Gluten-free living could save your life

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since the incredibly successful “Ice Bucket Challenge” started. In case you missed it: seemingly everyone in the world poured a bucket of ice over their head and “nominated” friends to do the same. All with the intent to encourage donating funds to support research for amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a serious — and deadly — neurodegenerative disease.

A fundraising campaign like this can only be viral for so long, though, until folks move on to the next. But long after the Ice Bucket Challenge has passed its peak, I’m still passionate about bringing you information on this debilitating disease.

On that front: Researchers in Israel have found that sensitivity to gluten may potentially cause ALS.

These researchers studied people both with and without ALS. They found that 23 out of 150 people with ALS had antibodies to an enzyme produced in the brain called tissue transglutaminase 6 (TG6). This is compared to only 5 out of 115 in the non-ALS group.

Why is this important? TG6 is produced when gluten is consumed.

What’s more, not only did a greater percentage of the ALS group (vs. the non-ALS group) produce these antibodies, but the ALS patients also had higher concentrations of them.

Now, it’s important to note that so far, all the researchers have found here is an association. It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a direct cause. Still, there’s already more than enough evidence that gluten-packed lifestyles are not healthy at all.

Your action plan is to get rid of gluten. And you can do that by following a Mediterranean-style diet, packed with foods that contain no gluten, little to no carbs, and plenty of healthy monounsaturated fat. Concentrate on whole, fresh foods like salmon and other fish, lean meat, eggs, avocado, macadamia nut, and plenty of vegetables.

I’ve written before about the benefits of fish and omega-3 fatty acids for fighting ALS as well as plenty of vegetables.

For more on what you can do for ALS and other autoimmune diseases, you can also refer back to my feature article “How to defuse a rogue immune system—without becoming your own worst enemy” in the September 2014 issue of my monthly Logical Health Alternatives newsletter. Subscribers can access this issue via the Subscriber Sign-In page on my website, www.drpescatore.com. If you’re not yet a subscriber, now’s a great time to sign up here.

Source:

Transglutaminase 6 Antibodies in the Serum of Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.JAMA Neurology, online April 13, 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/13/us-als-gluten-link-idUSKBN0N428I20150413