Gluten Brains: The Brain–Grain Connection

By Rodney Ford

Headaches? Migraines? Convulsions?
Moody? Depressed? Psychotic? Exhausted?
Behavior or Learning problems? ADHD? Autism?
Tummy ache? Gastric reflux? Constipated? Tired?
~~~
When your brain and nerves are damaged by gluten,
all of this can happen.
~~~
Are you affected? Find out before it’s too late.
This ebook is the revised edition of the book – “Full of It: the shocking truth about gluten.”
Yes, brains and nerves get damaged by gluten. Medical research reveals that gluten commonly causes nerve damage, brain disease, mental disturbance, learning disorders, fatigue, and poor growth. But most sufferers from gluten-harm remain completely unaware of it! Read the stories of suffering and ‘miracle cures’ by quitting gluten. Are you and your family affected? Find out before it’s too late.
~~~
This ebook goes on to tell you what to look for and how to make a diagnosis. Yes, you can feel well again! Gluten makes you sick and grumpy, it causes an amazing range of symptoms. It saps your energy and leaves you feeling exhausted. Families tell of years of unnecessary suffering, when simple blood tests can give a diagnosis. Going gluten-free can change your life
~~~~~~~~~~oOo~~~~~~~~~~
Contents
Foreword: gluten-sensitivity a neurological disease
The hypothesis
The new ideas
~~~
Chapter 1. Gluten – friend or foe?
The problem with gluten
Gluten – invading your food
Problem symptoms have been officially “hidden”
Autism
The gluten problem is huge
You can’t tell unless you test
More voices speaking out
Gluten is addictive
Gluteo-morphines
Leaky Gut
The zonulin story
Leaky gut problems
~~~
Chapter 2. Gluten Syndrome
Gluten-related disorders
Recognize your symptoms
The 'Big List' of gluten-sensitive illness
Why so many symptoms?
Celiac Disease - the great masquerader
Is there an epidemic?
You cannot tell unless you test
~~~
Chapter 3. Your tummy brain
What is your gut doing?
Oesophagus
Stomach
Small bowel
Large bowel
What is your brain doing?
How does your brain control your gut?
Autonomic nervous system
Gut feelings
Fight and flight
Worry tummy
~~~
Chapter 4. Gluten can strike your brain
Symptom evidence
Gluten-brain connections
Neurological findings common
Poor response to gluten-free diets
Auto-antibody damage
Gluten causing inflammation
Excito-toxins
Interfering with neurotransmitters
~~~
Chapter 5. Headaches and migraines
Medical evidence
Brain blood flow
People tell their stories
~~~
Chapter 6. Nerve damage – stunted growth
Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy
Motor neuropathy
Developmental delay
Autonomic neuropathy
Ataxia
Gluten-driven brain inflammation
Neurological dysfunction of unknown cause
Epilepsy
Stunted growth
Growth hormone suppression
The growth hormone evidence
Gluten-sensitivity and poor growth
Test all short children
~~~
Chapter 7. Mood and behavior
Lethargy, low energy
Angry
ADHD and learning problems
Autism
Depression
Bread madness
~~~
Chapter 8. Tummy troubles
Gastro-intestinal motility disorder
Gastro-oesophageal reflux
Constipation and soiling
Diarrhoea and abdominal pain
Abdominal migraine
~~~
Chapter 9. Got it? Grain-brain connection
Grains and your brains
So ... have you got it?
The critics
The criticisms
More answers to your questions
The gluten-sensitive patients
The storytellers
tTG and gliadin antibody results
Dramatic responses to gluten-free diets
Last words
~~~
Chapter 10. References
~~~
Chapter 11. Web links and books
ebook Series
About the author: Dr Rodney Ford

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rodney Ford
• Release date: May 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9780473214739

Rodney Ford

Dr Rodney Ford is a paediatric gastroenterologist, allergist and nutrition consultant. He is former Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. He is recognized worldwide as an expert on adverse food reactions. His major area of interest is the relationship between your food and your health – good or bad. In his clinics he is constantly seeing people who are suffering from eating foods that are making them ill. He has been interested in the relationship between eczema and food allergy for a long time. More recently, he has discovered that gluten plays a large part in the patho-physiology of eczema. Dr Ford graduated with Honours from the University of New South Wales in 1974 (MB BS). He went on to study food allergy and intolerance problems in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Paediatrics (FRACP) in 1981 and was awarded his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) by the University of New South Wales in 1982 for his thesis titled Food hypersensitivity in children: diagnostic approaches to milk and egg hypersensitivity. This was regarded as a major work regarding the diagnosis of food allergies in children. Dr Ford currently runs The Children's Clinic and Allergy Centre, a busy private clinic in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has written over one hundred scientific papers, including book chapters and many books.

Book preview

Gluten Brains

The brain–grain connection

Headaches? Migraines? Convulsions? Moody? Depressed?

Tired? Tummy ache? Behavior disturbance? Learning problems?

Your brain and nerves can be seriously damaged by gluten. Find out why.

Dr Rodney Ford

MD MBBS FRACP

ISBN 9780473214739

Copyright 2022 Dr Rodney Ford

Published by Dr Rodney Ford at Smashwords

This book is not available in print.

Previously published in 2006

Now revised and up-dated.

Dedication To all of the children and parents who have come to Clinic who have made this book possible. Thank you for all of your stories and wisdom. We learn together.

"You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep."

Navajo Proverb

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

~~~~~~~~~~

What new in this book?

Did you need to know that your brain and nerves can be seriously damaged by gluten? This is what "Gluten Brains: the brain–grain connection means.

When your brain and nerves are damaged by gluten, many of these bad things can happen:

Headaches – Migraines - Convulsions

Moody – Depressed – Psychotic – Exhausted – Tired -

Behavior or Learning problems – ADHD – Autism -

Tummy ache - Gastric reflux - Constipated

Are you or your family affected?

This ebook has been written for you to find out now – before it’s too late to do something about it. Gluten is making millions of people sick. After reading this compelling evidence, you will avoid eating gluten-foods – forever – to protect your brain. That is what I did!

This ebook gives you a clear explanation of why gluten can cause you so much harm. It is alarming to know that most gluten-symptoms are actually caused by brain and nerve damage.

Some descriptive terms used are: bread head, bread madness, brain fog and gluten-related-neurological disorder. I simply call it Gluten Brains.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bread-head

Al writes to me:

"A bread-head – I love the term. Yup, that was me :-)

One of the toughest things to deal with was my mental and emotional state when I was on gluten. I problem-solve for a living. I diagnose and fix sick computers. Yes, one might say a computer doctor.

Having diminished focus and concentration abilities makes diagnosing a computer problem a difficult task. I was a zombie, sitting and staring off into space at work, trying to motive myself to keep on task. I was amazed that I kept my job. It was a constant battle; one that I no longer fight.

I've tried to piece together my family medical tree; trying to figure out where my issues with gluten might have come from. One piece of the puzzle appeared when I first learned that Schizophrenia was connected to gluten. My father was a diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenic who would not stay on his medication; this did not bode well for him or his family. Could the removal of gluten have saved him? An interesting question to ponder.

As you know, I am now gluten free, and have been for many years now – what a difference. Yes, I definitely had Gluten-Brain. So glad that you have put this book together. It's such a great book, and now there is an updated revised ebook version. Thanks!

Al Klapperich

~~~~~~~~~~

What others say

The missing link

This book can be seen as the missing link between gluten sensitivity and the brain. The breakthrough that this book makes is recognizing that it is not just the gut, but also the brain that is damaged by gluten.

Ronald M. Harper

Ph.D Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

University of California at Los Angeles

------------

Compelling, new, a radical departure

"A compelling new idea has dawned on the medical/scientific horizon. Dr. Rodney Ford, has come up with a startling hypothesis that synthesizes and makes sense out of a wide range of otherwise confounding findings in the celiac and gluten sensitivity literature. For instance, why have Dr. Marios Hadjivassiliou and his group found that some people with neurological disease with anti-gliadin antibodies but without celiac disease, recover on a gluten-free diet? And why do other neurology patients sometimes recover from their neurological problems after treatment of their coexisting celiac disease? (Sadly, as Dr. Ford points out, by the time neurological disease develops the prognosis is often very poor.) Further, why do so many celiac patients present with such a wide range of symptoms, most of which are not obviously or usually associated with gut disease? And why are so many individuals who suffer from psychiatric, autoimmune, and even some infectious diseases, helped by a gluten-free diet?

Dr. Ford marshals a large body of evidence in this new book to support this radical departure from conventional wisdom in the celiac/gluten-sensitivity research field. Step by step he explains very simply how the enormous complex of nerves in the brain, spine, and abdomen interact to control all our body systems. He avoids technical terminology as much as possible by using terms such as tummy brain which are both clear and instructive even to those who are unfamiliar with medical terminology.

The implications of this hypothesis are startling and extensive."

Ron Hoggan, Ed. D.

Co-author of Dangerous Grains

------------

I couldn't believe it

I sadly only recently have come by your article about Gluten Causes Brain Disease! I couldn't believe it, because you said exactly what I strongly believe. I never had a normal hunger feeling, and lived since in my teens with an eating disorder due to gluten. I suffered basically my whole life, until I ended with a psychologist. Now that lies all behind me and I can live again – no psychologist. I am still shocked that doctors don't know about this stuff. I can only confirm what you said in your article. If you want to know more about my case and there is much more, I will write you more. Thanks for dedicating your time to help so many people and researching on gluten.

Sabine.

------------

I now understand

I have read your books with great interest, as what you write about I have been able to feel in my body (both brain – clarity/fogginess and spine – stiffness/flexibility). I now understand what has caused these reactions and how I can go forward to control them.

Tony

------------

Neurologic network damage

We read with great interest the recent article produced by Ford on the relationship between gluten and neurologic network damage in celiac disease patients ... we conclude that, understanding the ‘‘gluten syndrome, and in particular the ‘‘gut-brain axis in celiac patients, is important for the health of the global community.

[Ford RP. The gluten syndrome: a neurological disease. Med Hypotheses 2009;73(3):438–40]

Prof Ludovico Abenavoli

Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine,

University ‘‘Magna Gracia, Italy

------------

Worried sister – psychotic brother

Hello Dr Ford,

I have an intriguing question to ask you. I am celiac and I have been tested 10 years ago. My brother was tested 9 years ago for celiac: his IgG-gliadin antibody levels were very high. But, after doing a biopsy the doctor found nothing, so he was declared non-celiac.

My concern is that my brother is developing a psychosis. After reading many papers that link schizophrenia and bipolar disorders to gluten-sensitivity, I have asked him to redo the tests to convince himself and start a gluten free diet. However, to my surprise the results came negative this time. He had a normal "Deamidated Gliadin (DGP) test.

Do you think that it is possible that his previous test could be high for other reasons than reacting to gluten? Could this reactivity vanish with time? Or is the reason (as you mentioned on your website) that the tests have changed and he is reacting to native gliadin but not to deamidated gliadin?

In this article, schizophrenics did not react to deamidated gliadin but did to native gliadin:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2856786

Please advise, I am feel lost here and I don't want to see my brother's life ruined by such a terrible chronic disease. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your guidance on this subject.

Kind regards, L.

My reply:

Thanks. I am sorry to hear about your brother. Yes, there is lots of data to suggest that psychosis and gluten are linked. Unfortunately, he has been tested using two different gluten test systems. The native IgG-gliadin antibody test is high, but the Deamidated Gliadin test (DGP) is low. This is the usual situation in gluten-related-psychosis. He has a gluten-sensitivity. This is urgent. He needs to be zero gluten-free, lifelong. Let me know how he gets on. Dr Rodney Ford.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, what is Gluten Brain all about?

Throughout the ages, gluten has been sapping the energy and wellbeing of countless millions. The medical profession has turned a blind eye to gluten’s wider diseases, whilst focusing attention on the narrow problem of celiac disease. But this is about to change.

The gluten brains hypothesis has been formed by my extensive dealings with gluten-sensitive children and adults who have been treated in my Clinic, and also from researching the extensive medical literature. There is some repetition in this book to ensure that each chapter is complete. I thank all of the children, their parents and my colleagues who have helped me so much on this fascinating, but deeply disturbing adventure.

Can gluten damage your brain?

The central question this book probes is: "Can gluten grains damage your brain?" The answer is a resounding Yes! I have come to this conclusion, first from the observations of my patients who are gluten-sensitive. They have pressed me to ask these questions: Why do they have such an array of symptoms from gluten? Why do they recover so quickly when gluten is removed? and Why do they deteriorate so rapidly when only tiny amounts of gluten are eaten?

Over the last 60 years, there has been a slow evolution of the understanding about gluten toxicity. But each time that a new clinical investigation has been developed this new information has been merely added on to the current theory.

Seldom has the whole concept of gluten-disease been re-examined. To this end, the focus of gluten has unwaveringly been on the small bowel. This is because celiac disease is generally considered to be a gastrointestinal disease, with some unexplained peripheral symptoms. Celiac disease (also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is actually defined as bowel damage caused by the toxicity of gluten in susceptible people. Population studies around the world show that it occurs in about one in every one hundred people (that is in 1% or more of the population).

But I challenge this narrow perspective. I have described the clinical features of a much wider condition – that of gluten-sensitivity, also know as "The Gluten Syndrome". I have calculated that gluten-related illness affects about one-in-ten people (that is in 10% or more of the population). Others claim that it is even more common. Gluten has now been recognized as the cause of a vast amount of chronic ill health.

Over 10% are adversely affected by gluten

The purpose of this book is to present a hypothesis that provides a universal model of gluten-sensitivity. The evidence indicates that gluten-sensitivity is primarily a brain-and-nerve network disease. Read on and find out why.

~~~~~~~~~~

About the author

Dr Rodney Ford , Professor, MB BS MD FRACP MCCCH

Dr Ford is a Paediatric Gastroenterologist and Allergy Specialist. A medical doctor. Formerly, Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. Recognised worldwide as an expert on adverse food reactions and gluten.

His major area