Here’s a scary piece of news for those of us on a gluten free diet: A recent Study suggests that the gluten free diet not only reduces the amount of beneficial bacteria in our guts, and increases the yucky bacteria like E Coli – but it also lowers our immune function!
GULP
So what’s the solution?
Well, for non-vegans without a dairy intolerance, there’s plenty of commercially available gut-health oriented yogurts. Eating one or two servings of some of these new probiotic wunderfinds should help clear up at least half of the problem. You have to be careful, though. A few, like Activia Yogurt, are not gluten free, which would kind of be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire for our gut health.
Vegans or those of us with a dairy intolerance don’t have to run about in despair, however – there are a ton of commercially available, vegan probiotic cultures and powders out there (supplements) that we can take straight or use to make our own nifty, dairy-free yogurts and sour creams.
In addition, I’d probably recommend using a high-quality supplement to boost immune function, eat lots and lots of fresh fruits and veggies (we’re talking 10 servings a day, optimally!), making sure you get your full 8 hours of sleep, and reducing your refined sugar content. All of these courses of action should help your immune system function at its best.
So, what supplements would be helpful to boost immune function? There are a ton out there that claim to boost immune function. The ones I’d place my money on, though, are the ones that have shown some success in HIV/AIDS patients and people with cancer. I’m thinking of:
- Viola yesdoensis
- Mushroom derived immune enhancers
- Vitamin A + a broad spectrum multivitamin containing B-complex vitamins, and vitamins C and E
- Zinc
- Selenium
- DHEA
Hey – and before you run off and do any of this, remember that I’m not a medical professional and not giving official medical advice. Supplementation with any natural substance can be deadly if done wrong, especially in substaqnces like Vitamin A or selenium. Be sure to check with your G.E. and nutritionist to ensure safe supplement dosing and to see if a nutritional protocol would be beneficial for you.
I found this article to be extrememly interesting! My three Celiac kids seemed to always been sick in the winter. They would pick up everything!! So for me this makes so much sense!! It helps me to finally understand why “my kids are SIck all winter long.” Hopefully we will have a healthier winter!
Don’t forget Vitamin D! Very important to the immune system, and many people are sorely lacking it.
Either spend more time in the sun (WITHOUT sunscreen – that defeats the purpose); fifteen minutes a day on arms and face is said to be enough, or take Vit D supplements.
Love,
Herbert.
The study only contained ten subjects, only went on for one month, and used healthy people without celiac disease or gluten intolerance as subjects. I wouldn’t go believing the results just yet.
We can only hope the study turns out to be wrong! Personally I’d love to find out it’s bogus! Naomi
I hope this is wrong. I try to do gluten free/ dairy free/ low citrus / low insoluble fiber because of IBS; however, I do take probiotics every day and very seldom get a cold although my hubby has a reduced immune system (kidney transplant) and I work with hundreds of people, most of which are sick all the time. I do get my sleep though or then I’ll get sick.
The article was also interesting to me. I’ve spent 9 years looking for asnswers. Recently confirmed celiac, I discovered on my own through herbal cleansing that it was something I was eating. Since 2007, I have used liquid supplementation, as it was suggested that celiacs respond better to liquid rather than tablets. Secondly, alow vera juice is an amazing source for detox and healing. I also noticed that when I skip a few ays my energy level goes down. From personal use; aloe vera juice not only detox the digestive tract and brings healing but also enhances immune function.
Not sure this would be a valid study. Simply because not enough celiacs/gluten intolerant persons are told by their doctors that once the system heals and such that they should boost or replace the good gut flora. Zinc Gluconate will help boost the immune system too. Remember that it is an autoimmune disorder/disease, so other autoimmune functions are also compromised by celiac.
Based on what I’ve heard the CD research doctors at the U. of Iowa say, I believe those of us with autoimmune diseases actually have OVERactive immune systems, which is why they beat up on our own bodies. We are not counseled to take anything that strengthens or boosts our immune function, though of course taking vitamins and probiotics would be fine as it wouldn’t directly boost the immune response. Most celiacs are the “healthy” ones who have such strong immune response that we don’t get sick as much as others–don’t pick up every bug that comes down the pike.
This healthy factor would not apply to children, though, as they are still building their immunities. Part of childhood for EVERY child is picking up all the viruses that all the other kids get, particularly at school, preschool, church, as this is how our bodies learn to mount an immune response. Each bug they pick up is one less they have to get in the future.