Question:
I recently got diagnosed with Diabetes, but am not looking forward to all the medications I will have to take for the rest of my life. Will a gluten-free diet help reduce my need for them? Thanks,
Linda W.
Answer:
Dear Linda,
Yes, even if you don’t have a verified gluten allergy or sensitivity, eliminating dietary gluten for a few months would at least reduce inflammatory stress on your system, and could only help with the consequences of the presumed diabetes. If you notice a benefit, then you would at least have the choice/option to avoid glutens based on how you respond.
When there are inflammatory events in the system, either from the digestive tract, or from other sources, hormones and immune chemistry can become uncoordinated. So, at least, by removing gluten, you can rely on that to help restore some sensitivity to the insulin you produce, which will help with many other issues related to insulin regulation. Another important thing to consider regarding this diagnosis, is that many individuals with metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, or diabetes are intolerant to fructose in the form of “high fructose corn syrup”, “corn sugar”, and any other listed forms of added fructose or corn sweetener additives, and most artificial sweeteners. These tend to disrupt things considerably, metabolically, and eliminating these will give you a tremendous benefit that can have some corrective results in many individuals.
You might benefit from doing a specialized test to discover if you do have a gluten sensitivity and/or allergy, which will also identify exactly what KIND of glutens to avoid. These are done by Cyrex Labs, and are not expensive tests, and are quite reliable. If you’d like additional information about these, please call or email me.
Best,
Dr. Aaron Root, D.C., DACNB, Dipl.Ac., FACFN
Diplomate, American Chiropractic Neurology Board
Diplomate, International Academy of Medical Acupuncture
Fellow, American College of Functional Neurology
(210) 690-1333
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