A2: Microbes in the news. Gut microflora and gluten sensitivity

Gut Microbes and Gluten: Your Bacteria Might Be Gluten-Sensitive

By Patricia Shelton MD

Cell Science Systems

4/8/2015

Gut Microbes and Gluten: Your Bacteria Might Be Gluten-Sensitive

Summary:

Fundamentally, gluten sensitivity is a result of biochemistry. Gluten is less able to be broken down by enzymes that typically process proteins. Gluten is also more apt to binding to immune cells and this triggers an immune response and inflammation. Food sensitivities are an act of an immune response, because it seen as a pathogen essentially, and studies show the immune system is impacted by the microbiome. Other studies show that those with gluten sensitivities have several differences in their gut microbiome, an increased number of harmful bacteria, and a decreased number of harmless bacteria.

Connections:

This is related to what we were just learning about the human GI tract having at least 16,000 species of microbes.

Critical analysis:

I found it really interesting that vaginal births are the first exposure babies have to microbes, yet logical. Also that there are distinct differences between babies born vaginally and via c-section that is carried even later in life. I thought this article was very informative and easy to read. From my knowledge thus far, I didn’t read any information in this article that made me skeptical of its credibility. Therefore, I do think it did a good job of communicating the science to the public.

Question: This article was published in 2015, so I’m curious if there has been probiotics produced that may help reduce gluten sensitivity? Even further, if there has been a method developed to get probiotics past the acidic stomach.

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