Gluten

Hello, Mr. Jelínek,
how is it with gluten consumption for healthy people (non-celiacs), should they also rather choose gluten-free grains (foods), or is gluten important for a varied diet for some reason?
Thank you.

Every component in food has its significance, and this also applies to gluten. The human digestive tract, including the immune system, has adapted relatively well to the intake of a certain amount of gluten over several thousand years of its consumption. For a healthy individual, it is generally unnecessary to switch to a gluten-free diet—if the amount of gluten in the daily diet is "adequate," such a dietary change will not yield any substantial benefits. The situation is different when the amount of gluten is too high, which is quite common in practice. There are no official recommendations on the frequency of consuming gluten sources or so-called "recommended daily allowances." However, in an effort to ensure or maintain balance, it is advisable to combine gluten and gluten-free grains, which will result in a reduction of the overall gluten content and simultaneously enhance dietary diversity.

Hello,

I am interested in your perspective on gluten and autoimmune diseases. I have often encountered claims that diseases such as thyroid disorders are linked to gluten intolerance.

Gluten can not only potentially be, but indeed often is, the cause of various diseases. However, it is not entirely correct to generalize such situations, as it creates the impression that gluten is the root of all evil, which then leads individuals to make less than ideal dietary choices. For a health problem related to gluten consumption to occur, a spectrum of certain conditions must be met (a set of genetic and epigenetic factors) that are not predictable in individuals. Most of the population is adapted to gluten sources, and this protein does not cause them any problems. The rest are simply "unlucky," and it is a matter of individuality which organ or system in the body will respond with an imbalance (for example, in thyroid function disorders, we know that Hashimoto's thyroiditis occurs more frequently in celiacs).

In general, it holds that:
1. Gluten intake in a healthy individual should not cause any issues,
2. It is preferable to opt for fermented gluten sources (they are easier to digest and impose less of a burden on the immune system),
3. Health complications are not caused by gluten alone, but in combination with other dietary components – this too is individual, but is most commonly presented with long-term excess sugar, a predominance of ultra-processed foods in the diet, and the influence of certain food additives. Altogether, these factors are such a significant burden on the immune system that they lead to the onset of autoimmune reactions.

Hello,
some types of tempeh contain fermented wheat, but it is not listed as an allergen. Does that mean there is no gluten in fermented wheat?
Thank you for your response.

In tempeh, wheat appears in situations where it is part of fermented soy sauce. Because the food has undergone complete fermentation, during which the structure of gluten has been entirely broken down (enzymatic hydrolysis), it is not present in the food.

Good day,

I was beginning to rejoice that I finally understood the difference between celiac disease and a wheat allergy. Today's lesson has confused me a bit again. We learned that an allergy is conditioned by immune reactions, while intolerance is caused by a metabolic disorder (most commonly enzyme deficiency). So, is celiac disease considered a food intolerance, even though the immune system is involved in its development, unlike other food intolerances?

Furthermore, I wanted to ask if celiac disease is truly an incurable condition. As a child, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, but nowadays (and probably since the age of 10), I have no problem with gluten. Was it then a misdiagnosis?

Thank you.

Celiac disease is a genetically determined disorder of mucosal immunity that reacts abnormally to gluten and prolamins. It is an intolerance (= metabolic disorder) that involves the immune system. Modern medicine defines it as incurable, meaning a lifelong disease. In practice, I have witnessed several situations where individuals overcame this diagnosis, in cases where the diagnosis was conducted in a standard (comprehensive) manner (= with a low probability of diagnostic error). However, I cannot conscientiously say whether this was a statistically insignificant exception or an intervention by the body's homeostatic self-healing systems. These cases are commonly categorized by medicine under the label "spontaneous remission"...