“Secondary Glutenization”
The following is a piece I wrote for my blog, Blogtor J, after receiving a facebook message from the mother of an autistic child. She had read on my post on “secondary food intolerance” – the problem that food intolerants (e.g. gluten, soy or corn sensitive individuals) can have when they eat the meat of animals fed these items. Unfortunately, we must orient our thinking in this direction and her story strongly supports this notion.
Dogtor J
Note: You can comment on this article by going to the corresponding post on Blogtor J.
“Secondary Glutenization” – It’s very real!
by Dogtor J
© 2010 DogtorJ.com
“Secondary food intolerance” is the term I am currently using to describe the situation that arises when a food intolerant individual consumes meat of an animal that was fed gluten grains (wheat, barley, rye), soy, corn or even dairy products and is negatively affected by it. Perhaps there is a better term, such as “level two food intolerance” or “type two food intolerance” but for now, “secondary intolerance” or “secondary glutenization” works for me.
And sadly, this is a very real issue. I suspected this was so ten years ago when I started down this path of discovery and recovery, reading everything I could get my hands on in the way of celiac literature. Why wouldn’t we react to these lectins (antibody-sized glycoproteins), knowing that they enter the body and do harm to the cells of sensitized individuals. They are in the flesh - that’s how they do harm. Could an individual be so sensitive to gluten, soy or corn that they would react to the presence of these tiny proteins in the chickens cattle and even fish that are fed these items.
The answer is “Yes!”. Although this may be hard for some to believe, all we have to do is think “peanut allergy”. Most know that there are individuals out there who are so incredibly peanut allergic that, when kissed by or even breathed upon by someone who just ate peanuts, they could have an anaphylactic reaction or even die from this minimal exposure. Wow! Yes, some are that sensitive to the proteins from peanuts and we can be just as sensitive to those from corn, soy, gluten grains and dairy.
Case in point: I have heard from a mother whose daughter is so corn allergic that she can not eat any chicken or beef that was corn-fed without having a serious asthma flare-up. She can eat grass-fed beef and range-fed chicken without issue. Another mother reported that her children, like her, were soy intolerant and they were having a harder and harder time digesting eggs. The wise mother put two-and-two together and found eggs from chickens that were not fed soy. Problem solved. Yet another mother has just reported that her autistic son was falling asleep after eating chicken, just as I had reported about myself on my Website and facebook page. Once the chicken was eliminated, his mental clarity and cognitive abilities noticeably improved.
I have now been off chicken for almost five months and my level of mental clarity has reached new heights. I thought I had peaked and was pretty content, being over 55 years old. But the elimination of chicken has made an amazing difference and I am now seeking out a source of range-fed chicken, grain-free eggs and grass-fed beef.
How many times per week did I eat chicken?How much gluten does it take to affect one who is gluten sensitive? We celiacs are already running from salad dressing, food additives, and even medications that contain trace amounts of gluten. How hard is it to believe that the flesh- and fat - of animals consuming gluten, soy and corn contain enough lectins to do us harm?
Yes…this is a very real issue and must be addressed, especially in the “worst of the worst” cases? Want to know why some autistic children don’t improve like others have when placed on GFCF diets? Asking yourself why your case of epilepsy has not completely resolved in the way that so many of my canine and human cases have? Wonder why serious neurodegenerative diseases like MS, ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s don’t show a better response?
Think “worst of the worst” and the answer comes: These neurological conditions are among the worst for a reason and we must be the most vigilant in these cases. If the situations that these mothers and I report are any kind of clue, there are more than enough lectins of the “big 4” in the typical meat and eggs we consume to stave off recovery in the most serious cases.
Time to take our game up another notch!
Dogtor J
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