The TRUTH About Gluten

There’s a LOT of confusion out there these days about whether gluten is a real hazard to your health or not.

Even many news reporters on popular national TV shows have frequently shown the story from 2 totally opposite sides of the spectrum, highlighting some experts that say gluten only negatively affects a small % of the population that is officially “gluten-sensitive” or people that have Celiac disease, while highlighting other experts that say gluten is affecting a very LARGE portion of the population with various inflammation and auto-immune related health problems that most people don’t realize.
So I’m bringing in one of the experts that I’ve found on this topic, to clarify exactly how gluten could be affecting YOU… did you know that gluten could possibly be causing “tiny holes” to form in your intestines (aka, leaky gut) from the chronic inflammation that gluten can cause… and can also be causing nutrient deficiencies from damage to specialized cells in your intestines that control nutrient absorption.
Read on…

The TRUTH about Gluten

by Kelsey Kale –  Natural Food Chef & Nutritionist
One of the most common objections I get from people when I mention about the benefits of going gluten-free or grain-free is, “Well, yeah, I would cut it out – but I don’t have a problem with gluten.”
While this may be true for a small percentage of the population, more studies are showing that even those of us who think we “don’t have a problem with gluten,” are actually experiencing life-depleting side effects from eating it – but we just don’t know it.
It’s not that these symptoms are hidden necessarily (though sometimes patients with celiac disease have no visible symptoms right after they eat gluten) – more often we blame our symptoms on something else, and we forget to consider gluten as the source of the problem.
The Secret Ways Gluten Is Hurting You
Consider these facts:
>> Responses to the ingestion of wheat can be divided into three types… Let’s start with some basics. There’s a difference between being “allergic” to gluten, having celiac disease, and just being gluten sensitive.
Allergic responses like skin rashes and breathing problems appear to be related to a variety of wheat proteins. Studies done with purified wheat proteins that tracked specific autoimmune antibodies in patients’ blood showed that 60% had antibody responses to α-gliadins and β-gliadins, 55% to γ-gliadins, 48% to ω-gliadins.
On the other hand, certain wheat reactions, like WDEIA or “Wheat Dependent Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis” (a tongue twister, I know!) are syndromes that are known to be caused by a specific type of grain protein, ω5-gliadins.
It’s important to note that those with gluten sensitivity don’t experience their reaction in the same way that those with celiac disease do (though it may feel like it) – gluten sensitivity is not the same autoimmune response as celiac. People with gluten sensitivity have more of a reaction such as “set up a barrier to fight this one time irritant”, while those with celiac disease start building an internal army and develop specific antibodies to gluten so they’re constantly prepared.

Celiac Disease is 4 times more common today than it was 50 years ago.

Doctors and scientists are seeing that the popularity of gluten free diets isn’t just a fad – the actual number of people with a real autoimmune response to gluten is going up. An autoimmune response is more serious than an intolerance because this response causes your body to begin to attack its own cells. An intolerance or sensitivity to gluten is less severe and is more like your reaction to a cold or parasite, which attacks the “invader” but not your body.
This increase in celiac disease is likely due to a combination of the constant experimenting and hybridization of the wheat plant in an attempt to increase growth rate and the amount of grain each plant grows. There’s also the fact that wheat and flour based products now make up a large majority of the average person’s diet (even in countries like China where rice was a staple, wheat-based products are beginning to take over and instances of gluten-related illness are beginning to rise).
Also, because there are no testing measures in place to determine if these newly developed “franken-grains” are safe for human consumption (or if the newly created plants present any side effects when eaten by humans), we’re being served something called “wheat” that’s actually a far cry from the original plant that our grandparents knew and loved.

As many as 29% of us may have a gluten allergy or intolerance and do not know about it.

In a study published in 2007, researchers took gut biopsies from celiac patients as well as patients with no gluten-related symptoms. Five out of six of the patients “without symptoms” showed inflammatory autoimmune blood proteins when they were exposed to gliadin (a component of gluten).
Similar studies done on populations in the UK and Germany showed that when tested, 3 times more people were sensitive to gluten than they originally thought.
These “autoimmune blood proteins” are markers that tell the body to create a system-wide inflammation response (especially in our intestines). This happens for two reasons: One, it helps our body get rid of the offending gluten as quickly as possible; And two,  it sends us a painful message telling us not to eat that food again.
This full-body inflammation creates stress in our digestive tract and can lead to tiny holes in our intestines (known as “leaky gut syndrome”) that allow small particles of undigested food to pass into our bloodstream. This causes even more inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation also kills the specialized cells in your intestines that are designed to absorb nutrients, which can lead to malnourishment and “nutrient starvation” – even if you’re overweight.
It’s even been thought by some researchers that for every 1 person with celiac disease (an estimated 1.8 million Americans) there could be at least six or seven people with “non-celiac gluten sensitivity”. This means that gluten sensitivity may affect upwards of 10-12% of the general population (that’s another 10.8 – 12.6 million people!).

Eating Gluten Can Lead To Other Allergies

>> Gluten sensitivity can also cause dairy intolerance. This is because the enzyme we need to digest the milk sugar lactose (an enzyme called “lactase”) is created by the cells in our small intestine, and these cells can be killed by inflammation caused by eating too much gluten.
>> Lastly, celiac disease is determined by the number of antibody markers found in your stool or blood. The benchmark for beginning to diagnose celiac disease using a blood test is an antibody count of 30+. If you meet this number or higher you are likely to be diagnosed with celiac disease. If you score even 1 point below this number, you technically don’t have celiac – but you will definitely still feel all the painful effects of gluten.
NOTE: Having a high inflammatory blood protein count doesn’t always mean you have Celiac, so it’s best to consult your doctor and participate in a panel of tests before diagnosing yourself.

The Effects Add Up…

Your reaction to gluten may not be strong enough to worry you. A little bit of bloating here, mild swelling in the joints there – no big deal, just a little embarrassing… right?  Wrong.
Over a period of time (let’s say a few years) low levels of inflammation in the body start to add up. Even if you don’t experience any immediate negative effects from eating gluten (or your reactions are “tolerable”), you could be doing long term damage to your body.
For example, remember that this inflammation may be killing off the cells in your small intestine that are designed to absorb nutrients, which can leave you both fat and starving. And chronic inflammation anywhere in the body has full-body effects — chronic inflammation has even been linked to terminal illnesses like cancer and heart disease. Every bite counts.
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Mike’s Note:  Beware of many new “gluten-free” packaged and processed foods that are on the market these days… Most times, these gluten-free processed foods just simply contain highly refined flours such as rice flour, tapioca flour, and corn starch which have severe effects on your blood sugar and insulin levels. Many “gluten-free” processed foods also still contain very high sugar levels.  Junk food is still junk, even if it is “gluten-free”.

Can you HEAL gluten-damaged intestines?

A couple things on this…
1.  There’s a unique ingredient called Actazin in this powerful probiotic supplement that shows strong promise at being able to help HEAL and regenerate gluten-damaged gut-lining cells.  You can read about it at that page.
2.  It’s also well known that Kefir (kefir is generally more powerful than yogurt in terms of both probiotic quantity and variety of strains) can have a powerful healing effect on the digestive system when used regularly because of the unique probiotics.  Kefir is also generally 99% lactose-free since the microbes consume most of the lactose in the fermentation process, making kefir one of the easiest to digest dairy products.
3.  If you’re like me and you stay gluten-free most days of the week, but still eat wheat based foods when traveling or at restaurants, there’s a new and very interesting ingredient called GlutenGone in this enzyme product that I use on the 1 or 2 days a week when I might dine out and eat some foods high in gluten.  I see it as a sort of “protection” against gluten damage for those occasional days when I do eat grains.
Lastly, on this same topic, if you’re not yet convinced of some of the potential health detriments to eating wheat and gluten, make sure you’ve also read this article:

11 Ways that “whole wheat” can damage your body

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A million children at risk because of hidden fat

Around a million children are at risk of heart disease and diabetes because standard measures to determine if they are healthy ignore body fat and muscle mass
By Claire Carter
 
One million children who are classed as healthy under Government standards could be at risk of an early death because of hidden fat around their organs, academics warn.

The body mass index system, which measures height and weight to classify people as underweight, healthy and obese ignores fat within the body say experts, which puts children at risk of diabetes and heart disease.

They say this system underestimates the amount of children who are overweight by around one million, as these children may appear slim but have fat packed around their organs, limbs and brains.

Scientists describe this group as “tofi” children – thin on the outside and fat on the inside – who are being put at risk by the use of standard measurements that do not distinguish between body fat and muscle mass.

Professor David McCarthy, of London Metropolitan University, said there was a “raft” of children who had been overlooked because they are classified as having a healthy BMI.

“This matters because the more fat you have, compared to muscle, the more likely you are to develop type 2 Diabetes and coronary heart disease in later life,” Prof McCarthy told the Mail on Sunday.
“If they maintain their body composition into adulthood, or it gets worse, they are going to be at risk of these diseases.”
For the study 1,000 children were measured using a Tanita bio-electrical impedance machine which measures how much weight is fat and muscle by passing a low electrical current through the body.
This found that 15 per cent of children classed as “healthy” under the BMI scale had high levels of fat – with one boy found to have 29 per cent body fat.
The study also found that one in ten children who were classed as overweight using the BMI system were actually healthy when their muscle and fat mass were measured.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, called for scanning units to be regularly used in schools so their body fat could be measured properly.
“We need to see inside children with sophisticated scientific equipment to find hidden fat- otherwise we are failing to address a growing problem.”
Body mass index is calculated by measuring the ratio of weight to height and does not take into account the difference between body fat and muscle mass. Under the National Child Measurement programme children are measured at ages four to five and when they are 10 and 11, to indicate whether they are in the healthy BMI range or not.
The measurements, which public health officials have conceded are not perfect, have seen some parents of active sporty children receive letters telling them their child is overweight.
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Excess Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health - This is More Than a Vanity Issue!

The difference between subcutaneous fat and the more deadly "visceral fat"... Plus the simple steps to REMOVE this fat permanently
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
author of best-selling program:  The Truth about Six-Pack Abs

Although this picture depicts an extremely overweight man, this article applies to dangerous types of fat inside the bodies of both men and women... and this discussion also applies even if you only have a slight amount of excess stomach fat.
Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat?  It's true -- as much as 70% of the population in some "westernized" countries such as the US and Australia are now considered either overweight or obese.  The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.
However, what most people don't realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.
There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.
The second type of fat that you have in your abdominal area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.
Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat.  Both types of fat greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases. 
Excess stomach fat has also been associated in studies with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation within the body that can lead to heart disease and other health issues.
Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that studies show that it releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.
One of the major reasons that some people accumulate more visceral fat than others can be from a high carbohydrate diet that leads to insulin resistance over time (years of bombarding your system with too much sugars and starches for your pancreas to properly handle the constant excess blood sugar) ... and studies show that high fructose intake particularly from high-fructose corn syrup can be a major contributor to excess visceral fat.
If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat (including reducing visceral fat) should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those attractive six pack abs that everyone wants.
So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat, including visceral fat? 
Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?
The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your abdominal fat faster.  Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of abdominal fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.
The only solution to consistently lose your abdominal fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.
I've actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise & diet combined group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS abdominal fat than the diet & exercise combined group.
Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn abdominal fat.  I see this every day at the gym.
Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their abdominal fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.
Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

From my research, two of the most important aspects to getting rid of visceral fat are:
1. The use of high intensity forms of exercise and full-body resistance training.  Low intensity cardio exercise simply isn't as effective for removing visceral fat in particular.  High intensity exercise such as interval training, sprints (bike sprints or running sprints), AND full-body weight training are very effective at helping to improve your body's ability to manage glucose and increases insulin sensitivity, a crucial step in removing visceral fat. 
These types of high intensity exercise routines are also very effective at increasing your fat-burning hormones and creating a hormonal environment conducive to burning off abdominal fat, including visceral fat.
2.  In addition, it's vitally important to get blood sugar under control to help restore insulin sensitivity through the right nutrition.  This means greatly reducing sugars and refined starches in your diet (including fully eliminating any use of harmful high fructose corn syrup!), and focusing more of your diet on healthy fats (such as avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut fat, olive oil, grass-fed butter, free-range eggs, fatty fish and fish oils, etc), as well as increasing protein and fiber intake.  The standard diet recommended by the government, which contains an unnaturally high grain intake is NOT conducive to controlling blood sugar and reducing visceral fat! 
Reducing grain-based foods in your diet and getting more of your carbs from veggies and high fiber fruits such as berries can go a long way to helping to solve this problem.

Learn the Truth about Losing Your Stomach Fat Permanently
You may not realize this, but the entire basis of my Truth about Six Pack Abs program is NOT about abs exercises... instead, it's actually about detailed strategies for both nutrition and exercise that maximize your ability to lose abdominal fat.  The entire solution... all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program in order to help you to burn stomach fat faster.
Keep in mind that the whole point of this program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective nutritional strategies for losing your stubborn abdominal fat, and maximizing a fat-burning hormonal environment in your body so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.
If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork... it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply these strategies. If you apply it, the results will come. It's really that simple.
One of the main reasons that most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.
I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra abdominal fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS. A lot of people have emailed my support team with questions about whether they need any special equipment for these workouts, if they're too old or too young for this program, if the diet tips will apply to them, etc.  I've made a page that should answer all of your questions...
FAQ - Questions about the Truth about Six Pack Abs abdominal fat loss program
Also, I completely understand that you're skeptical if this will actually work for you... so I think you'll want to see some of the reader reviews from people just like you that are using the system and getting killer results...
Reader Reviews of the Truth about Six Pack Abs abdominal fat loss program
Don't waste another day allowing that nasty abdominal fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.
Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem by reading more details about this unique workout and diet program at the home page -- Losing Dangerous Abdominal Fat
It's time to exercise the CORRECT way, eat smart, and enjoy your life to the fullest!

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Junk Foods vs Healthy Food... Does Eating Junk Food = "Living a Little"?

By Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist 
Author of best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging


Whenever I happen to be over someone's house for a party or get-together of some sort, the subject at some point will inadvertently turn to someone asking me about my  fitness book which then leads us into other discussions about food or fitness.  With approx 70% of the population overweight or obese these days, it's not hard to find someone interested in eating healthier and getting in better shape.
The interesting thing that I have noticed over the years is that almost every single person that has told me that they are "trying" to lose weight, almost always has their house filled with tons of junk foods instead of whole unprocessed natural healthy foods.
It's not uncommon for people to tell me that they're trying really hard to lose weight, but I'll notice boxes of frosted flakes and fruit loops on their counter, cookies, crackers, and donuts in their cupboard, and soda or syrup-filled juices in their fridge.
So the question that always boggles my mind is that if all of these people really want to get in shape and lose weight so bad, why on earth does everybody still have their house filled with junk food instead of healthy foods?
I always tread lightly in these situations because if people don't ask for my advice, I certainly don't want to go spreading my fitness advice around without them wanting to hear my advice... but if they do ask for my help, then I'll ask about why they buy junk foods if they want to improve their body...
Interestingly, the answer usually is that they don't want to give up their favorite foods because they think that eating these junk foods allows them to "live a little" (more like "die a little" with each bite!).
In my opinion, eating junk food has nothing at all to do with enjoying life...actually, when you give up junk food you actually enjoy living more because you FEEL better all the time and have more energy every day...plus getting into better shape by NOT eating junk food gives you more confidence because you actually look better in addition to feeling better, thereby enjoying life more once again.
One thing that many people don't realize is that eating healthy DOESN'T mean eating bland and boring food.  Rather, when you learn to enjoy natural unprocessed foods and start exploring all of the varieties of natural healthy foods this planet has to offer, you discover that you enjoy the natural flavors of real food better than overly processed aggressive tastes so common with excessively salty and sweet junk foods.
An example of this is that the other day I was at a golf course and wanted an unsweetened iced tea, but all they had available was these bottles of heavily sweetened tea. Well, I haven't bought a fully sweetened tea in probably a couple years now... I've actually gotten used to drinking unsweetened tea and have learned to appreciate the natural taste of tea without needing sugar or dangerous artificial sweeteners.
I swear I almost gagged when I drank this bottle of iced tea... it was so syrupy sweet that it was just plain disgusting. 
Same thing for coffee... I used to need a lot of sugar in coffee, but after a while of slowly using less and less sugar, I can actually drink black coffee now and enjoy the natural flavor of it without needing sugar (although I prefer coffee with a tiny bit of stevia and also some grass-fed cream, which is actually quite healthy) ...
These are just examples of how once you start appreciating the natural flavors of real foods, you find that you no longer need the overly aggressive sugary, salty, or artificial flavors that have been ingrained in us by food manufacturers and all of the junk they push on us.

Anyway, I believe everyone should actually enjoy what you eat, but do it without eating overly processed foods... people are often surprised to hear that a lot of the foods that they think are junk foods, I actually consider healthy foods, but only because I put a healthy spin on traditional junk food...
For example:

• Junk food:  a cheap fast-food burger on a crappy refined white bun
• My healthy alternative:  A grass-fed burger (with higher omega-3's and CLA) with raw grass-fed cheese on a sprouted grain roll topped with avocado slices
   
• Junk food:  Deep fried and breaded chicken fingers with french fries (tons of nasty trannies)
• My healthy alternative:  grilled chicken breast strips with peanut dipping sauce and vegetables
   
• Junk food:  a piece of chocolate cupcake, chocolate donut, or chocolate candy bar
• My healthy alternative:  a couple squares of super-dark chocolate (greater than 70% cocoa content only)... higher in fiber and much less sugar

Now that's how to enjoy food while eating healthier at the same time!  I hope this gives you ideas on how to get a new perspective on what really constitutes junk food or healthy foods.

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