ARE THERE NATURAL REMEDIES FOR GLUTEN INTOLERANCE AND CELIAC DISEASE?

Pure therapeutic plant oils can help to boost essential nutrition, natural immunity and cleanse the body.

There is currently no pharmaceutical medicine for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Diet is the single main area of focus for helping people to relieve the symptoms and eliminate the risk of occurrence - not only eating gluten free but also ensuring a diet of nutrient rich, healthy food to compensate for damage and disruption to normal nutrition.

In reality, a varied healthy diet is not hard to achieve without gluten, but our wheat-eating culture (gluten is also in rye and barley) means that there will be habits to break and many processed foods to avoid.

Note: Wheat, barley and rye are the standard gluten offenders but for some people with even greater sensitivity there are other gluten-related substances that occur in a greater variety of foods.

The good news is that pure therapeutic plant oils have nutrient, immune-boosting and cleansing properties that can support a damaged body (celiac - see below) or help the body to recover more efficiently (gluten sensitive - see below) as you make the transition to a gluten-free diet.

Should I be worried about gluten intolerance?

In the USA approximately 1% of the population has a gluten-related condition called celiac disease. Another 6% is thought to have a less defined condition known as gluten sensitivity. Countries with a comparable western diet have similar statistics though in New Zealand some experts are suggesting that up to 50% of the population could have symptoms related to gluten sensitivity.

Ingested gluten can trigger an immune response which causes antibodies in the gut to attack the gluten proteins. In celiac patients, this attack is not limited to gluten but also assaults the wall of the small intestines. It is an auto-immune condition that can compromise not only the absorption of essential nutrients to the body but also the protective barrier that would normally keep bacteria and toxins from entering the bloodstream.

In gluten sensitive people the immune response is more general and does not damage the stomach wall in the same way. While celiac presents with more severe health issues, the immediate symptoms in either case are often similar and are sufficiently vague and varied that diagnosis can be hard to pinpoint.

• Stomach pain, bloating, indigestion
• Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting
• Loss or increase in appetite
• Unexplained weight loss or gain
• Congestion
• Fatigue
• Depression and anxiety
• Foggy thinking
• Skin irritation
• Joint and Muscle aches
• Low immunity

If you have had on-going health issues connected to any of these symptoms, you might want to look into gluten intolerance and ask your doctor about testing - first for celiac and then by elimination for gluten sensitivity.

WHAT ABOUT GLUTEN-FREE FOOD?

Gluten-free has become such a buzz word in natural health circles that a lot of people actually consider it to mean the same thing as health food.

The reasons for this are varied.

• For people with celiac disease, eating a 100% gluten free diet is the most important step towards improving natural health.
• Since about 83% of those people go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, simply trying a gluten-free diet has the potential to make many people feel radically more healthful.
• A potentially much greater percentage of people suffer from gluten sensitivity without ever being diagnosed and again those people will experience significant health benefits from a gluten-free diet.
• People suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome also gain some level of improvement from not eating grains that contain gluten (because these grains have a high level of a certain sugar that causes IBS).
• Studies suggest that a number of other immune-related disorders are improved when gluten is cut out - arthritis,diabetes hypothyroidism, to name a few.
• Alternative non-gluten whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat and wild rice are nutritious health foods.

So while the trend to eat gluten-free might not specifically mean greater health to the majority population, for those people who genuinely have an intolerance to gluten, gluten-free is definitely food for health.

How can I use pure therapeutic oils if I am gluten-sensitive?

You can use pure oils that are very high in essential minerals and nutrients to supplement your dietary intake.

Since leafy-greens are recommended to help boost iron intake, a good salad habit makes perfect sense. Avoid processed salad-dressings that often contain gluten and instead create your own mega-food salad base to keep on hand in the fridge to dress up with garlic, mustard, black-pepper sea salt etc,. as you choose.

• 100ml Organic Argan Oil (see here for info)
• 500 ml Organic Avocado Oil
• 250ml Organic Olive Oil
• 125ml Organic Flax Seed
• 25ml Organic Evening Primrose Oil.(since gluten can disrupt hormone balance this choice has added health-restoring benefits).
• Give up the crappy snacks that almost inevitably contain gluten and get in the habit of filling the gap with a nutrient-rich smoothie.
• 1 banana
• 1 cup blue berries
• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of spirulina (good to improve iron levels after gluten related anemia)
• 1-3 teaspoons Organic Argan Oil (see the power of Argan oil for info)

Any fresh fruit will work. Iron-rich leafy greens can be added too. You can also add a flavorful drop of cleansing, a digestion-boosting essential oil such as organic Peppermint oil, Lemon oil, Grapefruit oil or Ginger oil.

(1-2 drops of Peppermint in half a teaspoon of Olive oil massaged clockwise to the stomach will help ease indigestion and bloating.)

We can also use organic essential oils in a more focused way to help the body cleanse itself of toxins and particles that overload immune defences. They have an active cleansing dynamic that works right into and around the tiny finger-like projections of the colon wall (villi) making nutrient absorption much more efficient.

It is very important to drink sufficient pure water to ensure that all body systems can work efficiently. You can add essential oils to drinking water for additional cleansing power. Twice a day, in a large glass of water add:

• 1 drop Lemon oil or Lime oil
• 1 drop Grapefruit

Lemon and Lime are also especially good to help boost immunity.

For a "Super Inside Out" Cleanse, add to a Vegie Capsule filled with Olive Oil:

• 1 drop Ginger oil
• 1 drop Kanuka oil

Do this at meals, 3 times a day to aid digestion and boost the immune system from the inside out. Continue for no longer than 6 weeks.

For a more concentrated synergy to support a compromised immune system use Immune Plus (or Child Care Immune Plus). Add 5 drops to a teaspoon of Olive oil and massage along the spine or onto the feet before bed at night. You can also diffuse 5-10 drops in your bedroom. (This is especially effective because when we sleep our parasympathetic nervous system is in 'body restore' mode.)

 

Medicinal-grade essential oils must be 100% pure. At Absolute Essential we use certified organic or wild grown (sustainable) plants to produce our oils and all extraction processes are strictly controlled to produce the best quality oil with a maximum purity and therapeutic value. See more at Absolute Essential.