Your Prescribed Meds Are Depleting You of Vitamins and minerals

Drug Induced Nutritional Deficiencies and Gluten Sensitivity


Often times, persons with gluten sensitivity are chronically ill and are prescribed medications for their symptoms.
People with gluten sensitivity are already nutrient deficient (see Hallert et al http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12144584) and without knowing it can get into more nutrient deficiencies when they go on most medications. Drug induced nutrient loss is rarely discussed when a prescription is ordered except for perhaps when diuretics are ordered, some potassium may be ordered to counter act potassium loss. But many drugs are metabolized by using up various nutrients and that leaves a person short for their day to day metabolism. The nutrient deficiencies themselves cause symptoms or delay healing. By knowing what nutrients are depleted a person can make up the difference with food and supplements.

I take nutrient loss from drugs very seriously. For example, one year of using a PPI drug for heart burn, like Prepulsid, can increase a persons risk of heart attack by 30%. This is due to the massive calcium and magnesium losses.

For many years now, as a resource, I've used a handbook written by Ross Pelton and James Lavalle called "The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs" published by Morton Publishing Co., 2nd
Ed., 2004.

The authors make many helpful observations and recommendations. Here is a quote from the book-

Symptoms of folic acid deficiency include elevated homocysteine, anemia, headaches, fatigue, depression, hair loss, insomnia and increased susceptibility to infection.

Again, there are medical ironies here. Folic acid is helpful in relieving arthritic pain, but the drugs commonly prescribed for arthritis deplete folic acid. The cells of the intestinal lining have a special need for folic acid because of their high rate of replication; sulfasalazine, a drug commonly prescribed for colitis, can cause a deficiency of folic acid, ultimately delaying healing.

It is likely that thousands of premature deaths of heart disease and stroke could be prevented through adequate supplementation with folic acid. Some multivitamins and B-complex vitamins include only 100 mcg of folic acid; 400 mcg is a better level, and there is much to be said for using even more than that. It is a tragedy that this very inexpensive and non-toxic vitamin is not more widely used-especially by those who need it the most, including millions of users of anti-inflammatory drugs and oral contraceptives.

If you are on any medication and would like to know what nutrients are depleted, there are charts on the internet. I would not rely only on these charts or the one I have a link to here:
http://www.northlandak.com/Drug-Induced_Nutrient_Depletions_TM-1.pdf.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Dr. B

100% Gluten Free Bakery in Ottawa, Canada: Joy of Gluten Free

Last April, I had the pleasure of meeting Susan Phipps at the "Living Well with Gluten Sensitivity Workshop" hosted by Dr. Gerry Heyman, where I was the keynote speaker. I had some of her samples of grain free products and they were excellent.

Susan opened up her shop called The Joy of Gluten Free, February 18th 2012, in Ottawa.The bakery is 100% dedicated to gluten-free which means no cross-contamination. She caters to other food sensitivities too.
The Joy of Gluten Free Bakery and Gourmet Food Shop is located at 250 Greenbank Road, Ottawa. 
She can be reached  at  www.thejoyofglutenfree.blogspot.ca or on Facebook or at 613-907-1252.

With Christmas and the holidays fast approaching, it's time to prepare or buy your favourite baked goods.

To your health.
Dr. B Powell

Create a safe kitchen in a non gluten-free home to avoid getting sick

You may be experiencing some symptoms of gluten exposure when you have taken every precaution to buy gluten free foods, and preparing them correctly. The kitchen may be contaminated if you live with a person that is not gluten free too.It is important to avoid gluten exposure at all costs so educate the people you live with by sharing this post with them.

Here are some suggestions for avoiding gluten contamination when you have no choice to convert the kitchen totally gluten free.

Rule number one: contain gluten in the kitchen!
Rule number two: have duplicate kitchen utensils that are impossible to clean of gluten!
Rule number three: Label, label, and label!
Rule number four: have duplicate items of shared food, like condiments such as mayonnaise and peanut butter!

Read Sarka-Jonae Miller's practical article from Natural News for more tips on how to be safe in the kitchen.

Contain gluten in the kitchen

Most people who share kitchens with family or roommates are not going to be able to convince others to go gluten-free too. Since banning gluten from the kitchen is not feasible in these situations, the next best thing is to contain gluten foods as much as possible.

Step one is to declare certain areas of the kitchen as gluten territory and a gluten-free area. Gluten-free fans should stake out their own cupboard and, if possible, counter space. Items with gluten should be in their own area. It is also helpful to put grains containing gluten in their own airtight container. Since many people order gluten-free foods in bulk from websites, find extra storage space for these foods in an area other than the kitchen.

A separate area in a freezer or refrigerator for gluten-free foods is also helpful. An extra freezer, ice box or small fridge in another room, garage or basement is the perfect place to put gluten-free foods, especially homemade items.

Post it notes or a label maker are helpful in labeling gluten-free foods so no mistakes are made.


Avoid cross-contamination from shared items

Shared kitchen items lead to contamination. A toaster, for example, is too risky to use for both gluten foods and gluten-free items. Getting two toasters and labeling one gluten-free is the only way to ensure that crumbs do not get onto gluten-free toast or waffles.

Another item to duplicate is a colander. Pasta with gluten when drained in a colander can leave traces of gluten. Use separate colanders.

The stove is another place where traces of gluten can get onto gluten-free items. Since buying two stoves is not possible in most circumstances, people should place aluminum foil on any area of the stove that gluten-free food is placed on.

Separate cooking utensils is also a must for protecting gluten-free dieters from cross-contamination. Separate bowls, pans, knives, stirrers, and measuring cups are just some of the items that could have traces of gluten. Porous items such as wooden cutting boards and spoons are most likely to absorb gluten.


Avoid cross-contamination from shared foods

Some foods are gluten traps, condiments particularly. Mayonnaise, butter, jelly, jams, and nut butters collect crumbs when knives or spoons are doubled dipped. It is safest to get two of these items, one for the person who eats gluten-free and one for gluten eaters. Squeeze bottles are also safer. Ketchup and mustard usually come in squeeze bottles.


Protect against cross-contamination on surfaces

For a safe kitchen, people need to keep surfaces such as counter tops and shelves free of gluten. Frequently cleaning helps. Before preparing gluten-free dishes, people should wipe off counters and other areas each time to eliminate the possibility of crumbs or small amounts of gluten items getting into the gluten-free dishes.

Another concern is that wheat flour could get onto surfaces. Every time someone uses wheat flour, it gets into the air and onto most everything, including separate cooking utensils left out. Ideally, wheat flour should not be used in a home with gluten-free residents because it is not possible to fully prevent wheat flour from settling all over the kitchen.

Following these tips for a safe kitchen can help keep people healthy.

Sources for this article include:

http://glutenfreehomemaker.com
http://www.childrenshospital.org
http://www.celiaccentral.org


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037849_gluten-free_kitchen_tips.html#ixzz2C2iOLSiL

To your health
Dr. Barbara

Modern wheat a "perfect, chronic poison," Dr. Davis says

Many of you have heard of a recent book called Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist.
In it he describes how the modern "wheat" has proteins (toxic gliadin epitomes not present in wheat from before 1960's) that are more toxic by far than the rarely commercially grown wheat like Red Fife. He is not arguing that gliadin is new, but that modern wheat has unprecedented amounts of gliadin in it and that is new. And the extra amount of gliadin does have never-seen-before gliadin variations, which have been shown to be very toxic. "The perfect, chronic poison" as Dr. Davis would say.

Researchers from the Netherlands have even proposed that wheat breeding in the 60's may have contributed to increased prevalence of celiac disease. Read from Theor Appl Genet. 2010 Jul 28:

Other researcher are look at ways to reduce the antigenic (reactive) properties of the offending proteins in the alpha gliadin portions. And to develop strategies "to modify gluten genes in wheat so that it becomes safe for celiac disease patients. It also provides the information to design and introduce safe gluten genes in other cereals, which would exhibit improved quality while remaining safe for consumption by celiac disease patients."

This follows from the question, how can commercial wheat be made so that it is safer?
It hasn't been done yet and it is not likely to be done any time soon. Watch the video below as part of the CBS segment and see how Dr. Davis answers that question.

Once you become sensitive to wheat and gliadin, you are sensitive even to the grains with less gliadin, even Red Fife or spelt, so they can't be ingested without consequences.

In September of this year, CBS interviewed Dr. Davis and here is an excerpt: Go to the link to see the video of the interview in its whole.

(CBS News) Modern wheat is a "perfect, chronic poison," according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published a book all about the world's most popular grain.

Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning." "This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year."

Asked if the farming industry could change back to the grain it formerly produced, Davis said it could, but it would not be economically feasible because it yields less per acre. However, Davis said a movement has begun with people turning away from wheat - and dropping substantial weight.

Latest Statistics: The Incidence of Celiac Disease Increased Five-Fold From 1999 to 2008

Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is common, dangerous and most people are not diagnosed. A true gluten free diet has been shown to help, so it is important to get testing. 

If in doubt, or have trouble getting a reliable test, go gluten free.

A recent study again shows there is a massive increase in the incidence of celiac disease (CD) in recent years, even when diagnosed the usual way. Diagnosis depends heavily on the clinical suspicion of the attending doctor. What that means is that if the doctor doesn't think celiac disease may be part of the problem then no tests will be made.

Bingley reporting in BMJ in  2004, found an incidence of 1 in 100, and for every one diagnosed, 13 were not diagnosed. Less than half had typical gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea. 

With that in mind, the authors in American Journal of Gastroenterology do show the incidence of  CD increased five-fold from 1.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 6.5 per 100,000 in 2008, with the highest rates of increase among those over 34 years of age.

They also showed an association with the diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis within 3 years of the diagnosis of CD. They admit more study needs to be done on this observation as it does bring to mind many questions such as: were the symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis (IGE) properly diagnosed, was there an infective organism that leads to the triggering of CD, were there other predisposing conditions that give the same symptoms and could they lead to triggering of CD?

They conclude: Incidence of CD diagnosis in the US military is increasing, particularly among those in the fourth and fifth decades of life and appears higher than other population-based estimates. An association between antecedent IGE and risk of CD was noted, but the potential for exposure misclassification cannot be ruled out and further study is needed to link pathogen-specific exposure to incident CD anti-gluten antibody development or symptom onset.

Read more here: Am J Gastroenterol. 2012 Aug;107(8):1248-55

The best gluten free diet and one that is truly gluten free is a specific carbohydrate diet called "Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet" or GAPS diet. Many, many people don't heal unless they go on a GAPS diet. So why not do it from the start. You can buy the book at Amazon.

What Doctors Don't Know About Drugs: Part 2, Evidence Based Medicine

Gluten sensitivity and drug reactions go together.

As doctors how can we safely prescribe medications to all our patients? We can read the scientific studies that are published regarding the pharmaceutical. This is called "evidence based" medicine. 

 Please view the following YouTube video by Doctor Ben Goldacre. He has a clear and articulate explanation of the core problem of "evidence-based"medicine: 

13 minutes long but worth it! 
Click on "evidence based medicine" if the video doesn't start.

What Doctors don't know About Drugs: Part 1, The Psychiatry and Gluten Sensitivity Disconnect

Dr. David Healy, a psychiatrist has some very powerful points in his address to the American Psychiatric Association meeting October 4, 2012. The main one is how physicians are not apprised of all the adverse effects (including death) and side effects of the medication promoted to them, for the purpose of prescribing them to their patients. Or even the true effectiveness of medications. Part of the reason is because of some doctors' close relationships to the pharmaceutical industry.  I hope the Mental health community starts to  realize it has to lower it's reliance on drugs for those very reasons, and increase it's awareness of the up to date neuroscience information which point to non-drug therapies such as orthomolecular medicine and very effective NADA practices. 
.

Gluten Sensitive persons have high rates of methylation problems, more than 50%, which leads to many health issues but especially drug reactions.(In my own chart review, 76% of my patients have at least one abnormal methylation gene, out of two genes studied, and there are a total of 11 methylation genes). 

And gluten sensitive persons, especially when they are ingesting gluten, have high rates of depression, schizophrenia (17% increased risk), and other mood disorders. When they seek help, they may be treated with medications without an effort to eliminate the diagnosis of gluten sensitivity (see my previous blog entry on how gluten causes neuropathology), methylation issues and the nutritional deficiencies that go along with it, like low cholesterol, iron,vitamin A,D,E,and K,or zinc.When the gluten is eliminated, the methylation issues cleared with B vitamins and zinc, infections cleared, nutritional deficiencies corrected and other metabolic alterations corrected, mental health can be regained. Drugs may have a role while the person is restoring their health, but much caution is required. Monitoring for suicide ideation, a side effect of many drugs, by asking directly, is part of my routine. 

Read part of Dr. Healy's address to psychiatrists:

“I’m going to argue that we need you to be biased. We want you to be biased by treatments that work,” Healy told his colleagues. “I don’t mind if you’re my doctor and you've given talks for industry. My concern is not that you've been paid by industry, but that you've been fooled by industry. The key conflict is whether people are hiding data from you.”

(MORE: Top 10 Drug Company Settlements)

Healy went on to discuss how drug companies have repeatedly concealed important information about the risks of their medications, whether by hiring ghostwriters to spin the results of scientific studies and then getting renowned experts to put their names on the published papers; by employing tricks in clinical trials like using inadequate doses of comparison medications to make the company’s own drug look better; or by simply keeping unfavorable data out of the public domain.

Healy himself has also been targeted directly by drug companies who haven’t been happy with his critiques. In fact, he’s widely believed to have lost an academic job offer at the University of Toronto as a result of one such critical lecture. At the session on Thursday, one slide in his presentation contained information he sought via a Freedom of Information Act request detailing drug maker Eli Lilly’s strategy for shutting Healy down. To counter his public insistence that drug companies reveal hidden drug data, Lilly proposed doing things like planting confederates in the audience of his presentations to ask questions that support industry’s view.

Healy also described how in his own attempts to publish formerly hidden data — which all now reside in the public domain — he encountered legal issues with journals, which ultimately resulted in rejection of publication. The clinical trial data in question in this case showed a greater risk of suicidal acts associated with antidepressants than had previously been revealed.

Healy also referenced hidden data from trials of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa. “None of them mentioned [that the drug could cause] diabetes or [had] the highest suicide rate in clinical trial history,” he said. Although drug companies are now required by medical journals to register all of their clinical trials with the National Institutes of Health if they wish to publish them — including those that never end up being published — this is not a legal requirement. They can still hide relevant data from the FDA by not disclosing trials that they never attempt to submit to a journal.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/05/psychiatrist-contends-the-field-is-committing-professional-suicide/#ixzz28j0j6PDy

This situation of hidden relevant data  concerning medications for all indications is similar in Canada.


Two points I'd like to make:
1. Gluten sensitivity and psychiatric problems go together. Many persons have undiagnosed celiac and gluten sensitive problems, a 400% increase incidence since 1948, and the may be as many as 13 undiagnosed for everyone diagnosed. Maybe 40% of the population is affected in some way. And they have severe health issues including mental health issues. Testing for celiac is imperative. 
2.Gluten sensitivity and drug reactions go together. It needs to be understood that the role of medication is as part of a complex of remedies with: diet, supplements, mindfulness, psychotherapy, acupuncture and others. This will avoid serious side effects. With the use of medication, look at the risk/benefit profile and look for all the metabolic abnormalities in the individual.To repeat, this would include, but is not limited to: Homocysteine for  methylation issues and the nutritional deficiencies that go along with gluten sensitivity, like low cholesterol, iron,vitamin A,D,E,and K,or zinc. I also look for pyrroluria, a genetic condition that leads to functional zinc and B6 deficiency.

To your health and Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers.
Dr. Barbara