Guest Blog by: Dr. Karl R.O.S. Johnson (D.C.)
If you have gluten intolerance like I do, you will have nutritional deficiencies. Nutritional deficiencies can lead to a wind up of the immune system thereby worsening autoimmunity and/or the devlopment of additional diseases. Often only iron, sodium and postasium levels are checked on routine blood tests.
You Owe It To Yourself To Get Your Nutrient Levels Checked
Many researchers feel this paltry testing is not comprehensive enough. Deficiencies of magnesium, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin K, omega 3 fats, amino acids, glutathione and other important micronutrients are typically lowered with gluten intolerance. This is mainily due initially to increased systemic inflammation, which places a greater burden on the enzymes of detoxification as well as other enzymes.
Chemical reactions in our body are catalyzed by enzymes, and vitamins and minerals are the co-factors that allow enzymes to work. Enzymes cannot function without adequate vitamins. Just as your car cannot work without the ignition key or tires, enzymes are stalled without minerals and vitamins.
One of the best ways to measure vitamins and other micronutrients is through SpectraCell Micronutrient Testing. This patented process resulted from 18 years of research at the University of Texas. The micronutrient test measures the biochemical function of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, providing me a powerful clinical assessment tool in order to help you recover your health.
Signs of nutritional deficiencies on standard blood tests are high homocysteine levels, high MCV and MCH as well as low iron, potassium, protein and albumin. All these and other markers of body malfunction are easier to detect using functional blood chemistry analysis and can be missed using the typical standard broad average lab ranges. Using functional blood chemistry analysis is an important and unique reason why I often am able to detect earlier signs of health deterioration. Check out the link to my functional blood chemistry analysis page for more information on this topic.
When your body enzymes are less able to function due to nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune processes get a chance to ramp up, leading to additional tissues to be targeted for attack.
Results: Coeliac patients showed a higher total plasma homocysteine level than the general population, indicative of a poor vitamin status. In accordance, the plasma levels of folate and pyridoxal 5″-phosphate (active form of vitamin B-6) were low in 37% and 20%, respectively, and accounted for 33% of the variation of the total plasma homocysteine level (P < 0.008). The mean daily intakes of folate and vitamin B-12, but not of vitamin B-6, were significantly lower in coeliac patients than in controls.
Conclusions: Half of the adult coeliac patients carefully treated with a gluten-free diet for several years showed signs of a poor vitamin status. This may have clinical implications considering the linkage between vitamin deficiency, elevated total plasma homocysteine levels and cardiovascular disease. The results may suggest that, when following up adults with coeliac disease, the vitamin status should be reviewed."[1]
The bottom line take away message is this: It's not enough to treat the symptoms of an illness or disease. The prudent clinician will look for underlying causes of imbalances in the patients' bodily processes, and work with the patient to regain balance. Often this is accomplished with dietary changes, specific supplementation, lifestyle changes and neurological rehabilitation.
