The highest incidence of health issues that I commonly see in my practice are issues relating to IBS (irritable bowel disease).  If clients are having IBS symptoms then one of the most important aspects to get checked is gluten intolerance.  However, even if this test comes up negative it still doesn’t mean they are okay to have gluten in their diet.  There is also gluten sensitivity which is often getting over looked, the difference between an intolerance and a sensitivity is, an intolerance means that you have an allergic response to gluten that you form a histamine reaction, however a sensitivity is when you don’t have such a strong response but that the body has trouble metabolising it.

Recently the Wimbledon winner, Novak Djokovic, has been experiencing just that. He discovered through a system called kinesiology, which is what I use in my clinic, that he was sensitive to gluten. You can read the article “Wimbledon Winner Novak Djokovic’s Diet Secret for Success”.  He discovered that when he stopped eating gluten containing foods that he had more energy and the stiffness in his body disappeared.

Gluten sensitivity is a lot more common than doctors are realising, if you are not intolerance to gluten then get checked for sensitivity because that can still be an issue.  You can see a Kinesiologist for that, a lot of chiropractors practice Applied Kinesiology, or you can get an ELISA test done, which tests for specific antibodies within the body that are reacting to the antigen present from the food group. Or you can do an Array 3 test from Cyrex Laboratories, this test is different because it measures a greater array of antibodies that occur due to gluten, such as gliadin and transglutaminase-2, and also transglutaminase-3 and 6.  Most doctors only screen for alpha gliadin or transglutaminase-2, which are the common antibodies in celiac disease caused by gluten intolerance, however you could be okay with those antibodies but not the other ones and be declared that you are not celiac, but in fact you are sensitive to gluten. 

The danger of not getting this recognized is that someone who is sensitive (not reacting to transglutaminase-2, which is expressed in the gut) may not have classic celiac disease symptoms but they could have skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis, or it could manifest as depression, peripheral neuropathy, or ADHD. (1, 2)

If this person doesn’t realize they are gluten sensitive then they could keep eating the gluten containing foods and be at risk for more serious diseases later in life, such as multiple sclerosis, ataxia, diabetes, and ALS.(3,4,5, 6)