Grains Especially Whole Grains Increase Intestinal Permeability

Grains -- Especially Whole Grains -- Increase Intestinal Permeability

From mercola.com 9 Comments 8 Likes Tags: type 2 pre-diabetes grains whole grains

Leaky gut is a condition that occurs due to the development of gaps between the cells (enterocytes) that make up the membrane lining your intestinal wall.

These tiny gaps allow substances such as undigested food, bacteria and metabolic wastes,that should be confined to your digestive tract, to escape into your bloodstream — hence the term leaky gut syndrome.

Once the integrity of your intestinal lining is compromised, and there is a flow of toxic substances "leaking out" into your bloodstream, your body experiences significant increases in inflammation.

Also, your immune system may become confused and begin to attack your own body as if it were an enemy (autoimmunity).

Most often, leaky gut syndrome is associated with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, or celiac disease, but even healthy people can have varying degrees of intestinal permeability leading to a wide variety of health symptoms — and this can be influenced heavily by the foods you choose to eat.

Disrupts Endocrine Function—WGA may contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and leptin resistance by blocking the leptin receptor in your hypothalamus. It also binds to both benign and malignant thyroid nodules , and interferes with the production of secretin from your pancreas, which can lead to digestive problems and pancreatic hypertrophy.

Immunotoxicity—WGA induces thymus atrophy in rats , and anti-WGA antibodies in human blood have been shown to cross-react with other proteins, indicating that they may contribute to autoimmunity . In fact, WGA appears to play a role in celiac disease (CD) that is entirely distinct from that of gluten, due to significantly higher levels of IgG and IgA antibodies against WGA found in patients with CD, when compared with patients with other intestinal disorders.

There is much more to this article. It kind of flies in the face of what we are being taught. It is something to consider, talk to your doctor about and possibly adjust our diets.

Read the full article at mercola.com 4

Add your comment

9 replies

jayabee52 March 13 at 3:53 pm 1 Report

Thanks Lentyl! Rabbits? interesting.

Lentyl March 13 at 3:46 pm 0 Report

anti-WGA is anti-wheat germ aglutinin antibodies. After that I have no idea. All the sites that I perused talked about rabbits.

tere1351@yahoo.com March 13 at 12:58 pm 0 Report

Processed food is not good for anybody especially for diabetics.

jayabee52 March 13 at 12:35 pm 1 Report

What do the initials WGA stand for?

till50 July 17 at 2:47 pm 3 Report

i am going to my doctor very soon, i have some of these problems.

hannelou March 4, 2012 at 12:56 pm 2 Report

Gaby , I could say what you have written .certainly no more pasta or rice dishes for me since about 3 or so weeks …hardly any potatoes , but I wish I could give up bread…these last 2 days I have been having "nairns" oat crackers instead of bread and now I am going to follow YURI ELKAIM the holistic nutritionist on www.eatingforenergy.ca . His raw diet makes a lot of sense .
The way I see it , Nothing ventured , nothing gained . Wish me luck .

GabbyPA January 25, 2012 at 9:36 am 1 Report

I really do believe, and it is just my opinion on it, that so much of the processed foods we eat are really messing us up. We hear the nutritionist's say that we need to eat this way, but we kind of ignore anyone else. I had stared reducing the amount of wheat we have in the house. Now I am more curious about it and will look more into it. I am sure that my insulin resistance is so bad because I abused it for so long with highly processed, quick convenient foods. Pasta was king in my life for years. I finally am giving it up completely, Dreamfields and all. It is hard, but I think it is something I will have to do to get better control for my situation.

Caroltoo January 25, 2012 at 12:49 am 3 Report

Yes, there is. Type 1 and Celiac are both auto immune disorders. I've also read the gluten-intolerance and celiac are both potentially considered precursors to type 2. This line of logic appears to relate to the fact that someone with gluten intolerance can't absorb nutrition adequately, so weakens the body and makes it more susceptible to a number of diseases including diabetes, thyroid issues, and gall bladder issues. Don't think this one is too well substantiated yet, but is interesting since there do seem to be a lot of stomach and thyroid issues among diabetics. Gives one paurse for thought.