selected mix of whole-grain flours which enables celiacs to bake bread that slices without crumbling and baked goodies which stay remarkably fresh and moist.

Turnbull has taken her breakthrough to another level with her book “Gems of Gluten-Free Baking” (Whitecap, $29.95, paperback).

“I have always loved cooking and the challenge of improving gluten-free baking was my goal,” the 63-year-old said in an interview.
She began using brown rice flour for all her baking. Then Turnbull moved on to get to know other nutrient-rich gluten-free flours such as amaranth, buckwheat, chickpea and soy — in fact, 13 flours in total.

Food allergy mediated by IgG antibodies associated with migraine in adults.

The following study comes from The National Center for Biotechnology Information. The NCBI's mission is to advance science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information.

As you are most likely aware, there is no shortage of information on IBS on the web. However, there is a shortage of accurate, researched, helpful information. So from time to time, we like to highlight studies from internationally recognized organizations in the hopes that it will help you better understand IBS.

From the NCBI:

Did You Know? A Few Facts About IBS.

Irritable bowel syndrome affects approximately 10-15% of the European population and up to 70% of individuals with IBS may not be formally diagnosed.
(Quigley et. al. 2006)

Patients with IBS cost a average $1300 more per year than non-IBS patients.
(Levy et. al. 2001)

IBS results in more than $10 billion in direct costs (eg, office visits, medications) and $20 billion in indirect costs (eg, through work absenteeism and reduced productivity) each year.
(Foxx-Orenstein A. 2006)

Approximately 12% of all primary care doctor visits are IBS related, making IBS one of the top 10 reasons people go to the doctor. (Cash 2005)

Roughly 30% of all visits to a gastroenterologist are IBS related, making it the number one reason people see a gastroenterologist.
(Cash 2005)

IBS is the leading cause of missed work days in the US (second only to the common cold).
(Cash 2005)

IBS patients are more likely than others to have their gall bladder removed unnecessarily and with no positive effect on their IBS.
(Corazziari et. al. 2008)

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Image used with permission by Stock.xchng.com
This information was originally posted on the IBS Treatment Center's website. Click HERE to visit.

The Vitamin & Mineral Panel

Vitamins and minerals play an important role in nearly every facet of our health. Knowing exactly what vitamins and minerals your body is deficient in allows you to give it exactly what it needs. This can make a world of difference in the effectiveness of taking supplements. We are given lots of generic recommendations for taking them, but we are never offered the opportunity to test their actual levels. Now you can do just that.

The Vitamin and Mineral Panel is a blood test and includes the following nutrients:

* A
* B1 (Thiamin)
* B2 (Riboflavin)
* B6 (Pyridoxine)
* B12
* Folate (folic acid)
* C
* D
* E
* Ferritin (Iron)
* Zinc

For more information on Vitamin and Mineral testing, please contact the IBS Treatment Center by clicking HERE.
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Image used with permission from Stock.Xchng.com
This information originally posted on the IBS Treatment Center

Testing for IBS Triggers

As a follow up to yesterday's article discussing IgG and IgA food allergy testing, we wanted to show what exactly we test for in our various Food Allergy Panels.

The Standard Food Allergy Panel - 96 foods

Dairy
Cow's milk, whey, casein, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, goat's milk.

Meat and Poultry
Beef, chicken, lamb, pork, chicken, eggs white (chicken), egg yolk (chicken), turkey.

Grains
Amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, gliadin (wheat), gluten (wheat), oat, rice, rye, spelt, whole wheat.

Patient Testimonials from The IBS Treatment Center

USBioTek: 'Research Links Food-specific IgG Antibodies to Low Grade Inflammation

The following excerpt is from USBioTek's monthly newsletter.

USBioTek specializes in lab testing to assist in identifying inflammation in the body, nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, to environmental toxicities, food allergies and sensitivities and more. Additional information on USBioTek can be found HERE.

From USBioTek

Food-specific Antibodies:

A study involving 30 obese aod 30 normal weight children examined the relationship for significance between specific-lgG antibodies to food antigens, markers of systemic inflammation, and the development of early atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid artery (Wilders-Truschnig, Mangge, Lieners, Gruber, Mayer, &Marz, 2008).

The authors proposed that food-specific IgG antibodies are tightly associated with low grade systemic inflammation and thus pathogenically involved in the development of obesity and atherosclerosis.

The obese children showed significantly higher food-specific IgG antibody levels, measured via enzyme linked immunsorbent assay (ELISA), compared to the normal weight children. A positive correlation was found between anti-food IgG and BMI-SDS, a calculated age and gender-specific standard deviation score of the body mass index.

Why Generic Dietary Changes and Elimination Diets Rarely Work

If you've done much reading about IBS diets, then you've seen advice urging you to increase fiber if you're constipated, increase fiber if you have diarrhea, cut back on sugar, drink more water, avoid lactose, avoid dairy, avoid bread, avoid red meat, cut back on yeast, reduce spicy foods, cut back on carbonated drinks and artificial sweeteners, eliminate chocolate, eliminate caffeine, eliminate alcohol, eat smaller meals, and so on and so on. You may be wondering if you can ever eat again without triggering your symptoms.

The problem with this approach is that different foods trigger IBS in different people, and many foods can potentially trigger IBS symptoms - far more than in the list mentioned. Therefore the best diet for you may not be the best one for someone else. Certainly some people have been helped by one of the recommendations above, but most people have not.

Why It's Difficult to Detect Your Own Food Allergies

One major obstacle to figuring out which foods are problematic is that, even on an elimination diet, you may not have truly eliminated all of your allergenic foods.

Assumptions are often made about which foods are allergenic and which foods are not. These assumptions are often wrong. Even on an elimination diet you may still be eating something that will trigger your IBS, even if you are eating foods that you normally don't eat.

In order to solve your IBS, you may need to stay away from entire food groups, not just one or two foods.

Food groups are much more difficult to avoid than you might think. One food group that commonly causes problems for IBS sufferers is dairy. Dairy is not just milk. Dairy includes cheese, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, ice cream, and yogurt. It's found in many baked goods such as muffins, breads, and cookies, as well as in many cream soups, some salad dressings, and milk chocolate. Coffee and lattes are another common source of dairy. Even margarine contains dairy. The list goes on and on.

Causes of IBS

The cause of IBS varies from person to person, which is what makes irritable bowel syndrome and the symptoms of diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating and chronic abdominal pain so difficult for most doctors to treat. However, through proper testing you will be able to identify the exact cause or causes of your symptoms and live a life free of digestive problems.

There are several hundred potential causes of IBS, but most cases result from issues in the following two major categories:

Food Allergies and Intolerance

Most people who suffer from IBS are suffering at least in part because of an allergic reaction to one or more foods. If you're like most people, you're probably thinking, "Not me, I don't have a food allergy." Most people think they have a pretty good understanding of food allergies. You may know someone who has one and think, "My problem isn't like theirs." Or you may think that food allergies normally result in hives, a rash, or some kind of medical emergency. But even if you've already had food allergy testing, chances are it wasn't very helpful.

Friday's Gluten-Free Recipe - Pork Casserole!

One of our staff members cooked this last week and got good reviews from the family!

Quick Pork Casserole/Stew

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds of pork sirloin or pork shoulder rib (boneless)
4-6 large organic yukon gold potatoes
2-3 large carrots
1 small yellow onion
2 stalks organic celery (non-organic celery is often highly contaminated with pesticides)
Imagine Brand Creamy Portobello Mushroom soup (gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, sugar-free. Contains Soy).

Directions:

In a glass casserole dish made for microwave use, first microwave the potatoes until they are cooked, then peel the skins (fingers work, but be careful - they are hot, OK to rinse in cool water for a second) and set aside.

Peel and cut up the carrots, onion and celery into coarse chunks. Cut the pork into large handful-sized chunks. Microwave the cut veggies and pork until the pork has an internal temp of 170 degrees farenheit in the thickest part - this is important: use a good thermometer.

Now set the veggies and pork aside and cut the potatoes in half to make the halves as thin as possible and layer in the bottom of the casserole, then return the veggies and pork and cover with the creamy portobello mushroom soup. Microwave until hot then set aside for a few minutes to let the flavors mingle.

Rewarm if needed.
Serves 4-6 people.

For a list of the fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated with pesticides when not certified organic, click on this link to FoodNews.org

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Image thanks to CyclingCook on Blogspot

IBS and the Gulf War

Barbara Bradley Bolen, Ph.D. highlights a very topical issue regarding American troops dealing with IBS and other "ill defined" diseases.

From About.com:

James Bunker, the President of The National Gulf War Resource Center, Inc. (NGWRC) has posted a discussion on the difficulties Gulf War veterans are experiencing in terms of compensation for Gulf War illness:

Will the VA Ever Get it Right?

Keep in mind that many Gulf War veterans have found themselves dealing with IBS following their military service in the Gulf region. It is heartbreaking to read that veterans are being denied compensation due to the fact that their symptoms are viewed as "ill-defined". Sound familiar?

Reviewing the 'Rome Criteria for IBS'

You might be surprised that diagnosing IBS is something we don't really do at the IBS Treatment Center. Why? Well let's take a look at the diagnostic criteria:

Rome Criteria for IBS

Dr. Wangen on KUOW's "Weekday"

Great show yesterday on KUOW-NPR's "Weekday".

Roughly five percent of Americans have a gluten intolerance. This means that eating wheat, rye and barley can cause tiredness, depression and serious digestive problems. Are the numbers of people with gluten intolerance and celiac disease rising? Why is it so hard to diagnose gluten intolerance? What happens to the body when you have celiac disease? We'll talk to some experts and explore the very tasty world of gluten–free eating.

Guests:

Shauna James Ahern writes the blog, Gluten Free Girl, and is the author of "Gluten–Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back ... And How You Can Too." She has celiac disease.

Dr. Stephen Wangen is a physician specializing in digestive disorders and food allergies. He is the author of "The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solution" and "Healthier Without Wheat: A New Understanding of Wheat Allergies, Celiac Disease, and Non–Celiac Gluten Intolerance." He runs the IBS Treatment center in Seattle and has IBS, gluten intolerance and a dairy allergy himself.
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Image thanks to KUOW

Finding IBS Solutions That Work

From RemediesforIrritableBowelSyndrome.com:

Finding Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) solutions that work is not easy, even though western medical culture appears to use the term “IBS” as a general holdall for any digestive tract problem that cannot be immediately diagnosed.

The condition manifests itself at any age, in males and females, most commonly as mild or severe abdominal pain, with or without a bloated abdomen feeling, often accompanied by alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation. In diagnosing this condition today it is recognised that there are psychological and medical factors to be considered, whereas for many years, Irritable Bowel Syndrome solutions were determined by considering only the so-called “brain-gut” link, and ignoring lifestyle in general.

There are a number of self-help Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) solutions that may well reduce, or even cure, the condition. However, the symptoms may also indicate other underlying medical conditions, so a visit to the doctor is recommended. Natural remedial actions are recommended before considering over the counter medications that may give temporary relief but ignore the long-term underlying problem.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Stress

It is recognised that psychological factors contribute to bowel disorders, and stress is the number one condition that affects health and plays a part in IBS. This stress may include anxiety over job loss, divorce, family death, insolvency, existing health problems, fears of examinations and even passing the driving test. Relaxation and stress management techniques will enable identification of a particular stress source and then removing it from the equation will go far in relieving IBS. Exercise is a tremendous way of reducing the stress in life apart from helping to keep daily bowel movements regular.

In Review: Testing for IBS Triggers

Because IBS has been conventionally defined not by what it is, but by what it is not, successfully discovering its cause has been impossible, because the cause was thought to be unknown. It's really been nothing more than a guessing game, and you get to be the guinea pig. Fortunately that has now all changed.

Now we can define the cause of your IBS, and therefore treat it. IBS symptoms are almost always caused by either food allergies, bacterial imbalances, yeast, or parasites. If you want to learn more about these topics and how they relate to IBS, then this website is for you. You may also refer to the book, The Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solution.

Two kinds of tests are recommended – food allergy testing, which is a blood test; and testing for bacteria, yeast, and parasites, which is done by stool testing. Problems in any of these areas can alone cause IBS, but most people who suffer from IBS have a combination of both a food allergy and a bacterial imbalance.

Dr. Wangen on KUOW 94.9FM Seattle - Tomorrow!

Tune in tomorrow to hear Dr. Wangen and Shauna Ahern (Gluten-Free Girl) as special guests of Marcie Sillman on KUOW's popular "Weekday" radio show.

Listen in on June 9th at 9AM to KUOW 94.9FM. The show is also online, so you can listen live, or podcast, or listen to an archive after the show airs at Weekday's website

(http://kuow.org/program.php? current=WK1).

This is a great chance for those from out-of-town to hear Dr. Wangen speak.

Digestion Basics Continued - What is Good Digestion?

Digestion should be the natural process of an exquisitely complex system that converts food into the materials needed for life: vitamins, minerals, fats, amino acids (proteins), and sugars (carbohydrates).

From the average person's point of view, it is a relatively easy, even unremarkable process, something you take for granted. But from a medical viewpoint it is truly fascinating.

A lot happens between the time you eat a piece of food and the time the waste products leave your body. Most people are concerned only with the two parts of the digestive system that require some active participation on their part - the food going in and the waste coming out. The steps between these two poles are involuntary, and you probably don't pay a lot of attention to them, or need to, as long as things are working well.

Elimination itself is fairly straightforward. Eating causes the colon to contract, beginning the process of peristalsis: contraction followed by relaxation, over and over again along the tube, moving things down to the exit. Between thirty to sixty minutes after eating (depending on various factors, such as how much was in the intestinal tract to begin with), a person will normally feel the urge to have a bowel movement.

Probiotic Blend Reduces IBS Symptoms in Clinical Study

Not all probiotic (acidophilus and bifidobacterium) products are not created equal.

It is up to you to confirm that the probiotics you purchase contain the level of good bacteria indicated, and that they are free of any food allergens, including dairy, wheat, gluten, corn, egg, soy, nuts, or shellfish, unless otherwise stated.

It's also important to ensure that all products are freeze dried and therefore may be kept un-refrigerated for up to 3 months and they will still maintain their stated levels of bacteria.

Beware that many other probiotic products on the market contain little if any effective bacteria. (Click HERE to view available probiotics from The IBS Treatment Center.)

InsidersHealth.com just issued the following summary of a recent Mayo Clinic study regarding the use of probiotics in treating IBS related illnesses. While this information is not necessarily new, it serves as a reminder of steps that we can take to help give our body the ammunition that it needs.

From InsidersHealth.com:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most unsettling syndromes that you may deal with on a daily basis. For many years there have been very few options that truly worked for helping minimize the symptoms. Initially, people went for diets low in fiber. The problem with that is that fiber is a very important part of a daily diet plan and not having any will create an entirely separate set of problems. However, new studies have been done on how you can use probiotic supplements to reduce the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Statistical facts on IBS

• 20 to 30 percent of all people have some degree of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• 30 to 50 percent of all referrals to gastroenterologists end up being linked to IBS to some degree.
• Western civilizations have a higher rate of women who develop IBS. That rate is 2-3 times higher than in other cultures.

Some of the most common causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Digestion Basics Continued - Gas & Bloating

One of the by-products of the breaking down of food is gas. Bacteria and digestion create some gas, which collects into bubbles and is expelled as flatulence. This is normal. However, if you are producing so much gas that it affects your social activity, or if the gas is especially odorous, then your body is not breaking down food properly. Excess gas can also cause bloating and often abdominal pain. The conditions most likely to cause excess gas and bloating are food allergy or an imbalance in the bacteria in your digestive tract.

The IBS Treatment Center offers specialized testing to determine what is causing your excess gas, bloating, and/or abdmonial pain. Our expertise in both testing and treatment enable us to help out patients discover and treat the condition or conditions that are causing their symptoms. The end result is that our patients find a solution.

For more information on the causes of these and other IBS symptoms Click HERE.
Image thanks to Princeton.edu

FDA Issues Warning on Contaminated IV Antibiotics

The manufacture of drugs and medicines, as well as of supplements is competitive and challenging. Doctors and patients need to be vigilant and careful in what they choose to put in their body.

Hopefully improved monitoring and testing can help prevent these kinds of problems...

From MarketWatch.com:

The Food and Drug Administration has warned doctors and hospitals not to use intravenous antibiotics and an anti-nausea made by Claris Lifesciences because the products are contaminated.

The drugs affected are the antibiotics metronidazole and ciprofloxacin and ondansetron, a drug used to prevent nausea and vomiting caused by surgery and chemotherapy.

Gluten Free Friday Recipe

Thanks to JulesGlutenFree.com for another great recipe!

Those who may enjoy traditional dairy-full cheesecakes may not be able to appreciate the void left in the lives of those who cannot partake of this cow's milk creamy delicious dessert, so often the conduit for heavenly sauces, berries and other sinful unmentionables (ok, I'll mention them: chocolate and peanut butter!). For those in the latter camp, I offer you a safe but sweet soy alternative just begging to be smothered in your favorite accompaniments!

A bonus recipe for graham crackers and a graham cracker crust round out this week's recipe newsletter. Be sure to print those recipes for later use - they'll come in handy for all those yummy summer pies!

Talking to Your Doctor About Other Options

The following excerpt was originally posted on Trisha Torrey's Patient Empowerment page on About.com.

With alternative and complementary medicine, also called CAM or Eastern medicine, becoming more popular, those of us in the Western hemisphere find ourselves wanting to integrate it more and more with the conventional care our doctors are providing.

Some medical professionals have begun to integrate the two approaches to medicine. They make it known that they run an integrative practice, meaning they choose the best from both conventional and CAM approaches to medicine.

Other doctors and providers want nothing to do with complementary or alternative medicine. They don't understand it, and they don't take the time to learn about it. They are often skeptical of its possibilities and believe evidence does not exist to prove that CAM therapies are useful to their patients.

But this frustrates many patients who would like to at least discuss alternative approaches with their doctors. With or without the discussion, many of those frustrated patients try those therapies anyway. They just don’t tell their doctors.

Digestion Basics: Constipation

The two major factors for defining constipation are the frequency of bowel movements and their firmness.

One sign that your digestive system is functioning optimally is that you have at least one bowel movement per day.

However, bowel movements that are difficult to pass, very firm, or made up of small rabbit-like pellets qualify as constipation, even if they occur every day. Other symptoms related to constipation can include bloating, distension, abdominal pain, or a sense of incomplete emptying.

IBS Disability Appeal

Interesting story from Barbara Bradley Bolen, Ph.D. on About.com:

It may be reassuring to learn that the United States Court of Appeals recognizes the seriousness of an IBS diagnosis. The history of the case, as explained in the decision posted on the web site Leagle.com, is a prime example of the sad fact that misunderstandings about IBS continue to abound.

According to the decision, a woman named Sandra L. Raduc, appealed the Commissioner of Social Security's denial of her application for disability benefits. The case was reviewed by the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. The appeals court looked at a variety of factors regarding Ms. Raduc's ability to work. As for the IBS part, the arguments of the administrative law judge who denied Ms. Raduc's application will make you want to shake your fists in frustration. The judge reportedly dismissed IBS as a limiting factor due to the fact that colonoscopies and endoscopies showed no findings. ARRGH! In effect, the judge was denying the existence of functional disorders. Luckily, the appeals court was apparently better informed and recognized that those medical tests were used as a means to rule out other possible causes for Ms. Raduc's GI symptoms.

Due to the appeals court concern that the law judge did not adequately consider the effect of Ms. Raduc's IBS on her ability to work, the decision to deny benefits was reversed. The case will return to the Social Security Commission for additional hearings.

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Original article and more on About.com by clicking HERE
Image thanks to FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Role of the Immune System in the Digestive Tract

The huge surface area of your digestive tube must be protected against injury from bad bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other toxins that may get into the digestive system with food or by any number of other routes.

The immune system is critically important in helping the intestines respond to these challenges. Possibly the greatest challenge to the digestive tract's immune system is to correctly tell the difference between what is bad (such as viruses and bad bacteria) and what is good (such as nutrients and good bacteria).

Your immune system must determine whether or not to develop a tolerance to everything you put into your mouth. Whenever you try a new food, it must decide, "Do I like this or do I attack and kill it?" You are always ingesting bacteria and other substances with your food, no matter how fresh and clean it is, so these must be screened out.

While your immune system will "okay" most foods, genetic and other issues may affect its decision. Recent studies also suggest that your immune system's ability to develop correct tolerances depends a great deal on the balance of good bacteria inside your intestinal tract.

When you put something into your tube that the immune system doesn't like, it attacks by means of inflammation and excess mucus production. If your immune system is continually bombarded with messages to attack, its reactions can have major consequences. Inflammation of the digestive tube can in turn lead to damage of the lining of this tube, often resulting in something called "leaky gut" or "gut hyperpermeability." These two terms are simply descriptions of the damage to the digestive tract that is a result of something triggering an immune response.
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This article was originally posted on the IBS Treatment Center's website. Click HERE to visit.
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An Overview of the Digestive System

Think of your gastrointestinal tract as a long, muscular tube. This tube starts at your mouth and ends at your anus, and, if you were to stretch it out to its full length, would be about thirty feet long with a surface area approximately the size of a tennis court.

It is a highly specialized organ that is designed to do three very important things: convert food into something your cells can use for nourishment and then absorb it; protect you from invading organisms and toxins; and dispose of a large variety of waste products.

It is truly amazing that these three vital functions are performed by one structure.

This tube is so specialized that it actually has its own nervous system, often called a second brain. It also has a significant defense system to protect it from outside threats; in fact, the largest part of our immune system resides in the lining of the digestive tract. And to top it all off, this tube contains a highly evolved ecosystem of organisms which are not only critical to proper digestive function, but which are also a vital part of the defense system. You can start to see that a problem in the digestive tract has the potential to indeed be a very big problem.

Food moves down the tube by an involuntary process called peristalsis, a wavelike muscular contraction that carries the nutrients from top to bottom. This movement is controlled by the digestive tract's private nervous system. Technically, anything inside this tube is not really inside your body. Only once it has been processed and broken down does it pass through the tissue wall of the tube. This tissue wall is a permeable "skin," similar in many respects to the one that protects you on your other exterior surfaces - the skin of your arms and legs, torso and face. Like your outer skin, the tube's tissue wall is protective, however, it is highly specialized for digestion and absorption.

The food breaks down into a number of substances as it moves down the tube in stages. Muscular valves close off portions of the tube while chemical processes are carried out at each stage. Different areas absorb different vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and even water. Substances necessary for digestion and absorption, including acids and enzymes, are secreted into different sections of the tube. Waste is also created at each step and moves down the tube toward the exit. All of these functions are highly coordinated, working together to provide you with proper nutrition and to protect you from harm.

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Original article on the IBS Treatment Center's website by clicking HERE
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A Guide to Baby Formulas

New mothers and babies have many things to learn and discover, maybe the most important being feeding.

Breast milk is well recognized as the ideal source of nutrition for babies, proven by thousands of years of motherly research. No formula can provide the immune components and nutritional benefits that breast feeding does, but there are many circumstances when babies need to be fed formula.

But which one is best for you and your baby?



Infant Formula Basics



There are many brands of formula on the market. Most of these can be divided into two basic categories, being either dairy or soy based formulas. Traditionally, formula has been dairy based, but demand for an alternative has led to an almost equal number of soy based formulas now found on store shelves. It seems strange that the first food that we introduce to our babies is milk from a cow, but maybe that is because we see so many people at our clinic who have dairy allergies.

Unfortunately, soy is not always a better alternative, as many people have a soy allergy or otherwise have difficulty digesting soy. But soy allergies are less
common than dairy allergies. Notably, these formulas also usually contain corn products.


Lactose Free Formulas


Lactose intolerance, an enzyme deficiency, is another issue to consider. Some people who are not allergic to dairy may still have a lactose intolerance. Standard
formulas such as Regular Similac Advance, Enfamil Lipil, and Nestle Good Start Supreme contain both lactose and cow’s milk based proteins.

But there
 are also lactose free formulas, such as Lactofree and Similac Lactose free. These will help an infant with lactose intolerance, but they still contain dairy proteins
 such as casein and are not appropriate for infants with a dairy allergy.


Hypoallergenic Formulas


On the surface it might appear that the best option for many babies would be one of the “hypoallergenic” formulas. Two of the most common are Similac’s Alimentum and Enfamil’s Pregestimil Lipil hypoallergenic formulas. Both actually contain dairy in the form of casein, and they also contain soy and corn. The dairy is enzymatically broken down, making it easier to digest.

However, these formulas are certainly
not completely hypoallergenic if you have a dairy, soy or corn allergy. Interestingly, there is no standardized definition for the word “hypoallergenic,” a term coined by advertisers. And there is no regulation specifically defining or governing the use of the term “hypoallergenic”. Truly Dairy Free Formulas Two of the most “hypoallergenic” formulas available are Neocate and EleCare. Although they do
contain soy and corn components, they do not contain dairy. They may be the best options for infants especially sensitive to dairy.


Avoid Bacteria


Keeping baby formula and breast milk clean and free from bacteria is also important. The primary means of avoiding this risk are to limit storage time, use clean preparation practices, avoid storing prepared formula at room temperature, and discard any unused prepared formula after a couple of hours if
kept at room temperature and after 24 hours when refrigerated.


Keep A Watchful Eye



If you have an allergy to dairy or soy then the risk is higher that your infant will also have that allergy. Signs that your baby may be allergic to their formula include vomiting, colic, extreme fussiness, continuous crying, persistent diarrhea, excess gas, poor weight gain, skin rashes, and failure to thrive.

If any of these are present, then you should see your physician. If you think your baby might have an allergy, be sure to completely read the label on the formula and look for potential allergens. Then try out different formulas and see which one works best for your 
baby.
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This article was originally posted in the IBS Treatment Center's e-newsletter. Click HERE to subscribe.
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Gluten and Distilled Alcohols

For those of you who are gluten intolerant and avoiding distilled alcohols, there is good news. It has been determined that the distillation process removes gluten protein in alcohol. Therefore, distilled alcohol is not a source of gluten and can be ingested by people who are gluten intolerant without the risk of gluten contamination.

That doesn’t mean that alcohol is good for your liver or your general health, but that is another topic. We just thought that you should know about its potential gluten content.

This information also presents a good opportunity to learn a little more about distilled alcohol, which is also known as “spirits.” Spirits are classified by the fermented material from which they are distilled. The fermentation process requires that brewer’s yeast and water be added to the initial mixture of raw materials. The yeast transforms the sugars from the raw materials into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Then the spirits are created by distillation, which removes water from the alcohol.

The following are distilled products, or spirits: whisky, vodka, gin, schnapps, brandy, tequila, mescal and fortified wines. Whisky, vodka, gin and most types of schnapps are made by distilling a kind of beer made from grain. Brandy is made from grape juice, and fruit brandy is made from other fruits. Rum is derived from sugar cane. Tequila and Mezcal come from the pulp of the Agave plant. And fortified wines are hybrid beverages that are a blend of fermented wine and distilled spirits (usually brandy).

As a reminder, beer is not gluten free because it contains barley. However, each year, there seem to be a few new beers on the market that do not contain barley and are gluten free. Two examples are Bard’s Tale and Red Bridge, and believe it or not, they actually do taste like beer.
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Image and more information on Bard's beer by clicking HERE
This article originally posted in the IBS Treatment Center e-newsletter. Click HERE to subscribe