I’m pasting in a good article on High Fructose Corn Syrup.  You say “can you explain HFCS with regards to aspartame?”  HFCS is not good for you but it won’t instantly kill you.  Actually aspartame can.  As you’ve heard me say its masquerading as an additive but its a chemical poison – literally an addictive,  excitoneurotoxic, carcinogenic, genetically engineered drug and adjuvant that damages the mitochondria and interacts with drugs and vaccines…

It kills in many ways but for instance, its causes an irregular heart rhythm,
interacts with all cardiac medication,  damage
the cardiac conduction system and causes sudden
cardiac death.  Here are two articles about it
from world experts, H. J. Roberts, M.D., and Russell Blaylock, M.D.

http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_and_arrhythmias.htm   H. J. Roberts, M.D.

http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_msg_scd.htm  Russell Blaylock, M.D.

You even get embalmed first.  Here is the Trocho
Study showing the formaldehyde converted from the
free methyl alcohol embalms living tissue and
damages DNA.  When you damage DNA you can destroy
humanity.  http://www.mpwhi.com/formaldehyde_from_aspartame.pdf

However, there are all types of ways to die from
aspartame.  Just read Dr. H. J. Roberts medical
text, “Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic”,
www.sunsentpress.com  – 1000 pages of symptoms
and diseases and ways to die from this deadly
chemical poison masquerading as an additive.

Why ever drink a Coke?   I grew up in Atlanta,
Georgia home of Coca Cola.  It was different when
I was a young girl, of course, and the formula
changed.   When I started Mission Possible
International it was the last Coke I ever
drank.  I read the protest of the National Soft
Drink Assn and saw that they knew the gun was
loaded and even protested, then found out it was
addictive, a cash cow and used it
anyway:
http://www.mpwhi.com/open_letter_dick_adamson.htm
So they knew what it would do to the public and
didn’t care.  So I wouldn’t give them a penny
profit.  It was the last Coke I ever drank.  I
was in a movie theatre and asked for a glass of
water and it came in a Diet Coke cup.  I refused
it too.  Neither would I advertise for them.

We did an expose in Atlanta once for a TV station
and used a lady who had never had aspartame until
she was given a piece of sugarfree gum with
aspartame.  She immediately had a grand mal
seizure.  Many times reactions to aspartame are
instant as shown with this woman.  Also, because
of the chemical hypersensitization some people
have had immediate reactions.  If you saw Sweet
Misery: A Poisoned World  (cori@soundandfury.tv)
and I highly recommend everybody get a copy,
there is a woman, Cheryl Kemptner, who told the
hospital about the chemical hypersensitization of
aspartame and that she couldn’t be given any of
it.  They gave her a bracelet and put it on the
record but she was handed a glass of Crystal-Lite
with aspartame.  She became a Code-Blue and had
to be resuscitated.   She lived to tell the story
in Sweet Misery.  Some people have gone into anaphylactic shock.

Think of what aspartame can do to the
diabetic.  It not only can precipitate diabetes,
but aggravates and simulates diabetic retinopathy
and neuropathy, destroys the optic nerve, causes
diabetics to go into convulsions and even
interacts with insulin.  The free methyl alcohol
causes diabetics to lose their limbs.  No doubt
aspartame has caused the epidemic of
diabetes!  http://www.wnho.net/letter_to_senator_goyp_concerning_aspartame.htm

You just have to give up Coke and drink water and
not in plastic bottles.    You can get healthy
drinks at Whole Foods in glass bottles.  Or soon
you can get drinks from Just Like Sugar which are
safe and delicious www.justlikesugarinc.com

Here is something to forward to warn people about
aspartame:
http://www.mpwhi.com/warning_flyer_on_aspartame.htm
Be sure to remember that Ajinomoto has changed
the name to AminoSweet, and all the other names
like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, E951, Canderel, Benevia, etc.

Read on for an excellent article from the Nutrition Reporter on HFCS.

All my best,
Betty
www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net
Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

Fructose

Maybe Not So Natural…and Not So Safe

  Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter

If you consider fructose a safe, natural sugar,
think again. You’ve been had by one of the
biggest nutritional bait-and-switch ploys in years.

Fructose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) have
been aggressively promoted as natural sugars.
After all, we’ve been taught since childhood that fructose is fruit sugar.

The truth is that fructose and HFCS, as
large-scale commercial sweeteners, didn’t exist
20 years ago. Now, they’re almost as common as
sucrose-plain old white sugar. HFCS is routinely
added to processed foods and beverages including
Coca-Cola, Snapple, and many health food products.

“Fructose is not from fruit. It’s a commercial,
refined sugar,” asserted Robin Rogosin, a buyer
and research coordinator at Mrs. Gooch’s Natural
Foods Market in Beverly Hills, Calif.

In fact, a trail of medical studies dating back a
quarter of a century doesn’t paint a terribly
sweet picture for fructose. High fructose
consumption has been fingered as a causative
factor in heart disease. It raises blood levels
of cholesterol and another type of fat,
triglyceride. It makes blood cells more prone to
clotting, and it may also accelerate the aging process.

“People should avoid it,” urged John Yudkin,
M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus at Queen
Elizabeth College, London, and an expert in the health effects of sugar.

Most fructose sneaks into the diet in the forms
of sucrose and HFCS. Sucrose breaks down during
digestion into equal parts of glucose and
fructose. HFCS consists of 55 percent fructose blended with 45 percent glucose.

As is the case with any other refined food, a
little fructose won’t hurt you. The problem comes
with the sheer quantity of “hidden” fructose
being consumed through the HFCS and sucrose in
processed foods. For example, conventional and
“new age” soft drinks almost universally contain
11 percent HFCS by weight-2.2 pounds per case.

“The consumption of fructose has not increased
over the last 40 years. We have the data to show
that we’re not increasing fructose consumption,”
contended Mark Hannover, Ph.D., a researcher at
the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. of Decatur,
Ill, the second largest maker of HFCS in the United States.

Hannover is right about the past 40 years. But he
sidestepped the larger historical context.
Overall sugar (sucrose) consumption remained very
low – a few pounds a year – until the industrial
revolution. Advances in processing made it easy
to manufacture from sugar cane and sugar beets,
and people began eating more of it.

Although pure fructose has been available in
small quantities for decades, its use as common
sweetener dates only from the early 1970s. That’s
when the Finnish Sugar Co. developed a method to
efficiently synthesize it from cane and beet
sugar. Now, Staley and five other American companies make fructose from corn.

Staley’s principal product is HFCS, which has
captured a huge chunk of the market once owned by
makers of sucrose. The advantage of HFCS, from
the standpoint of food manufacturing, is that
it’s much sweeter than sucrose, it’s easier to
handle during processing, it has a longer shelf
life – and it’s cheaper than sucrose.

“We have improved the quality of sweeteners since
the advent of HFCS,” insisted Hannover. “It’s
clean microbiologically, it contains few sodium
ions, and it’s more stable than sugar.”

HFCS may be better than sucrose for
manufacturing, but it’s not any better for health.

Because refined sweeteners – and refined foods,
in general – lack bulk, it’s easy to consume
large quantities of them. Staley grinds up a
mind-boggling 500,000 bushels of corn a day and
turns them into more than 3 billion pounds of
HFCS annually. Amazingly, that’s only 20 percent
of the 16 billion pounds of HFCS consumed each year in the United States.

These days, our per capita intake of refined
sugar is almost 150 pounds a year. HFCS accounts
for 51.7 pounds of that, and sucrose for 64.5
pounds, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. That translates to about 60 pounds of fructose per person.

There’s good reason to believe that, from an
evolutionary standpoint, our bodies can’t handle
such large quantities of sugar, particularly
fructose. Eating it poses a health hazard, and it
doesn’t matter whether it’s from HFCS or sucrose.
But HFCS may be more dangerous because it sounds
more natural – and therefore healthier – than plain old white sugar.

“We felt the healthiest approach was to stay away
from refined sugars. That way, we’re not offering
a lot of empty calories,” said Bill Knudsen,
whose Chico, Calif., company has steered clear of
fructose sweeteners for its health food juices.
“A pure fruit juice product is healthier for you
than a refined sugar because of the micronutrients that come with the juice.”

In medicine, the first alarms about the link
between sugar consumption and heart disease were
sounded by Yudkin in the late 1960s. At the time,
he was chairman of the department of nutrition at
Queen Elizabeth College, London. Disturbed by
inconsistencies in the evidence linking animal
fats to heart disease, Yudkin began searching for another dietary factor.

An expert in carbohydrate metabolism, he
initially focused on sucrose consumption. In
laboratory and human tests, he found that sucrose
increased blood levels of cholesterol,
triglyceride, uric acid, insulin, and cortisol –
all associated with an increased risk of heart
disease. Sucrose also raised blood pressure and
increased the fragility of blood platelet cells,
making them more prone to clotting.

As dramatic as those findings were, the real
surprise came when Yudkin substituted fructose
for sucrose in his experiments. “The effects of
eating sucrose in the quantities we eat are
magnified with fructose. Fructose is the
dangerous part,” he said. In contrast, glucose
did little more than cause cavities.

Although he has been retired for almost 20 years,
Yudkin regularly publishes articles and letters
about sugar and heart disease in the leading
medical journals. In a phone interview, he was
surprised to hear that fructose and HFCS had
become common sweeteners in the United States. He
said they were virtually unheard of in England,
where overall sugar consumption has been declining.

Other researchers have confirmed Yudkin’s
findings, but sucrose and fructose are still
recognized as generally safe by the Food and Drug
Administration. Many widely used products, like
sucrose, were grandfathered in as a safe product
when food and drug regulations were created early
in 1938, and the safety of fructose was assumed
based on the perceived safety of sucrose.

“Fructose is part of the sucrose sugar. Sucrose
is affirmed as GRAS (generally regarded as
safe),” explained Judy Folke, a spokesperson at
the FDA’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Press
Office in Washington,D.C. “Fructose is not GRAS,
but it was treated under prior sanction because
it had been used for so many years.”

But the research suggests that, in retrospect,
the FDA may have assumed too much.

For example, fructose has been touted for years
as a safe sugar for diabetics because it doesn’t
trigger a rapid rise in blood sugar. That’s true,
but the cardiovascular consequences may outweigh
the benefits for diabetics,who already face a
higher than average risk of developing heart disease.

In a recent study, John Bantle, M.D., of the
University of Minnesota sequentially placed 18
Type I (insulin-dependent) and Type II
(noninsulin-dependent) diabetics on two diets.
The only difference between the diets was that
one contained carbohydrate as starch, which is
digested as glucose, and the other contained carbohydrate as fructose.

When they consumed the fructose, the diabetics
had fewer spikes in blood sugar levels. Three of
the Type I diabetics were able to reduce their
insulin intake, a positive change. However,
according to Bantle’s report in the Nov. 1992
Diabetes Care, the diabetics’ total cholesterol
rose an average 7 percent, and their “bad”
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol rose
almost 11 percent. The fructose increased their risk of heart disease.

But fructose doesn’t play havoc with only the
hearts of diabetics. Bantle noted the same
effects in a study of 14 healthy volunteers who
sequentially ate a high-fructose diet and one
almost devoid of the sugar. While on the fructose
diet, the subjects’ total cholesterol levels
increased by 9 percent and the LDL fraction increased by 11 percent.

“There is some data that if you consume a lot of
fructose, you can get an increase in
lipoproteins,” Hannover told Natural Health. “A
lot of this is mediated by consuming fructose
with other carbohydrates. We recommend using a
blend of carbohydrates – fructose may be the
primary carbohydrate with glucose or more complex carbohydrates.”

“I’m not trying to ignore the data,” he added,
“but I’m not trying to blow it out of proportion either.”

There’s another wrinkle. Add fructose to the
typical American high-fat diet – as most people
do – and the risk of heart disease increases even
more. Sheldon Reiser, Ph.D., of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition
Research Center in Beltsville, Md., studied 21
men eating two kinds of high-fat diets. The diets
were the same except for the carbohydrate. One
used simple starch, the other 20 percent fructose.

The cholesterol and triglyceride levels of all
the men increased while they consumed the
high-fructose/high-fat diet, but not while they
ate a high-starch/high-fat diet. Ten of the men
began the study with high blood levels of insulin
– another risk factor for heart disease – and
their cholesterol and triglyceride levels rose a whopping 30 to 50 percent.

Should people with moderate to high cholesterol
reduce their intake? The answer seems apparent.

“They might benefit from that,” Hannover
conceded. “We presume you’re under a doctor’s
care, and if you’re not, you should be. If I had
high cholesterol, it would be on the list of
foods to avoid – not on the top of the list, but
I wouldn’t leave it off either, since there is some data to support this view.”

Fructose and other sugars contribute to heart
disease in yet another way. Dietary sugars
increase what doctors call “spontaneous platelet
aggregation”, an unnatural tendency toward blood
clotting. But according to a study published in
the Aug. 1, 1990, Thrombosis Research, fructose
promotes abnormal clotting much more than does any other common sugar does.

There’s even more. Recent research by Forrest
Nielsen, Ph.D., of the USDA’s Human Nutrition
Research Center in Grand Forks, N.D., found that
fructose interferes with absorption of copper, an
essential mineral needed to create hemoglobin in red blood cells.

“Copper is affected by fructose,” Nielsen told
Natural Health. “With a high intake of
high-fructose corn syrup, people might show signs
of a copper deficiency and may need to enhance their copper intake.”

In addition, when five volunteers ate a diet with
20 percent fructose, their total cholesterol and
LDL cholesterol shot up. But the combination of
suppressed copper and high fructose also
increased the number of free radicals, damaged
molecules that contribute to cancer and aging.

Does Nielsen think fructose is safe? “I’m not
going to damn fructose because in small amounts
it’s not a bad substance,” Nielsen said. But he
later acknowledged, “I’m not convinced it’s completely safe.”

There’s one more significant side effect of
fructose. It cross links – that is, ties up –
proteins in what biochemists call the Maillard
reaction. This cross linking occurs during the
cooking of food, affecting both the taste and the nutritional value of food.

But the Maillard reaction also occurs in the
human body, and it’s suspected as a factor in
diabetes and aging, according to William Dills,
Ph.D., a chemist at the University of
Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Dills noted in the
Nov. 1993 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
that the relationship between the “Maillard
reaction-related cross-link in proteins,
cells,and tissues and the overall aging process appears indisputable.”

All this should not dampen your taste for fresh
fruit or fruit juice. The hazards associated with
fructose appear to be dose dependent, according
to Yudkin and other experts. If you eat
predominantly natural foods, and avoid large
quantities of processed foods, you have little to worry about.

Fructose accounts for only 5 to 7.7 percent of
the wet weight of cherries,pears, bananas,
grapes, and apples. That’s about 5.5 to 8
teaspoons per pound of fresh fruit. There’s even
less fructose – 2 to 3 percent, or roughly 2 to 3
teaspoons per pound – in strawberries,
blackberries, blueberries, oranges, and
grapefruit. Honey, refined by bees, contains 40
percent fructose, but its extreme sweetness
deters most people from consuming it in large amounts.

Calls to health food stores around the country
indicated a fairy high awareness of fructose as a refined sugar.

Rogosin, at Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Market,
pointed out that carrying fructose-containing
products would be contrary to the chain’s mission
statement that emphasizes natural foods. “It has
known health effects – it increases cholesterol
and triglyceride levels,” she said.

Tim Connor, a buyer for Nature’s Fresh Northwest!
in Portland, Ore., pointed out that “there’s no
question that it’s a highly refined sugar.” The
health food grocery chain carries some products with fructose, though not many.

“We have not taken a no-sugar stance,” Connor
said. “We have taken a no-excessive-sugar stance.
We carry a broader range of products than what’s
found in more traditional health food or natural food stores.”

Is there a safe amount of fructose? Yudkin
reiterated that people should avoid it and that
they should be wary of sugars hidden in processed
foods. “Rather than switch to another sugar,” he
advised, “they should gradually reduce the amount
of sweetness in foods,” he said.

And what’s the view of the FDA, mandated by
Congress to ensure food safety? “We don’t have
any studies that show health effects (of
fructose)”, said spokeswoman Folke, after
checking with a scientific staff member she
declined to name. “We do not have any safety
studies on it. If a safety issue had come up, it would be big news.”

This article originally appeared in Natural
Health magazine. The information provided by Jack
Challem and The Nutrition Reporter newsletter is
strictly educational and not intended as medical
advice. For diagnosis and treatment, consult your physician.

———-
copyright © 1996 The Nutrition Reporter – updated 12/04/96
for more information contact
<MAILTO:jack@thenutritionreporter.com>jack@thenutritionreporter.com
return to
<http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/>www.thenutritionreporter.com/
(The Nutrition Reporter homepage)
you are at: www.thenutritionreporter.com/fructose_dangers.html

(HealthDay News) — Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.
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In the first study, published in current issue of Environmental Health, researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS.

And in the second study, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit watchdog group, found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was found most commonly in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.

More charming facts about high-fructose corn syrup

HFCS contains more fructose than sugar and this fructose is more immediately available because it is not bound up in sucrose. Since the effects of fructose are most severe in the growing organism, we need to think carefully about what kind of sweeteners we give to our children. Fruit juices should be strictly avoided–they are very high in fructose–but so should anything with HFCS…

…(Scientists conducted) studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose (the sugar found in corn syrup.)

The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results.

The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy–that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development.

Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.)

In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young.

Source: http://www.westonaprice.org

Reported by: Jennifer Harrington
Email: <mailto:jharrington@abc15.com>jharrington@abc15.com
Last Update: 7/10 12:41 pm

<http://www.PaulaOwens.com>Paula Owens the author
of <http://thepowerof4-paula.blogspot.com>“The
Power of 4” says avoiding these 10 things will
change your body dramatically. Owens has a
master’s degree in holistic nutrition and a bachelors degree in kinesiology.

1. HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: HFCS is the number one source of calories for most Americans and causes obesity.

You’ll find high-fructose corn syrup (GMO) in processed food, fast food, sodas, syrup that goes into your Latte, etc.

HFCS is extremely toxic to your liver, increases inflammation, causes obesity, oxidative stress and creates an aggressive insulin response.

2. PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS (TRANS FATS):
Partially hydrogenated oils are found in thousands of processed foods (breakfast cereals, cookies, chips).

Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease and contribute to obesity.

Restaurant food, especially from fast food chains, often serve food loaded with trans fats.

Consequences of a diet high in trans fats include:
* increased inflammation
* decreased immune function
* decreased testosterone
* Arthritis
* Cancer
* Decrease IQ – learning disabilities.
American IQ has dropped 20 points in the past 20 years.
* Diabetes
* Elevated blood pressure
* Free radical production
* Heart Disease
* Interferes with neurological & visual development of fetus
* Liver damage
* Obesity
* Osteoporosis
* Type II diabetes
3. MSG: Monosodium glutamate is a chemical that has been associated with reproductive disorders, migraine headaches, permanent damage to the endocrine system leading to obesity and other serious disorders.

MSG is used in many foods as a taste enhancer. It is linked to reduced fertility.

4. SODIUM NITRATE: This is a preservative, coloring, and flavoring commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish and corned beef.

Studies have linked eating it to various types of cancer.

Before you mix up a soy shake, snack on a soy protein bar or pour yourself a glass of soy milk consider this: unfermented, processed soy inhibits the thyroid, is deficient in amino acids, is toxic to infants and shrinks the brain

Before you mix up a soy shake, snack on a soy protein bar or pour yourself a glass of soy milk
consider this: unfermented, processed soy inhibits the thyroid, is deficient in amino acids, is toxic to infants and shrinks the brain.

There are some redeeming qualities to soy, however these are found primarily in fermented
soy products like tempeh, miso, natto and soybean sprouts.

If you want to get some health benefits from soy, stick to these four forms and pass on ALL
processed soy milks, tofu, soy burgers, soy ice cream, soy cheese and other soy junk foods that are disguised as health foods.

6. WHITE SUGAR: Sugar is more addictive than cocaine!

Sugar has a profound influence on your brain function and your psychological function.

When you consume excess amounts of sugar, your body releases excess amounts of insulin, which in turn causes a drop in your blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia.

In addition, sugar is pro-flammatory damages skin collagen and promotes wrinkles, increases your appetite, depletes your body of B vitamins, causes joint degeneration, ADHD and other
behavior disorders, stimulates cholesterol synthesis and weight gain.

Opt for a healthier version such as Bragg’s amino acids or Celtic sea salt (light pink, grey or beige color).

8. ASPARTAME, SPLENDA, SWEET N LOW, EQUAL:
Aspartame is an artificial, chemical sweetener found in many foods and beverages including
desserts, gelatins, protein powder, low calorie foods, drink mixes and sodas.

It may cause cancer or neurological problems, such as dizziness, migraine headaches, weight
gain, increased appetite, bloating, rashes or hallucinations.

Aspartame poisoning mimics symptoms of MS. NutraSweet is in over 7,000 foods!

Side effects:
* Increased heart disease
* Bloating and edema
* Brain seizures
* Cancer
* Cravings
* Headaches
* Predispose you to Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease
* Rashes and hives
* Weight gain – results in obesity

9. FOOD COLORINGS: (Blue 1, 2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 5, 6) Six food colorings still on the
market are linked with cancer in animal testing.

There is evidence that food coloring and food additives contribute to behavioral problems in
children, lead to lower IQ, hyperactivity, ADHD, depression, hormonal dysfunction and cancer.

Red 3, used to dye cherries, fruit cocktail, ice cream candy and baked goods have been shown to cause thyroid tumors in rats.

This harmful artificial color causes cancer and changes in brain chemistry. Read the list of
ingredients in your child’s cough syrup (artificial color).

Green 3 is a potential allergen and has been linked to bladder cancer. Green 3 is added to
candy, mint jelly, cereals and beverages.

Blue 1 and 2, found in beverages, candy, baked goods, cereals and pet food have been linked to allergies and cancer.

Yellow 5 is the most notable artificial color because it causes the most immediate allergic
reaction in people sensitive to salicylates such as aspirin.

Yellow 6 has been linked to tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney. Yellow 6 is added to beverages, sausage, gelatin, baked goods and candy.

Take home message – Stay away from any product listing an ingredient with a color plus a number.

10. PROCESSED/REFINED WHEAT AND GLUTEN: Refined grains are void of nutrients, disrupt insulin levels and are highly allergenic for many individuals.

Wheat and gluten have adverse health affects for approximately 80 percent of the population. Gluten is a protein found combined with starch in the endosperm of grains, notably wheat, rye and barley.

Gluten intolerance/sensitivity is severely misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed – one estimate
says that 97 percent of all sufferers don’t know they have the disease due to unfamiliarity with it among U.S. physicians.

Signs and symptoms of gluten intolerance: The ultimate effect of this hidden wear and tear is the slow destruction of the healthy mucosa, or lining tissue of the small intestine causing an autoimmune response that’s similar to an allergic reaction.

In some cases there may be symptoms in childhood such as allergies, asthma, anemia, reoccurring infections, a constant upset stomach or milk intolerance.

Other symptoms are nasal and throat mucous, feeling of food sitting in stomach, bloating,
gas, diarrhea with periodic constipation, mental fogginess and skin rashes.

In severe cases, as with Celiac disease, there can be seizures, psychosis, violent behavior and withdrawal from self.