THE WORLD’S FIRST GLUTEN SUMMIT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE! It's Not Too Late to Register

The first two days of the Gluten Summit have been exciting, informative and motivating!
This information really can change your life for the better. It will save lives.

There are a lot more interviews of world class gluten experts, so why don't you register today for free.

Registration and speaker information.

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

Celiac Brain's Best Pumpkin Pie Ever!

With the cold weather approaching and the gifts of the harvest on our tables, we sure have lots to be thankful for. 

This time of year, I always make a pumpkin pie for a family dinner, usually Canadian Thanksgiving dinner and this recipe makes the best pumpkin pie ever. Even a person who said pumpkin pie is not their favourite, liked this pie, because the pumpkin taste is a bit milder because of the coconut milk. 

If you don't like it too sweet, I have made it with half the amount of maple syrup and honey and it was very nice too.

Pumpkin Pie (GAPS, Grain free, Dairy free, Paleo)

Serving Size: Makes one 10 inch pie.

Ingredients for pie crust

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup of pitted Madjool dates

2 Tbsp. coconut oil

Preheat oven to 450 F and adjust rack to middle position. Line 10 inch springform pan with parchment.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine and until the mixture holds together when pressed between your fingers. Press the crust firmly into bottom of the pan.

Bake crust until golden about 10 minutes. Cool.

Ingredients for filling

½ cup honey

¼ cup of maple syrup

¼ tsp. of ground nutmeg

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 Tbsp. organic gelatin (one package)

4 large eggs

2 cups of coconut milk (without carrageenan, sulphites or starches)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into baked pie shell. Place pie dish on a large baking sheet in center of oven with ¼ inch of water in it. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 F and bake for an additional 20 minutes until edges of pie are set. Cool to room temperature before serving. Serve alone or with whipped coconut cream ( cool a can of coconut milk, scoop out the thickened cream part and leave the more liquid milk and whip the cream as you would whipping cream). 

Enjoy All year round. 
To Your Health
Dr, Barbara
PS Thank you to my niece Leah, for taking the picture.

THE WORLD’S FIRST GLUTEN SUMMIT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Do you want to know more about gluten and how it creates disease? Do you want to learn how to heal from gluten damage?

If you answered yes to both you need to register, free of charge for The Gluten Summit.
I am happy to promote more conversation regarding this hidden and dangerous cause of early illness and early death. This exciting event starts tomorrow, November 11th. To have so many of the cutting edge gluten experts in one place is amazing. You have heard of quite of few of them right here at "celiacbrain". Now hear them interviewed.

Dr. Tom O’Bryan of theDr.com has gathered 29 of the world’s experts and opinion leaders on the topics of gluten-related disorders, nutrition and healthy living for a series of online interviews taking place for FREE from November 11-17, 2013.

During the summit, you will:
Learn about the latest research on gluten-related disorders;
Understand why we MUST call more attention to them;
Gain improved knowledge of proper diagnosis/treatment methods;
More frequently ask, “Could this health issue be due to gluten?”

The goal of The Gluten Summit is to shift the scientific discussion and clinical recognition of gluten-related disorders forward by five years. Meaning, [Dr. O'Bryan as well as all of us want] the conversation between patients and doctors that will be happening five years from now to happen now.

Time is growing short, the Gluten Summit begins November 11th. If you haven't signed up yet, you still have an opportunity to do so, just follow the link below: 



Registration and Speaker information






To Your Health.

Dr. Barbara

.

What's Tylenol Doing to Our Minds?- The Atlantic

As you know I am very concerned about mental symptoms and emotional matters and how they pertain to our metabolic processes especially when those metabolic processes are affected by external factors. Most external factors are easy and cheap to avoid there by preventing mental illness of any degree. Gluten and grain toxic polypeptides produce strong negative effects especially to those who are gluten sensitive and can be avoided.

I caution strongly those with gluten sensitivity to avoid chemical exposure because they are more likely to get a worse side effect. You will still get some, but you will lower the toxic load and be more able to tolerate what you do get exposed to. Avoid chemicals: on skin (like chemical washing detergents and commercial makeup and moisturizers), eating, drinking, even medication unless there is a life threatening situation. There are safe natural alternatives for most.  

Here is an interesting article at The Atlantic, reviewing scientific studies showing how acetaminophen causes changes in our perceptions of important life events.
Acetaminophen appears to blunt the same pathways that help with pain and those that seem to moderate existential distress.  Dumbing us down. Scary.

If you are interested in keeping mentally sharp and having good judgement, if you are an artist trying to make a statement, you should know of these possible effects of acetaminophen on your mind. 

To Your Health.
Dr. Barbara

Call for a Standardized Report Scheme for Pathologists Reading Small Bowell Biopsies

Small intestinal biopsy is the "Gold standard" diagnostic test for celiac disease within the medical community.

There are lots of controversies in the diagnosis and classification of the observations found in a sample of small bowel. To aid in more accurate diagnosis, there is a call for a standardized report scheme for pathologists.(1)

Dr. Marsh made such an attempt back in 1995 or so and the March protocol was adopted by some. It was updated and simplified. This protocol looks not just for whether the villi are absent or shortened or normal length, but also for the condition of the intraepithelial area. And the criteria are different for the different parts of the bowel. I have never seen a Marsh scale on any SB biopsy report.


I recommend that if you have had a small bowel biopsy, that you get a copy of the pathologists report. It may state how many samples were taken. The American Gastroenterological Association recommends at least four samples are taken because that has proven to double the diagnostic rate for celiac disease.

The report may state the condition of the villi and should state something about the condition of the intraepithelial area and what kinds of white blood cells are found in this area if any at all. The picture above is of a biopsy sample viewed under the microscope, and it has a lot of white blood cells in the intraepithelial area of the broken down villi. They show up as black dots.


The following report from Stanford on Celiac disease: surgical pathological criterion, shows you how complicated it is for the pathologist to make a report and an impression which will help the treating doctor make a diagnosis.

Celiac Disease
Definition
Chronic enteritis secondary to gluten sensitivity
Alternate/Historical Names
Celiac sprue
Coeliac disease
Gluten sensitive enteropathy
Non-tropical sprue
Diagnostic Criteria
Villous atrophy in small intestine
     May be variable and patchy
     Most symptomatic patients have total villous atrophy
     Defined as completely flattened villi
     Partial atrophy more common in pre-symptomatic or post-treatment patients or in relatives          being screened
Increased intraepithelial lymphocytes in small intestine may be seen with or without atrophy
Cutoff varies by location
     Duodenum >30 / 100 enterocytes
     Alternative proposed is 6-12 / 20 enterocytes at the tips of villi
     Jejunum >40 / 100 enterocytes
     Occasionally seen in stomach and large intestine
T cell phenotype
     CD2+, CD3+, CD8 70-90%
     Gamma delta T cell receptor
     CD3 stain is useful for identification and counting
Intraepithelial lymphocytes evenly distributed from bottom to top of crypts or increased at tops
      Normal distribution is decreasing from bottom to top
      Villi must be well oriented to be certain that what appears to be the top is not a semi-           tangentially cut section of mid-villus
      Identification of an abnormal distribution or of more than rare lymphocytes on H&E is a clue that it may be worth staining and counting cells
Increased intraepithelial lymphocytes in the absence of villus atrophy is suggestive of latent or partially treated celiac disease but not specific, as it can be seen in:
       Infections (Giardia, Helicobacter, Cryptosporidium, viruses)
      Food allergy
      Drug reactions (NSAIDS)
      Immune system abnormalities

There is a lot of good information in the whole report here,


Of note, I disagree the the serum anti tissue transglutaminase IgG is 95% sensitive and 98% specific. Dr. J. Abram from Columbia showed that the test, when used in real life was closer to 51%-71% sensitive and 69%-100% specific.

1.
Ensari A. Gluten-sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease): controversies in diagnosis and classification. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2010 Jun;134(6):826-36.

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

GAPS Nutrition Counselling Available In Ottawa, Certified by Dr. Campbell-McBride

It is with great pleasure that I share Diane Trumbles' GAPS web site with you. She has training and certification from Dr. Campbell- McBride, the author of The Gut and Psychology Syndrome. With an appointment, Diane can guide you through the GAPS diet and protocol.

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

I'll be away for a week attending the international ISNN 2013 conference about Nutrigenomics and Epigenetics in Quebec city. It should be a really exciting time. My particular interest is in a common genetic problem which is even more common in gluten sensitive persons called methylation or one carbon metabolism (above 76%). 


Understanding something about one carbon metabolism explains some of the issues around why some people get sick and why quite a few people don't get better on a gluten free diet, let alone a grain free diet. This problems leads to hundreds of medical problems and it can be remediated with proper food and nutritional supplements! 

I have witnesses some incredible reversals of  bad health to good health just with the right food and the right supplements. 

I can't wait to share what I learn.
To Your Health
Dr. Barbara