We have been  focusing on the impact of gluten on muscle and the impact of muscle on restoring health, so if you missed my last post, you can catch up here.

Without exercise, the body will not fully heal.  Muscle movement, conditioning, and strengthening is a requirement to restore health.  You don’t have to work out for hours and hours to achieve good results either.  However; you do have to implement functional body weight exercises to build adequate muscle.  Push ups, pull ups, squats, sit ups, and lunges are 5 fundamental and basic movements.  The excuses I hear over and over again in my practice from patients?

• I am not strong enough
• I can’t exercise because I hurt
• I don’t have enough time

The bottom line is simple.  No matter how many excuses you have, not exercising will lead to a lack of healing.   That being said, it is probably not your fault if you have been unsuccessful.  So much misinformation about exercise permeates our TV’s, radio, gyms, magazines, etc.  That is why I am setting the record straight for you.   I am 40, and typically exercise between 10 and 20 minutes per day using primarily body weight exercises as my gym.

This information is so important, that I will spend the next several days helping you understand and recognize what you can and must do in order to restore good health.

Body weight exercises are critical to achieving good health  – In this video, I talk with world authority, Shawna Kaminski, about simple techniques to improve your ability to perform body weight exercises.   Below the video, I have uploaded a special push up/pull up report for you to download.

Not everyone is strong enough to start right into full blown push ups or pull ups.  If you cannot do pull ups or push ups, >>>go here now for a free in depth report<<< on more simple exercises that you can start right away that will build your strength and allow you improve your muscle tone, lose weight, build your immune reserve, and restore your overall health.  If you already exercise and still have issues, you may want to check out Gluten Free FIT.  This program shows you how to modify and “tweak” your diet to achieve greater health and success.

>>>Download this free report on injury free pullups here<<<

Scientifically speaking, there are two things that scientists agree on when it comes to prolonging the life span -

1. Eating less food (eating foods low in calories but high in nutrients)
2. Building and maintaining good quality muscle mass.

The problem with muscle deficiency…

Many people are clueless when it comes to #2.  It is estimated that 60 of Americans are overweight or obese.  There are literally hundreds of diseases and health issues related to being under muscled.

• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Immune dysfunction
• Chronic allergies
• Fatigue
• Mobility problems
• Joint pain and arthritis
• Sleep issues and much, much more…

Parents , Schools, & Doctors are to Blame

The victims of this huge health issue are the children.  They learn about exercise and nutrition from their parents and they learn about exercise and nutrition at the school.  Kids do what their parents do.  If mom and dad do not make physical fitness a priority and lead by example, then their children will learn by default that it is not important.

The schools have limited PE in lieu of gaining more time to prepare children for standardized tests.  This has lead to increased rates of obesity as well as reduced test scores.  You see, the concept of intelligence only being related to the classroom is very flawed.  Children who exercise more frequently have actually been shown to perform better on tests.  Exercise promotes increased blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain.

How many times have you heard a doctor say “Eat right and exercise”?  What exactly is that supposed to mean?  We should get a little more specific with diet and exercise recommendations.  Cardio training will not build muscle.  Our human DNA evolved on high intensity, short burst activity (i.e. hunting food or running from predators).   This requires good motor skills and coordination as well as ample strength.

The Basics are Important

Remember when you were a kid at school and you had to do running, pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups to pass a physical fitness test?  These are basic body weight exercises that are fundamental to health.   Everyone should be able to move their own weight around (walking is not included

My son came home this week and told me that they didn’t have to do pull ups anymore.  They just had to hold themselves up to the bar!  Why?  Because so many kids are under muscled and overweight.  The schools don’t want them to feel too bad about their inability to display basic control over their body.

Why Am I Talking About Muscle Instead of Gluten?

Because they are intrinsically related.  The more grain we eat, the more insulin we release.  The more insulin we release, the more cortisol we make.  Both cortisol and insulin promote fat storage.   The more fat we store the less muscle mass we have proportionately to our total body weight.  When this happens, we have a tendency to start developing all of the diseases listed above.

Inadequate muscle leads to lack of exercise.  Lack of exercise leads to less muscle tone – and the cycle continues for 20 years and we find ourselves looking in the mirror wondering how we got so overweight.  This, my friends is one of the reasons why our health deteriorates.  This is why so many Americans stay sick.  Muscle loss weakens the immune system, limits our ability to move, wrecks our quality of life, and in the end kills us 20 years early.  One of the biggest hold ups on the road to health recovery is inadequate muscle caused by a lack of exercise and/or doing the wrong type of exercise.

Fortunately their is hope.  One of the biggest excuses I come across in my practice when it comes to basic exercise is – “I am not strong enough to do a pull up or push up.”  Today I have a gift for you that will help you overcome this excuse.  A close friend of mine, Shawna Kaminski, is a master fitness trainer who specializes in helping people  overcome the exercise obstacle.  She has put together a detailed report on implementing pull ups slowly, smartly, and without injury.   I hope you find great benefit in it…

>>>Download this free report on injury free pullups here<<<

>>>Go here to watch the entire meeting<<<

Years of Gluten Induced Damage Needs Help Healing

The status of the body after being exposed to gluten for years and years prior a medical diagnosis is not ideal.  Typically, a person will have developed 1 or more autoimmune diseases.  The internal chemistry favors inflammation, and the nutritional status of vitamins and minerals is suppressed and deficient.  These factors can work against the body’s ability to heal, and in many cases, the body will not begin to heal until these factors are addressed.

Autoimmune Disease

One of the primary detriments caused by gluten is autoimmune disease.  Most patients will have developed at least one before they are diagnosed with gluten intolerance.  Celiac disease, Hashimoto’s, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Migraine, Neuropathy, Psoriasis, and Asthma are a few common examples.  Once an autoimmune disease develops, it can take 2-3 years to calm the immune system down.  This process often times requires the investigation of other food and environmental allergens, as these can perpetuate autoimmune dysfunction.  I recommend that you have your doctor investigate this possibility with  you.

Nutritional Deficiencies Through Mal-absorption, Mal-digestion, and Increased Need

Gluten can damage the mouth, stomach, small intestines,  large intestines liver (including the gallbladder), and the pancreas.  All of these organs are necessary for proper digestion, absorption, and assimilation of nutrients from the food you eat.   Damage to these organs can take time to repair, but also requires adequate nutrition.  If a person is nutritionally compromised, the road to recovery is stopped or slowed dramatically.  I recommend that you and your doctor perform functional lab testing to determine vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  It is important to use functional lab tests, as serum measurements are very inaccurate.

Infection – A Commonly Missed Factor in the Recovery Process

Aside from damaging the organs of digestion, gluten has been shown to alter the normal bacterial flora in the gastrointestinal tract.  The bacterial changes can predispose a person to secondary infections.  It is very common for patients with gluten intolerance to develop bacterial, yeast, parasitic, and viral infections.  These types of chronic infections can weaken the immune systems ability to perform its normal functions and subsequently lead to or contribute to the development of other disease.  For example, yeast infections are common contributors to muscle pain and inflammation, fatigue, and memory loss.

Gluten can also create microscopic holes in your intestine (leaky gut).  These holes allow for whole proteins and micro-organisms to leak into your bloodstream.  This process contributes to further immune dysfunction and perpetual systemic inflammation.  Get with your doctor and have him or her order tests to assess for infections as well as to assess for intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and abnormal bacterial overgrowth.

My Doctor Won’t Help Me

I started Gluten Free Society to help educate patients and doctors about gluten and the recovery process.  One of the reasons I was compelled to do this is because 90% of my patients come to me because traditional medicine has failed them and their doctors refuse to look beyond the proverbial box.  If you fall into the 90%, visit our doctor database and look for a doctor who has been certified and trained by Gluten Free Society.

If you still can’t find a doctor in your area, I have developed a protocol to help you address many of the above issues<<<

Restless leg syndrome is a serious medical condition.  It is thought to be an autoimmune disease affecting the nerves in the legs.  This condition is characterized by feeling of restlessness in the legs.  It can also manifest as numbness and tingling, and shooting nerve pains in the legs making it extremely difficult to sleep at night.  The condition is commonly associated with patients who also suffer with depression.  A recent study published in the journal Sleep Medicine investigated whether or not patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and bacterial overgrowth developed RLS.

CONCLUSIONS:

IBS and SIBO are common in RLS. Three hypotheses developed are (a) RLS patients are selectively immunocompromised or genetically predisposed and thus more subject to SIBO; (b) SIBO leads to autoimmune changes, and subsequent auto-antibodies attack brain and/or peripheral nerves and (c) SIBO inflammation leads to increased hepcidin and CNS iron deficiency which, in turn, leads to RLS. These hypotheses bear further investigation.

Source: Sleep Med. 2011 Jun;12(6):610-3.

Gluten Sensitivity, RLS, and SIBO are all Connected…

Research studies have linked gluten ingestion to changes in small intestinal bacteria.  These changes can cause a variety of symptoms to occur.  Most commonly patients will experience:

• gas and bloating
• abdominal pain
• intermittent diarrhea and constipation
• acid reflux
• bad breath

Bacterial overgrowth can also lead to changes in digestion, vitamin and mineral absorption, and intestinal permeability (AKA – leaky gut syndrome).  If you look at the diagram , you can see how gluten ingestion can lead to a variety of physiological changes that create disease.

What You Should Do If You Have Restless Leg Syndrome…

I have treated thousands of patients with gluten issues.  Many of them have also had RLS symptoms that resolved on a gluten free diet.  If you haven’t done so already, it is recommended that you get tested for gluten sensitivity or go gluten free.  You can take our self test here<<< or you can get genetically tested for the most accurate diagnosis.

Once established, the following list of action items is recommended:

• Have you doctor check for bacterial overgrowth, additional food allergies, as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
• If you cannot get your doctor to help you, consider a functional medicine doctor.
• If you cannot find a functional medicine doctor consider supplementing with the following:

1. Methylcobalamin (a special form of vitamin B-12 shown to reduce restless leg symptoms)
2. Methyl Folic Acid (a special form of Folate)
3. Biotic Defense (a strong probiotic designed to restore the healthy bacteria in your intestines.

**When you supplement, make sure that what you are taking does not contain hidden gluten fillers.

If you know someone with RLS, please make sure to pass this article along.  In other words, don’t be selfish with the knowledge

All the best,

Dr. O

Gluten can cause an elevation in cholesterol levels leading to the prescription of a class of drugs known as statins.  Common examples include Zocor, Lipitor, and Crestor.  Unfortunately, these medications can contribute to a variety of health problems.  The following video discusses what you should know…

Gluten is a common cause of high cholesterol

In my clinic, I commonly see patients with high cholesterol.  Going gluten free for many of them leads to dramatic reductions.  I have seen 100 point drops in some patients.  The irony in this is that many doctors and nutritionists will recommend whole grain as a treatment recommendation.  You see the same recommendations coming from the TV.  Honey Nut Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, etc – all being pushed to help drop cholesterol levels.  It is estimated that anywhere between 3-30% of the U.S. population has a problem with gluten sensitivity.  It would be appropriate for health care providers to take note and demand a change in the generic recommendations being given.  It would also be prudent for the government to take note and make drastic changes in the food guide pyramid, as it is the tool being used to teach our children about proper nutrition.

This weekend I spoke at the Charleston gluten free/allergy free expo.  There were an estimated 4-500 people in attendance.  Both Fox and CBS News came out to cover the show and do interviews with me – which was great because the gluten free message was able to reach the entire city of Charleston!  I had the great fortune of sharing the stage with Melinda Dennis.  Melinda is an expert nutritionist focused on helping patients with celiac disease at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.  We talked about the pitfalls of the gluten free diet…

The full video is available to Gluten Free Society members here <<<

What To Do When the Gluten Free Diet Fails

The topic of the day focused on what to do when the gluten free diet fails.  Melinda and I both touched on multiple issues that patients face in their journey to recover their health:

• Gluten free substitute foods are very unhealthy
• Cross contamination and hidden gluten
• Damaged digestive tract
• Dysbiosis (abnormal bacterial growth in the gut)
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
• Hidden food allergies
• Digestive enzyme deficiencies
• Intestinal infections
• and much more…

The take home message was simple.  If you are following a gluten free diet and not recovering, you should initiate the following steps.

1. Avoid all grains including oats, corn, and rice.
2. Check your medications (if you are taking any) for hidden gluten.
3. Have your vitamin and mineral levels checked comprehensively by your doctor.
4. Have your doctor test you for delayed hypersensitivity food reactions.
5. Have your doctor perform a gastrointestinal test to measure for hidden infections, leaky gut, and digestive enzyme deficiencies.
6. Once you have collected all of the above information, implement action steps based on the results.

If you cannot find a doctor willing to help with the above, you can contact Dr. Osborne’s office or check the gluten free doctor database for doctors who have been trained by Dr. Osborne here <<<==

Miss The Expo?

I will be hosting another event in Sugar Land, Tx (just outside of Houston) on May 19th.  You can get the details here <<<

Should Patients With Schizophrenia be put on a Gluten Free Diet?

Individuals with recent-onset psychosis had increased levels of IgG and IgA antibodies to gliadin compared with control subjects.  Individuals with multi-episode schizophrenia also had significantly increased levels of IgG antibodies to gliadin…

This is not the first time research has made this connection

Source:

Gluten Free Society’s Stance:

This study sheds light on the fact that most mental disorders are actually influenced by food choices. Food and food additives are the ultimate drug.   Ever see a child have a hyper reaction after eating food dyes or sugar?  Think about it… Pharmaceutical medications are typically derived from singular chemicals from plants and animals.

How many times have you eaten something so that you could satisfy some mental craving.  Peptides in grain and dairy have been shown to stimulate pleasure centers in the brain. Most psychiatrists completely dismiss the fact that food plays a role in mental health. The late Dr. Abram Hoffer spent his life researching the correlation between schizophrenia and nutrition. He had a higher success rate at treating schizophrenia to remission than any of his colleagues.

Think about this: Schizophrenia is supposedly an imbalance in brain chemicals. Psychiatrists give drugs to try and restore this imbalance. However; to date, it is a rare occurrence for a psychiatrist to actually measure the brain chemicals they are trying to treat. It makes much better since to measure these imbalances but to also determine what is contributing to or causing these imbalances. In the case of schizophrenia, gluten and casein can play a major role in contributing to the disease.

All schizophrenic patients should have the following lab tests before blindly taking medications:

1. HLA-DQ gene analysis to identify gluten sensitivity
2. Vitamin and mineral analysis (www.spectracell.com)
3. Neurotransmitter testing to identify chemical imbalances in serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, histamine, and other neurochemicals that influence brain function.
4. Additional food allergy testing to identify other foods that may be playing a contributing role.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Hoffer’s research his book is available below -

Dr. Hoffer’s Book is available here!

It is no mystery that serum (blood) tests to identify gluten sensitivity are fundamentally flawed. It is also no mystery that the intestinal biopsy is flawed as well. Unfortunately, doctors continue to use these tools definitively to diagnose celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. If the labs come back normal, many doctors dismiss gluten sensitivity all together. This leads to a lot of people going undiagnosed and staying sick.

 There are Thousands of Different Types of Glutens

Part of the problem with one of the serum lab tests (anti-gliadin antibody test) is that it is only sensitive for a very specific type of gluten called gliadin.  Researchers have identified thousands of different types of gluten proteins found in grains, but lab tests don’t measure whether or not patients react to all of these different glutens – just gliadin.

Serum lab test flaws don’t stop there.  Most of these tests measure a specific type of antibody produced by your body’s immune system.  The most common antibody types measured are IgA and IgG.  Your body can make five different types of antibodies (see below).

1. Immunoglobulin A (IgA)
2. IgG
3. IgM
4. IgD
5. IgE

Additionally, your body’s immune system can react to gluten in multiple ways (direct T-Cell reactions, immune complex reactions).  Your immune system can also make other types of chemicals to help you fight gluten.  These chemicals are typically not measured at all.  Examples include -

1. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)
2. Interferon

 The diagram below illustrates some of these immune system reactions.

Gluten Can Cause Damage in Other Ways

New research has also discovered that gluten can cause changes in your friendly intestinal bacteria (dysbiosis).  These changes can contribute to the development of celiac disease and other autoimmune diseases.  Research has also discovered that gluten can cause leaky gut syndrome.

Bottom line – if you have had negative test results via biopsy of serum labs, you may still have gluten sensitivity.  The most accurate way to get a meaningful diagnosis is genetic testing or using an elimination diet.  You may also want to take this quick quiz <<<==

All the best – Dr. Osborne – The Gluten Free Warrior

If you liked, if it helped you, if you think it can help someone else, share it…

What to do when going gluten free is not enough to restore your health…

***We will be giving away more than $2000 in door prizes!

Bring yourself, bring your family, bring your friends.

A Gluten Free Diet Might Not be Enough

Many go gluten free and continue to have persistent health issues.  This meeting will focus on how to improve health beyond the gluten free diet.  Including:

• What lab tests you should ask your doctor to order
• How vitamin and mineral deficiencies can hinder the healing process
• Rebound symptoms of going gluten free
• How hidden food allergies can secretly keep you sick

Place: 550 Eldridge Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478

Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm