The Best Protection Against Gluten-Induced Intestinal Damage You Can Get

gluten damage

Health trends come and go but “gluten-free” is NOT one of them because gluten can cause serious health issues.

Research tells us that gluten is a growing problem because there is a direct connection between gluten and disease. Many people are living with celiac disease, gluten intolerance, wheat allergy and autoimmune diseases including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis when gluten becomes one of the major triggers of inflammation, symptoms and flare-ups.

The rates of autoimmunity have been skyrocketing for decades. Autoimmune digestive diseases like colitis and Crohn’s are following the same trend. Multiple food allergies are already the norm but will become even more mainstream.

Most of all, every single functional medicine doctor says that their patients do better when avoiding gluten and other allergens and the proof is overwhelming.

Why is that happening?

Why Are We Becoming So Allergic To Gluten?

The number one problem is that gluten isn’t digestible by the human body.

In fact, Harvard M.D. and legendary gluten, autoimmunity and intestinal permeability researcher, Dr. Alessio Fasano (I wrote about his autoimmunity theory well back in 2012 here) says:

“We are able to completely digest every protein we put in our mouths with the exception of one – and that’s gluten.”

Gluten is a resistant to digestion protein that is found in the endosperm of the grain seeds in wheat, barley and rye. In a healthy person, proteins are broken down by the digestive enzymes into smaller groups called peptides.

However, gluten contains three peptides and in particular alpha-gliadins that cannot be broken down in the stomach and reach the small intestine undigested. 

In people who don’t react to gluten the indigestible part of gluten moves through the digestive tract without causing an adverse reaction and is excreted.

The problem is that gluten peptides exposure creates an abnormal response of the immune system, inflammation and intestinal damage in people who have celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and leaky gut.

For those with celiac disease and many other medical conditions, gluten creates devastating reactions in the body that are limited to not only the digestive tract and can become systemic.

But even if you don’t have a diagnosed health condition, the fact that gluten is indigestible often means inflammation, bloating, gas, sluggish metabolism and weight gain.

There might be 4 other reasons why so many people react to gluten:

  1. The glyphosate that’s sprayed on the crops.
  2. A gut bacteria problem.
  3. Our exposure to harmful EMFs which help trigger leaky gut.
  4. The fact that modern wheat is way more allergenic than the wheat our ancestors used to consume.

The truth is… your gluten problems are probably caused by ALL of these factors, combined.

The other truth is… that if you experience negative effects on your health when eating gluten containing foods… you NEED to remove gluten from your diet.

There’s just one little problem:

Even if you strictly avoid gluten, it’s nearly impossible to remove gluten from your diet completely!

Why? Because we live in a world of gluten contamination.

It’s in the kitchen at restaurants, hidden in innocent-looking food ingredients, it’s pretty much unavoidable.

Even if you are making every attempt to avoid gluten, chances are still high that you are getting regular gluten exposure anyway. Just look at this list of unsuspected gluten sources.

And that could be making a negative impact on your health right now because even small amounts of gluten can be damaging to your digestive system.

For example, an ingestion of 25 to 50 mg of gluten which is as small as the size of a crumb, is already enough to trigger an adverse reaction.

According to one research study, consuming as little as 50 mg of gluten daily can cause a renewed villous atrophy after 90 days.

If you are following a gluten-free diet because of health reasons you need to protect yourself from accidental gluten exposure through gluten contamination and hidden sources of gluten, especially when eating out, travelling and during the holidays.

Today I am going to share with you new exciting research findings that actually can become your life-saver when it comes to protecting yourself from gluten exposure and gluten-induced intestinal damage.

How DPP-IV Can Protect You From Harmful Gluten Effects

Gluten Enzyme DPP IV

The solution came in the form of an enzyme called DPP-IV or dipeptidyl peptidase IV which has the ability to break down the outer protein layer of gluten and make it digestible. This enzyme helps break down gluten proteins into smaller, non-reactive compounds right at the opening of the small intestine before gluten can cause harmful effects in the intestinal lining.

The more I researched DPP-IV, the more I was impressed by its properties. Initially, researches were looking into creating drugs that can help break down gluten proteins, however as any drug it comes with some undesirable side effects.

There is also some research that has been done about using protease enzymes to break apart gluten proteins, however some oral protease enzymes recommended for gluten digestion have low potency. They show low enzymatic activity because they cannot fully withstand the acidity of the stomach and as a result are unable to prevent the undigested gluten proteins from getting into the small intestines.

The advantage of DPP-IV enzymes is that it doesn’t have this problem. DPP-IV can effectively break down gluten proteins before they reach the small intestine, doesn’t have side effects as drugs and is less likely to cause negative effects on the immune system because it is a natural compound.

Another important benefit is that proteases high in DPP-IV activity assist in digesting and utilizing not only gluten but also casein containing foods.

If you have adverse reactions to gluten and/or casein you want to have DPP-IV on hand at all times and I’ll tell you in a moment where you can get it.

How Low DPP-IV Can Affect Severity Of  Your Gluten-Related Symptoms

Hashimotos And Gluten

But DPP-IV doesn’t only helps us digest casein and gluten and minimize their negative effects, it also can modulate immune response. In fact, it is known to mediate the immune response of your T-cells by affecting the immuno-regulatory activity, which triggers a Th1 or Th2 immune response.

DPP-IV expression is higher on Th1 than Th2 cells and correlates with the production of Th1 cytokines. Therefore, because celiac disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are a Th1 immune-mediated disease (90% of Hashimoto’s are Th1 dominant as I wrote here), it is possible that DPP-IV regulates physiological immune processes, including the adaptive systemic immune response to local inflammation in these two autoimmune conditions.

DPP-IV occurs naturally in the intestinal lining, however it is lower in people who react to gluten: a decrease in the intestinal DPP-IV activity correlates with the higher degree of intestinal damage in people with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and other malabsorption disorders.

This means that:

  • The lower the DPP-IV enzyme levels the more substantial the damage to the intestinal lining.
  • Following a gluten-free diet is important but it’s not the only factor that will affect how you react to gluten. The lower your DPP-IV levels the more severe will be your reaction to even small amounts of gluten.

Studies show that even on a gluten-free diet exposure to gluten can be too high and cause not only intestinal damage but also shifts in your immune system. It is critically important that

People with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or intolerance should be taking a gluten-digesting enzyme complimentary to a gluten-free diet.

Clinical trials with gluten-digesting enzymes show a statistically significant, dose-dependent reduction in the severity and frequency of symptoms as well as improved intestinal biopsy results.

Hopefully, you see why I feel that it is critical for anyone who has issues with gluten to use a product that contains high potency DPP-IV gluten-digesting enzymes.

Where To Get DPP-IV?

Luckily, there is the most potent source of the DPP-IV enzyme that is called Gluten Guardian and it is available to you today. It combines DPP-IV enzyme with 4 proteases to break down various types of proteins inside of wheat, included AstraZyme to boost absorption of beneficial nutrients, 3 types of amylase to break down carbohydrates, plus it helps with digestion of casein proteins.

It is THE most potent gluten-digesting enzyme product developed so far and you can get it HERE currently offered at up to 25% off and FREE shipping to the USA and Canada.

Gluten Guardian can help you to protect yourself from negative effects of gluten in the best way possible and enjoy your food without a fear of an accidental gluten exposure and consequences such as bloating, skin rashes, indigestion, weight gain or another autoimmune flare-up.

P.S. Even if you’re someone who doesn’t feel “bad” after eating gluten containing foods, there’s no denying the inflammation and immune reaction it causes in people with autoimmune diseases including Hashimoto’s, lupus, Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

Gluten Guardian can help you with this, by rendering breaking down this protein into a form your body can actually digest. You can try it here at 25% off and FREE shipping to the USA and Canada

References:

Synergistic action of an X-prolyl dipeptidyl aminopeptidase and a non-specific aminopeptidase in protein hydrolysis”. J Agric Food Chem. 2001, 49(4), 2061-63.

Serum and Intestinal Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV (DPP IV/CD26) Activity in Children With Celiac Disease.  Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 2007 45: 65–70

Consumption of gluten with gluten-degrading enzyme by celiac patients: a pilot-study. World J Gastroenterol. 2013 Sep 21;19(35):5837-47.

Randomized clinical trial: Effective gluten degradation by Aspergillus niger-derived enzyme in a complex meal setting. Scientific Reports, volume 7, Article number: 13100 (2017)

About Marina Gutner, PhD

Marina Gutner, PhD, researcher, medical writer, thyroid blogger, founder and Admin of Outsmart Disease who writes about life-changing treatments for hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and autoimmune disease and how to balance hormones in women