What I’m Reading This Month: Migraines, the Microbiome, and “Non-Gluten Wheat Sensitivity”

NEW on the blog: The sheer volume of health, wellness, and medical news and commentary available on the internet can be overwhelming. Every month, get a taste of what integrative medicine leader Dr. John Gannage finds interesting (and digestible) on the web.

1. “Non-Gluten Wheat Sensitivity”: (They were looking for a name so I just made one up). Interesting research on wheat sensitivity not caused by gluten, but other proteins in wheat that trigger inflammation in remote tissues like the nervous system, joints and lungs. These proteins can contaminate commercially available gluten, added as filler to processed foods for example, and cause an individual to believe he or she is gluten sensitive.

2. The microbiome and migraines: “Bacterial genes that reduce nitrates into nitrites and nitric oxide were significantly more abundant in the mouths of people who have migraines than those who don’t, the researchers found. A slight increase in their abundance was also found in the feces samples.”

3. Junk food madness: $30 billion in revenue in 2015 from beverage sales. The same company that brings us MSG and artificial colour-laden snacks, and is re-introducing aspartame to some of its products. Junk food sales for PepsiCo in 2015: $63 billion. This madness has to stop.

4. Rebalancing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids: “The time has come to return the omega-3 fatty acids in the food supply and decrease the omega-6 fatty acids by changing the cooking oils and eating less meat and more fish. The composition of the food supply must also change to be consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet and the genetics of the population.” At MIM, we can measure your Fatty Acid Profile and determine an Omega 3 score, which has implications not only for obesity but also heart disease

5. Monsanto… a legacy of toxicity… Including contamination of children. It’s not just Round Up that this corporation was able to bring to the marketplace.