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How much gluten can make me sick?

Question: How much gluten can make me sick?

Answer:

The simple answer is, “That depends.” People’s levels of sensitivity to gluten cross-contamination vary tremendously, and it also matters whether you have a one-time exposure or whether you’re consuming gluten every day over a period of weeks or months.

But it may take less gluten than you think … possibly a lot less. Bear with me — there’s lots of number-crunching involved in this.

Major Glutenings Can Be Damaging

You certainly can get very sick — and also damage your intestines — by eating even a tiny amount of conventional bread or other gluten-containing substance.

For example, one study showed that consuming just 1/5th of a slice of regular bread (about 625 milligrams of gluten) one time is enough to cause nasty symptoms, including severe diarrhea and vomiting, and increase villous atrophy in your small intestine.

That makes a delicious-looking gluten-filled cookie a bit less appealing.

Of course, many of us have experienced symptoms from way less gluten than that. Two older studies found symptoms coupled with increasing intestinal inflammation (but not necessarily villous atrophy) in people who consumed just 24 to 30 milligrams of gluten — about 1/145th of a slice of conventional bread (otherwise known as a crumb).

Small Amounts of Gluten Daily Add Up

Consuming small amounts of gluten — more than 50 milligrams, or about 1/70th of that slice of bread — on a daily basis also can add up to increased symptoms and intestinal damage.

A 2007 study led by Dr. Alessio Fasano, who heads the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Research, found that people who consumed 50 milligrams of gluten each day had renewed villous atrophy after 90 days, while those consuming zero gluten or 10 milligrams of gluten each day did not.

Dr. Fasano and his colleagues say that many or most people with celiac disease can handle up to 10 milligrams of gluten — the equivalent of 1/8th of a teaspoon of flour, or 1/350th of that slice of bread — in their diets each day without experiencing adverse effects. The study frequently is cited as evidence that celiacs can handle “gluten-free”-labeled foods with up to 20 parts per million of gluten in them.

(For even more math that explains the concept of “parts per million” and how it translates into how much gluten you’re eating, have a look at this article: What Does It Mean for Products to Have Less than 20 Parts Per Million of Gluten?.)

Still, an analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alluded to a real drawback of that University of Maryland study: It chose people to participate whose intestines were well-healed, meaning those people likely were less-sensitive to gluten cross-contamination than people who hadn’t healed on the gluten-free diet (many people’s intestines fail to heal completely, even after years on the diet). Even so, one person in that study who was consuming 10 milligrams of gluten per day — not 50 milligrams, the highest level — developed a full “clinical relapse” and dropped out of the study due to intolerable symptoms.

So, What Does This Mean To Me?

You’re probably wondering by now what all of this means to you — after all, if you’re careful, you’re probably following a strict gluten-free diet with no cheating, which means you’re 100% gluten-free … right?

Well, no. It’s just about impossible to be 100% gluten-free because “gluten-free” foods actually contain gluten. Grain products — those gluten-free breads, cereals, waffles and crackers — are the worst offenders.

Therefore, someone eating a “typical” gluten-free diet that contains normal amounts of grain products is consuming about 6 to 10 milligrams of gluten each day (again, up to 1/8 of a teaspoon of flour, or 1/350th of a slice of gluten bread) as part of those “gluten-free”-labeled grain products. That’s according to the University of Maryland, which considers this amount safe.

The FDA came to a different conclusion in its analysis: It found that for the most sensitive people, intestinal damage begins at 0.4 milligrams of gluten per day (1/200th of a teaspoon of flour or 1/8,750th of that slice of bread), while symptoms begin at 0.015 milligrams of gluten per day (less than 1/500th of a teaspoon of flour or 1/233,333th of that slice of bread). The agency based those conclusions on various studies, including two case studies involving recurrent symptoms in people who consumed communion wafers once each week.

Bottom Line: Your Mileage May Vary

There’s plenty more research to be done on this. Still, there’s little doubt that sensitivity to trace amounts of gluten represents a spectrum.

At one end of that spectrum, you’ve got people with silent celiac disease, who don’t get symptoms even if they eat huge amounts of gluten. At the other end, you’ve got people who are extremely sensitive to gluten cross-contamination and who cannot achieve good health unless they take steps to eliminate all sources of gluten in their diets, including many or all “gluten-free”-labeled foods.

Determining where you fall on that spectrum is a matter of trial and error. But it’s clear that some people react to foods that others can eat with no problem.

To Sum It All Up

• Although a few won’t react at all, most people will get really sick from the equivalent of 1/5th of a slice of gluten-containing bread (or more).

• People who are doing well on the gluten-free diet (i.e., whose intestines have healed) may be able to handle eating normal amounts of gluten-free-labeled foods (which contain a little bit of gluten) without symptoms or intestinal damage.

• People who continue to have symptoms, and whose intestinal damage hasn’t healed completely despite eating a careful and strict gluten-free diet, may need to drop potential sources of trace gluten from their diets, including gluten-free-labeled products, in order to heal their intestines and eliminate their symptoms.

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Is oatmeal gluten-free, or does it contain gluten?

Nutrition

Question: Is oatmeal gluten-free, or does it contain gluten?

Answer:

Pure oatmeal does not contain gluten. However, most oatmeal brands on the market today are not pure — they contain oats that have been cross-contaminated with a tiny bit of wheat, barley and/or rye. Since those grains do have gluten in them, that cross-contamination makes most oatmeal brands unsafe on the gluten-free diet.

For example, Quaker Oats states on its website that it cannot guarantee its oatmeal is gluten-free.

It’s possible to grow pure oats, and companies selling certified gluten-free oatmeal are using oats that do not have any gluten cross-contamination. Those should be safe for the majority of people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

For more on this, see: I can’t eat gluten. Should I try oats?

So Which Brands Are Safe?

Fortunately for those who can tolerate oats, there are a variety of different gluten-free-certified oatmeals on the market:

• Bob’s Red Mill produces three different types of gluten-free oatmeal, including quick-cooking oats, rolled oats and steel-cut oats. Bob’s tests for gluten down to 20 parts per million. Make sure you purchase only gluten-free labeled oatmeal — Bob’s has several that are not gluten-free.

• GF Harvest is a celiac family-owned business in Wyoming. The company grows its own oats and performs extensive testing to make certain its fields remain uncontaminated, including testing the seeds it uses down to 3 parts per million. GF Harvest holds gluten-free certification along with organic and Kosher certifications. Products include organic gluten-free rolled oats and regular gluten-free rolled oats, which you can use to make gluten-free oatmeal.

• Glutenfreeda Foods offers four different types of certified gluten-free oatmeal, including apple cinnamon, maple raisin, banana maple and natural. All contain flax meal in addition to gluten-free oatmeal. Glutenfreeda sells its products online and in some specialty stores.

• Holly’s Oatmeal aims for the purest possible oatmeal — the company tests its oats to make sure they contain less than 5 parts per million of gluten. Holly’s makes gluten-free oatmeal in two flavors: plain and cranberry. Since the company also sells non-gluten-free oatmeal, make sure you only purchase products in the blue boxes. The oatmeal is available online and in some stores, including Whole Foods.

• Montana Gluten-Free works directly with farmers to make certain the oats it sells are not cross-contaminated with gluten. The company offers gluten-free oatmeal in two sizes: 3 lbs. and 7.5 lbs., both of which you can purchase at the Montana Gluten-Free website.

Note that other companies that sell gluten-free products (Arrowhead Mills, among others) also produce oatmeal that’s not certified gluten-free — be very careful to check labels, and assume a product isn’t safe unless it’s specifically marked as gluten-free oatmeal.

Gluten-Free Oatmeal May Not Agree With You If You Have Celiac Disease

To make things even more complicated, a small percentage of people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity also react to avenin, the protein found in oats, which means they need to add oats to their list of prohibited grains.

It’s not clear how many people with celiac disease also react to oats — some estimates are in the range of 10% to 15%, but research is ongoing. In addition, there’s evidence that some types of oats are more toxic than others to people with celiac disease.

If you have celiac or gluten sensitivity, the only way for you to determine if you react to oatmeal is to try some (start with just a couple of spoonfuls) in its pure, gluten-free form — there is some anecdotal evidence that people who are more sensitive to gluten also react more frequently to oats, but there’s no research to prove it (see more on sensitivity levels in my article How Much Gluten Can Make Me Sick?).

Therefore, if you’re a diagnosed celiac, you should consult your physician first and then proceed very cautiously when adding gluten-free oatmeal to your diet. If your celiac disease symptoms return, stop eating the gluten-free oatmeal immediately.

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Here are some things you should get out of your 5 Day Juice Fast

Nutrition

Here are some things you should get out of your 5 Day Juice Fast

1. What is controlling you?

You will start to realize how much food controls you ALL day long. How we are so hardwired to always be thinking about what’s next to eat. Or the false I’m hungry that is often disguised with dehydration.

2. Bring attention to what is consuming you

When we are not so consumed with what to consume it allows us to spend more time thinking about where we are in life.

It allows us to contemplate things that we normally wouldn’t think about because we are too busy. You also start to see all of the little things that once bothered you to be some of your most cherished things. You will start to see these types of things as lessons and teachers.

3. It instantly reveals where you are lacking

Due to our busy schedules and deep ambition to always be moving forward in the US, we stay busy all of the time. If we observe nature you will see that every thing in nature has seasons of fruition and seasons of rest. Your body is the same way. You will need time to rest to become a brighter version of yourself. One of my favorite things to do during a fast is to get back to my spiritual life.

4. You become vastly more creative

Scientifically when we fast our brains go in starvation mode and this gives us hyper alertness. There is a documentary called Fasting that talks about the mental benefits and it is pretty astounding. Some of my most creative ideas came from being in a fast. You can reach this level by doing a 24 hour fast as well. One of my personal favorite ways to do this is to start after lunch one day and finish the next day around lunch.

5. So how do you get started?

Well, luckily we have it laid out for you. Simple. Easy and the best cleansing program out there. The good news is you will not need to order any fancy supplements to partake in this… just good ol’ fashion veggies.

Before you start juicing (or any diet change) I would consult with your doctor.

Prepare the right way by using our time proven and effective system.

Consider involving a friend or family member to join in on the experience. We find that when we do it together it makes for a much easier process and helps build deeper relationships.

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Seven Rules of Highly Effective Core Training

Training

“Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club.”

One of the most common questions I get from people is, “what should I do for core training?” or “what should I do for abs?” This question kind of drives me nuts because it’s difficult to answer in one e-mail…nay impossible. Training “abs” is not core training—I want to really drive that home. Although proper core training will surely get you “hawt abs,” that’s not our primary concern. We’re chasing serious strength to develop a torso that can generate brutal power and helps put on a stellar athletic performance. Aesthetics are simply a nice side effect (albeit a pleasant one).

There are many wrong ways to train, but no specific right way to train. There are many paths to building a strong core that offer unique benefits, and which exercise variations you end up choosing is ultimately your choice and will depend on your own individual goals. Success, however, leaves clues. And when examining the most effective core training techniques, there is a set of patterns that is common among all of them.

These clues are the keys to unlocking the athletic performance inside of you—a performance left untapped, just waiting to be unleashed. Yet, I walk into health clubs and gyms and I see the same pitiful sight in all of them. I look over in the corner at a matted area, and I see people working abs by performing useless crunch exercises that produce no results with little to no enthusiasm, and it makes me sick.

So many trainees are so completely clueless as to training the core the right way, which is unfortunate because the keys to developing unreal core strength and building a truly powerful torso is out there.

That’s why I can’t simply answer the question,”what should I do for abs?” in a single e-mail the next time someone asks me. Core training is so complex that I could write a book about it (and I recently have done so). I can, however, refer them to this simple set of rules, which are all essential elements of a highly effective core training routine.

The Rules Of Core Training…

Rule #1: Build Your House Upon Rock

Working on the basics is something you have to do. Period. It isn’t like some optional video game tutorial that you can skip and expect to be able to wing it. You have to pay your dues and build a solid foundation. If you don’t, none of the more advanced core training techniques will be anywhere near as effective.

Don’t build your house on a foundation made of sand. Your core is your foundation, and neglecting your midsection training is a grave mistake not just for any athlete but for the average Joe, too. Having a strong core just makes everything easier. So focus on the basics: build a solid foundation with plank variations and other exercises that have you hold a neutral spine and encourage proper posture. Too many “bros” are too quick to rush past this stuff, thinking that it’s a namby-pamby sissy exercise for wimps. Don’t be that guy. Work on the basics and you’ll avoid an injury and set yourself up for more significant and steady strength gains later on down the line. I cannot emphasize this enough: build your house upon a solid foundation.

Rule #2: Don’t Do Sit Ups or Crunches

Sit ups and crunches suck. Nobody ever got abs from doing them, and nobody ever got strong from them either. Not only that, but they wreak all kinds of hell on the lower back, putting a great deal of pressure on the spine. They are also such a low-level activity that you’ll have to do incredibly high repetition sets to even feel like they are effective (which they are not). This is equally as important as the first rule, so don’t do sit ups or crunches. Every time you do a crunch, somewhere in the world a fairy drops dead. Not cool.

Rule #3: Use Compound Movements

The net is rampant with people asking how to isolate the abs. One of the most common questions I receive is, “how can I target my lower abs?” First of all, you can’t really isolate one part of the abdominals. While they look kind of like several different muscles (with many referring to them as a six pack or an eight pack), the abdominals are actually just one sheet of muscle with ridges and valleys that give the distinct look of a six pack. Again, the abdominals are ONE muscle, not several. So you cannot isolate any part of it effectively without working the rest of the core.

That being said, the most effective “bang for your buck” core exercises that work many muscles of the body all at once are known as compound movements. These exercises will provide you with the most significant strength gains in the shortest time possible. This is one reason why sit ups and crunches are terrible choices for core training. Instead of doing those, utilize exercises that work the midsection while incorporating many muscles at once to get the job done. The body was meant to be used as a single functional unit with its muscles all working together. Full body movements offer the greatest strength results.

Rule #4: Train the Torso with Low Reps

Despite what many people believe, the midsection responds best to low repetition, highly strenuous, max effort exercises rather than performing endless sets of high-rep crunches. Low rep, heavy core strength movements are the way forward if you want to build a solid midsection that will rival the marvelous Greek statues residing in museums today—those with thick, muscular, and ripped obliques and abdominals. Choose variations of exercises that effectively hit the core and keep you in the 3-10 repetition range for the biggest benefit.

Rule #5: Train Your Glutes

Along with the deep postural muscles of the core, the glutes are often extremely deficient in strength compared to how strong they could potentially become. The glutes should be the strongest and most muscular part of the human body; however, they are often neglected in many modern training routines (which is mind boggling because they are truly essential for unleashing serious athletic power, maintaining healthy posture, and preventing lower back pain). Train your glutes—they work in synergy with so many muscles of the midsection, and I would go so far as saying that they are in fact part of your core.

Rule #6: Use a Progressive Approach to Core Training

The problem with most athlete’s core training is that there’s no progression to speak of, aside from simply “do more reps” or “add more weight.” However, that’s not always possible. Use a variety of exercises in your core training ranging from leg raises, static strength holds, plank variations, get ups, windmills, and bent presses (just to name just a few). Amongst those listed, you’ll find a number of variations of each, ranging from beginner to very advanced in difficulty.

Using the same old exercises week-in and week-out is just asking for stagnation. You won’t get anywhere and, more than that, you’ll end up with an overuse injury if you perform the same exercises in the exact same way every single week. A progressive approach to core training allows you to use a number of variations and to get stronger using familiar movement patterns, allowing for more significant strength gains and less risk of injury.

Rule #7: Train Your Core with Intensity

Too many gym goers train their core with little to no intensity and a serious lack of direction. You’ll probably see more relentless intensity at a knitting competition (not sure if that’s actually a thing, but you get the idea). Meatheads will walk into a gym and train the ever-loving shit out of the bench press, curl away for donkeys, and smash their delts into oblivion, too. And a powerlifter will work diligently on his squat and deadlift. But how often do you see someone in a gym literally attacking his core training with as much relentless desire and serious intent as he does with his other favorite parts of training?

Come on people, the midsection is the core of it all—the key to unleashing ruthless strength and reaching your true athletic potential. Show it some love and train it hard. Stop approaching core training like it is a chore. Man up and attack your next core training session with malicious intent and go hard. Unless you’re willing to put in the work, you’re always going to get subpar results.

Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

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Liver Detox Tips

Nutrition

The liver holds about one pint (13%) of the body’s blood supply at any given time. (1) The liver has many functions and is a very important organ. Here are some of the biggest.

Some of the functions include:

1. Production of bile: bile helps take waste and breaks fat down in the small intestine drink digestion.

2. Production of proteins that are needed for the blood plasma.

3. Production of cholesterol and proteins that help carry fats through the body.

4. Conversion of glucose to glycogen (used for energy).

5. Regulation of amino acids.

6. Processing of hemoglobin (the liver stores iron).

7. Conversion of ammonia to urea (ammonia can be poisonous).

8. Elimination of drugs and toxins from the blood.

9. Helps in regulation of blood clotting.

10. Defends against infections and responsible for removing bacteria from the blood.

As you can see the liver is involved in many functions throughout the body and has many jobs. When the liver breakdown toxins, those toxins are execrated from the body in the form of urine. That’s why it’s important to drink lots of water and keep hydrated. Detoxifying your liver is a great way to get rid of toxins and other harmful substances. The body holds on to toxins in the digestive, lymph, and areas of fat. It’s important to break down the toxins and eliminate them. A great way to detoxify the liver is to avoid consumption of alcohol, caffeine, pesticides and chemicals on foods, and sugar.

Start with a Juice Fast

A juice fast is a great way to help your body get rid of toxins and also start the “healing” process. During your 3-5 day fast you are consuming fresh organic vegetable juice. And since most of the insoluble fiber is gone from the juicing process, the juice that you consume is highly absorbable. You also absorb soluble fiber which is important for lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol. I

Water

During your detox drink lots of water. I recommend drinking a cup of warm water and lemon each morning and night. Warm water and lemon has many benefits including helps with weight loss and helps maintain a neutral pH in the body.

Dandelions

Dandelions are great for liver detoxification. They are packed with nutrients that promote weight loss, have diuretic effects and help with liver functions. Dandelions and dandelion roots have a direct impact on the liver. They both promote the production of bile and also stimulate the gallbladder to release stored bile. Dandelion tea is great if you don’t have them to juice, they are one of my absolute favorites for getting rid of water weight.

Here are some great juice recipes for liver detoxification from fitlife.tv.

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