Hello & question re: xanthan/guar gums...
 

I was just referred to this forum this morning, so I thought I would say hi for the first time :-)

I also wanted to know if anybody out there has problems digesting xanthan or guar gum. I have problems eating the brown rice bread sold at Trader Joes (I think the company is called Food For Life) as well as other premade items that have those gums in them. If I eat it for a number of days, I start to have the same fatigue, stomach pain, etc. as I have when I eat gluten; just to a lesser extent. I do have some problems when eating corn, so I thought that since I've read that xanthan gum has something to do with corn (at least that's what I thought I read somewhere), maybe that's the problem. But I seem to have problems with guar gum too, so who knows. It might just be that my body is oversensitive.

Thanks!

Hi Jenny!

I'm glad you found us here.

I have heard of others who can't tolerate xanthan or guar gums... but we seem to do alright with them...far as I know. I use xanthan gum in my bread and baked goods.

I have also heard about the 'corn' connection...

I think others (who also have problems with gums) might have better info for you... but I wanted to say and welcome you!

Cara

Hi again, jennyj~

I read your post on the MS forum where I sometimes browse. You might want to pm or post to JudyLV here... who was diagnosed with MS, but has seen improvement on a gf/cf diet.

I also have some info on possible MS/Celiac connection in The Gluten File: Multiple Sclerosis

There was a man named Nick, very active with the Direct-MS website, who used to post on the BrainTalk forums. Not sure if he has posted here at NeuroTalk or not, but he had a lot of good information in regard to food sensitivity/ MS connection.

I know it remains a contentious subject, but with everything I have learned about Celiac Disease (and Gluten Sensitivity, and other food sensitivity)... I strongly believe that some cases of MS may actually be misdiagnosed Celiac Disease (or Vitamin B12 Deficiency, which can also mimick MS, and is not uncommon among those with Celiac Disease).

I have known people who have both celiac disease and MS, and the MS continues to progress. I do wonder, though, if removing casein and soy (or other foods the person might show sensitivity to)would make a difference for those patients.

Have you read about zonulin and leaky gut in the context of autoimmune disease? This is one new area of research which is concentrating now on Celiac DIsease and Diabetes, but may have implications with MS as well. Zonulin

Celiac Disease is the only autoimmune disease with known cause (and cure). It seems wise to consider food sensitivity in other autoimmune disease as well. I think they will know a lot more in another ten years.

Cara

We also have issues with gums and had to avoid them for a couple of years.

I just added them back in at Christmas and have been allowing it on weekends since then. So far so good. I wouldn't suggest it every day for anyone though... gums are gums... they make things gooey and hard to break down.

Put some in a glass with a bit of water... some fllour if you want and then try to wash the glass out... It's hard because the gums make it stick... So, it makes sense that it might give some trouble with some people.

Hi Jenny!
We use Flax seed instead of Xan Gum or Guar Gum in recipes (I just sub equal parts milled flax for those) That seems safer to me because it gets away from the corn (xan gum) and potato (guar).

Sometimes we skip it all together and just add that much more of our safe flour too.
:)

Oooooh! This is good to know! I've been subbing equal parts ground flax and agar agar. I'll just drop the agar - it costs more! LOL! Thanks!

Thanks for all of the great information Cara! I haven't heard much about Zonulin, so I'll need to do some research on that.

Thanks also for the tip about the flax seed, sleepingbean :-) Can you use that substitute for things like bread in a bread machine? I do have milled flax seed already, so that will work out great. Plus, I seem to do okay with it in moderation.

Jenny~

These are quicky easy overviews about zonulin~ People with celiac disease, diabetes, MS, and other autoimmune disease seem to have higher levels of zonulin... which regulate the intestinal and brain blood barriers, are "gatekeeper" to the gut and brain... causing "leaky gut" and "leaky brain"... leaving one more open to problems caused by abnormal immune responses to food proteins that have
escaped those barriers. This is a relatively recent discovery by celiac expert Dr. A. Fasano.

Celiac.com on
Zonulin and Celiac Disease
Zonulin and Diabetes

There are lots more articles/links about it in The Gluten File.

Cara

Great info Cara, thanks. This makes a lot of sense to me with my health experiences. Its pretty exciting because this could be a huge breakthrough to finding treatments to various autoimmune diseases.

Hi Jenny,

I was diagnosed with MS in 1998. I learned years ago that some of my symptoms decreased when I did not eat wheat. About 4 years ago I went on a GF diet along with my youngest son. I continued to improve. Last winter my son got sick again and so we did some testing for delayed food allergies using this lab http://www.optimumhealthresource.com/. He was found to have high reactions to most dairy, eggs, soy, legumes, citrus and a few other foods. We worked with a nutritionist to remove these foods, add digestive enzymes and probiotics, and he got better.

Last summer I decided to have this test run on myself. I have almost identical delayed food allergies as my son. Our nutritionist said she had never seen results like mine in that I had a high reaction to every category of dairy that was tested. I never suspected this but never really ate a lot of dairy. So now, 6 months later, I have not eaten any of the high reactive foods and the intense tingling in my legs has decreased from occurring about 3 times/day to a few times a week. I also take quite a few supplements and digestive enzymes.

I stopped taking Avonex a few years ago and have not had any increase in lesions since then. I have even had a few lesions go away. I will be glad to give you some more information if you have questions. I have to cut this off now because this morning I took my daughter to her appointment with Dr. Fasano at the Center for Celiac Reasearch. It has been a long day.

--Judy