>> but I believe a whole lot more people than your 3-6 mil. have celiac. Thats possible, it really depends on how one thinks of things. Going by the definition of celiac strictly as a disease of destruction of the villi in the intestines in response to dietary gluten, then 1% or 3 million US citizens is probably the best estimate today. If one thinks of it as any immune response or allergy to gluten which may or may not include damage to the intestines, then a much larger estimate is almost certainly correct, although that may not always be celiac disease according to the standard definition. I suspect many people who have eliminated gluten from their diet and seen benefit declare themselves to have celiac disease, when this may or may not be the case. Such people are more likely to have celiac disease than the average person, although most of them probably don't - they may have a real immune reaction that causes real problems when eating wheat, but which is not celiac as it is understood and defined today. For example, 30 to 40 percent of people with autoimmune thyroiditis may benefit from eliminating gluten, but there is no indication that these 30 to 40 percent all have celiac disease. >> the estimated incidence of celiac disease in the U.S. (based on population genetics and comparison with incidence rates in other Western countries)thought to be up to 1 in 250 million people. Typo and old information. Recent research does not support the notion that the rate is between 1:1000 and 1:250. The first large epidemiologic study of the prevalence of celiac in the US was not conducted until 2003, and it suggested a rate in the non-at-risk population of 0.8%, with a much higher rate in families where one member was already diagnosed - putting the total rate closer to 0.9%). There is a NIH concensus statement from 2004 estimating 0.5 to 1.0 percent, and several more recent studies also put the rate around 1%. Which would be ~3,040,000 people in the US. And essentially all studies show that diagnosis is pitifully low - people who accept the 1 in 250 statistics often indicate that only 1 in 1500 Americans are diagnosed, meaning that 5 out of 6 people who have the disease by their standards don't know it. Other studies indicate that 90% of people with celiacs are undiagnosed, which would be ~2.7 million people in the United States. >> Or you could do endoscopies on all those antibody-positive patients and take biopsies of the small bowel. If those are normal (and very often, they are) what then? The evidence is that a high titre of anti-transglutaminase antibodies indicates active celiac disease, even if damage is not apparent in the endoscope or in biopsy. Why wait until the damage is visible (and to a degree, irreversible) to act?? Yes, it is an inconvenience to remove all traces of wheat, barley, and rye from the diet. But where are the double-blind placebo controlled studies that prove it is not a major health hazard for people with anti-transglutaminase antibodies to consume gluten? References: "Prevalence of celiac disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States: a large multicenter study." Arch Intern Med. 2003 Feb 10;163(3):286-92. (0.8% of the Ânot-at-risk US population has celiac disease). "NIH Consensus Development Conference on Celiac Disease." NIH Consens State Sci Statements. 2004 Jun 28-30;21(1):1-23. (estimates 0.5 to 1.0 percent of population has celiac). "Ninety percent of celiac disease is being missed." J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2007 Oct;45(4):497-9. (prevalence of celiac over 1%) "Where are all those patients with Celiac disease?" Am J Gastroenterol. 2007 Jul;102(7):1461-3. (Celiac disease occurs in approximately 1% of the U.S. population.)

Judy I have seen or heard of this book and his beliefs and while it all makes sense to me I was wondering about the list of supplements...whew thats a huge list, I already take a handful of vitiamns, how do I know if I need all these? I have tried so many different ways to help get me through this stuff they call natural...he he So glad I found this message board. dee

Carol: One can inoculate with L. Rhamnosus (a strain taken from a healthy person) ... with Culturelle probiotics, or make your own pickled-cabbage. If you scroll up, you'll see the research which listed many good bacteria in pickled cabbage, one of them is L. Rhamnosus ... which suppress other bad bacteria such as E. Coli, Samonella. One pill of Culturelle before bed helps me to sleep better than melatonin, thus help with weight-loss. Innoculation with one pill per day isn't enough ... the good bacteria are constantly killed off by the antibiotics added to beef & milk and poultry, plus junk food like sugar promote yeast, while suppressing the good bacteria. To feed the good bacteria like L. Rhamnosus, one need to consume pre-biotics daily, such as beans, oatmeal, wheat bran, asparagus, or best dandelion greens. From actzqn link (THANK YOU, actzqn for that Scientific American link): http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/ " In studies of twins who were both lean or both obese, researchers found that the gut community in lean people was like a rain forest brimming with many species but that the community in obese people was less diverse. Lean individuals, for example, tended to have a wider variety of Bacteroidetes, a large tribe of microbes that specialize in breaking down bulky plant starches and fibers into shorter molecules that the body can use as a source of energy. Blaser has shown that when young mice are given low doses of antibiotics, similar to what farmers give livestock, they develop about 15 percent more body fat than mice that are not given such drugs. When Laurie Cox, a graduate student in Blaser's laboratory, combined a high-fat diet with the antibiotics, the mice became obese. Studies showed that the mice carrying microbes from the obese human had picked up some of their lean roommates' gut bacteria—especially varieties of Bacteroidetes—probably by consuming their feces, a typical, if unappealing, mouse behavior. To further prove the point, the researchers transferred 54 varieties of bacteria from some lean mice to those with the obese-type community of germs and found that the animals that had been destined to become obese developed a healthy weight instead. Transferring just 39 strains did not do the trick. A diet of highly processed foods, for example, has been linked to a less diverse gut community in people. Gordon's team demonstrated the complex interaction among food, microbes and body weight by feeding their humanized mice a specially prepared unhealthy chow that was high in fat and low in fruits, vegetables and fiber ... Given this “Western diet,” the mice with obese-type microbes proceeded to grow fat even when housed with lean cagemates." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/ *** From Straw: My flu-shot reaction led to pneumonia and led to antibiotics. After finishing antibiotics, I was 119 lb., then I took Culturelle (with R. Rhamnosus), stayed between 118 to 119 lb. for 2 months, plus eating pickled-red-cabbage daily. The minute I stopped Culturelle, finished pickled-red-cabbage, plus stopped magnesium .. I gained 4 lbs. I suspect beneficial bacteria plays a role in deep & good sleep which helps to suppress ghrelin, the "hunger hormone". I notice the night which I take Culturelle plus magnesium before my night-snack .. I sleep really well, and eager to exercise in the morning. I sleep way better with that combo (culturelle & magnesium) than with melatonin.

How is your food? Low-fat carbs to me equals vegetables. Are you eating mostly meat (or other protein) and vegetables? Are you familiar with glycemic index? I do best with eggs & veggies for breakfast, green salad with meat for lunch, and small appetizer plate like cheese and grapes for dinner. I no longer drink soda and avoid sweets and starches. I drink lots of water. I do start the day with a small coffee with a teaspoon of sugar to give my brain a quickstart. Corn syrup does not equal sugar. I believe it's the glucose in sugar that works - not the fructose. Also, "an apple a day" really works for me. When your insides are clean and your weight is optimal and you feed your body what it was designed to consume, it functions well, at least in my experience. Take breaks of deep breathing to refresh, outside if you can. That can be energizing. If I HAVE TO, I'll have an afternoon coffee with sugar. Caffeine doesn't work unless combined with water (you can't be dehydrated or it will put you to sleep) and for some reason the sugar makes it work better too. Thought control: When you see yourself slipping into a bad thought pattern, catch yourself and change it. There is no need to judge yourself. Focus on what you need to do, what positive action will make you feel better. Exercise: walking, yoga, cardio, core. This is a goid time to get into the best shape of your life. Yoga is a necessity for me. You can do some movements at work. Getting the blood to circulate will give you more energy.