Celebrity scientist Stephen Hawking was considered unique for surviving for many years with motor neurone disease—also known as ALS. Most people die within 3-5 years of diagnosis.
Some years ago I came across an article where Hawking was quoted saying that Indian food suited him because it is mostly gluten free. This reminded me of Dr Hadjivassiliou's research at the University of Sheffield (UK) into the effects of gluten on the nervous system. Dr Hadjivassiliou has discovered that people with motor neurone disease are frequently sensitive to gluten - that is to say, they have high levels of antibodies to gluten, and gluten is producing inflammation in their body. Inflammation is the cause of most degenerative diseases. If Stephen Hawking followed a gluten-free diet, could this explain why his disease was stable (not getting any worse) for so long, and why he outlived all predictions of his early death for 40 years?
Most of us in the West have been brought up eating large amounts of gluten. This sets us apart from the rest of the world where rice or maize tend to be the staple carbohydrates. When you think that there are over 1 billion Chinese in the world, most of them eating a virtually gluten-free diet, you have to wonder if this contributes in some way to this population success.
In contrast, we in the West frequently start the day with toasted bread, croissants or a wheat-based cereal. Mid-morning comes a wheat snack such as biscuits or cookies, followed by sandwiches for lunch, cake or more biscuits/cookies in the afternoon, and pasta for dinner followed by pastries for dessert. In countries like France and Italy, bread traditionally accompanies almost all meals.
Are we paying a price for consuming all this gluten? How well is the human body adapted to gluten? Why do all so-called detox diets avoid gluten? Does this mean that gluten is a toxin?
As part of their assignment work, I ask all my students to remove all traces of gluten from their diet for one month. Almost everyone reports feeling lighter and brighter, more clear-headed, more energetic, and needing less sleep. Sometimes long-standing problems like migraine or arthritis disappear.
Going back to Stephen Hawking, gluten sensitivity is known to be linked with a number of diseases in addition to MND. Coeliac disease is well known to be caused by gluten. It is a severe form of diarrhoea which occurs when inflammation due to gluten sensitivity damages the intestines. Less well known is the fact that in a 1992 study carried out in Italy, 77 per cent of patients with epilepsy were found to have undiagnosed gluten sensitivity. If started early enough, the researchers found that a gluten-free diet was able to prevent epileptic fits.[1]
There is also increasing evidence that gluten sensitivity can cause mental symptoms. Schizophrenia is a much rarer disease in parts of the world where wheat is not usually eaten. Researchers have found high levels of gluten antibodies in people with Alzheimer's disease, and have used a gluten-free diet to improve their symptoms too.[2]
Several research studies also link gluten to autism. Large quantities of partly digested gluten particles have been found in the urine of autistic children. This indicates that the children's intestines are inflamed and leaky, because otherwise gluten particles would not be able to get into the blood circulation and urine. Particles from the fraction of wheat protein known as gliadin have a strongly morphine-like effect[3] and if these particles enter the blood they could account for many of the symptoms associated with childhood autism. Of all the gluten grains, wheat gluten has the highest gliadin content. Visit the University of Sunderland website to find out more about research into gluten and autism.
How long does it take for nerve tissue to recover after starting a gluten-free diet? Dr Hadjivassiliou says you can expect to see improvement or stabilization at about two years from the introduction of the diet. It takes three to six months for anti-gluten antibodies to disappear from the blood. Nerve tissue affected by gluten then recovers slowly. Personally I feel so much better when I don't eat gluten that I try to stay off it as much as possible. I need less sleep, feel stronger and more alert and can think better when I am gluten-free.
Further information about Dr Hadjivassiliou's work
Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness
References
1. Gobbi G et al: Coeliac disease, epilepsy, and cerebral calcifications. The Italian Working Group on Coeliac Disease and Epilepsy. Lancet 340(8817):439-43, 1992.
2. Hadjivassiliou M et al. Headache and CNS white matter abnormalities associated with gluten sensitivity. Neurol 2001;56:385-388.
3. Huebner FR, Lieberman KW, Rubino RP, Wall JS. Demonstration of high opioid-like activity in isolated peptides from wheat gluten hydrolysates. Peptides 1984 Nov-Dec;5(6):1139-47.
Do an investigation into Hawking by looking at his photos. It is not the same man over time. His face (even teeth and jaw) are completely different and it was not neurological deterioration that did that. He was replaced by imposters to keep the genius myth going. That is what they do to sell certain agendas. Sounds crazy? Well it is. And so is the fact that many of the beautiful women you see are men (Victoria's Secret lolz). See this website http://milesmathis.com/hawk3.pdf
I found this article very interesting. I don't believe I have a sensitivity to gluten but it would be interesting to see if I stopped eating it what would be the outcome. Thank you.