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by Sayer Ji
October 12,
2012
from
GreenMedInfo Website
Despite
popular misconceptions
gluten is only
the tip of a very large iceberg.
There are
actually 23,788 distinct proteins
that have been
identified in wheat,
any one of which
could incite
a negative
immune reaction
in the body...
Most folks don't realize that when we are talking about health
problems associated with wheat, or gluten, we are not talking about
a monolithic entity, a singular "bad guy," solely responsible for
the havoc commonly experienced as a consequence of consuming this
grain.
After all, how could just
one villain cause the
200+ different clinically observed adverse
health effects now linked in the biomedical literature to
wheat consumption?
No, the problem is that "gluten" is an abstraction, and in its
perceived singularity profoundly misrepresents the true extent of
the problem, much in the way that the tip of an iceberg does not
convey the massive threat submerged below...
Gluten is the Latin name for "glue," and signifies the doughy
complex of proteins within the wheat plant, further classified as
either,
Because wheat is a
hexaploid species (doesn't that
sound creepy?), the byproduct of three ancestor plants becoming one,
with no less than 6 sets of chromosomes and 6.5 times more genes
than found in the human genome, it is capable of producing no less
than 23,788 different proteins - a fact as amazing as it is
disturbing. [i]
Disturbing,
how?
Well, any one of these proteins could elicit what is known as an
antigenic response, i.e. the immune system identifies a wheat
protein as other, launches either an innate or adaptive immune
response, and attacks self-structures accidentally, as a result.
So, if only one protein could incite an adverse reaction,
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What would 23,000
different proteins do when presented to the body for
processing simultaneously?
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And what if many
of these wheat proteins were disulfide-bonded proteins, that
is, "glued" together (remember, gluten is the Latin
word for glue) with the same, sturdy sulfur-based
bonds found in human hair and vulcanized rubber - (think
bowling ball plastic tough!) - which is to say, impossible
for our digestive system to break down fully?
[ii]
What would happen is that
many of these proteins would pass through our intestinal tract, made
more permeable by the dual effects of
gliadin (zonulin up-reguation) and
wheat
lectin (the invisible thorn), hence
"opening pandora's bread box" of autoimmunity and systemic
inflammation...
Keep in mind that 23,788 proteins is a very large number.
And given the
recombinatorial possibilities inherent in such a large number of
distinct, different proteins, some of them have emerged - by sheer
accident - as nearly identical (homologous) in structure and
configuration to both narcotic drugs and virulent
components of immune-system activating microbes.
Narcotic
Potential
Gliadin can be broken down into various amino acid lengths or
peptides.
Gliadorphin is a 7 amino
acid long peptide:
Tyr-Pro-Gln-Pro-Gln-Pro-Phe
which forms when the gastrointestinal system is compromised.
When digestive enzymes
are insufficient to break gliadorphin down into 2-3 amino
acid lengths and a compromised intestinal wall allows for the
leakage of the entire 7 amino acid long fragment into the blood,
glaidorphin can pass through to the brain through
circumventricular organs and activate opioid receptors
resulting in disrupted brain function.
There have been a number of gluten exorphins identified:
gluten exorphin A4,
A5, B4, B5 and C, and many of them have been hypothesized to
play a role in autism, schizophrenia, ADHD and related
neurological conditions.
In the same way that the
celiac iceberg illustrated the illusion that intolerance to
wheat is rare, it is possible, even probable, that wheat exerts
pharmacological influences on everyone.
What distinguishes the
schizophrenic or autistic individual from the
functional wheat consumer is the degree to which they are
affected.
Immunotoxic
Potential
The digestion of gliadin produces a peptide that is 33 amino acids
long and is known as 33-mer which has a remarkable homology to the
internal sequence of
pertactin, the immunodominant
sequence in the Bordetella pertussis bacteria (whooping cough).
Pertactin is considered a
highly immunogenic virulence factor, and is used in vaccines to
amplify the adaptive immune response.
It is possible the immune
system may confuse this 33-mer with a pathogen resulting in either
or both a cell-mediated and adaptive immune response against self.
So, while acknowledging that "gluten" is a problem is a good, first
step in the acknowledgment of the dangers of wheat, it
is just the beginning of a journey into understanding the true
nature, and extent of damage caused by this debilitating food.
Resources
[i]
Exploring the Plant Transcriptome through
Phylogenetic Profiling - Plant Physiology Vol. 137,
2005; pg. 3
[ii] Technically, bacteria that colonize our upper
gastrointestinal tract are capable of degrading harmful
gluten peptides -
Identification of Rothia bacteria as
gluten-degrading natural colonizers of the upper
gastro-intestinal tract.
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