Tuesday 18 June 2013

The proteins are the problem: Safe proteins for people with compromised gut integrity.

First, Matt Lalonde Ph.D's video "The Science Behind the Paleolithic Diet."

The title of this post comes from Matt Lalonde. As mentioned in Keep 'em tight., about 10% of healthy blood donors have antibodies in their blood to something that shouldn't be in their blood - gliadin. How do gliadin fragments get into the blood? Compromised gut integrity (a.k.a. Leaky gut).

It's possible to repair compromised gut integrity, as mentioned in the above post. In the meantime, it's advisable to avoid "problem proteins" and eat only "safe proteins". Which proteins are the problem?

1) Prolamines: Prolamines are a group of plant storage proteins having a high proline content and found in the seeds of cereal grains: wheat (gliadin), barley (hordein), rye (secalin), corn (zein), sorghum (kafirin) and as a minor protein, avenin in oats.

2) Casein: Of the six major protein types in cow's milk, four are casein proteins and the other two are whey proteins. The caseins usually make up about 80% of the protein in cow's milk. Cheese is ~100% caseins. As Matt said, caseins are also high in proline. Whey is rapidly digested (which is why it's used by bodybuilders post-workout) so it's pretty safe.

3) Anything that makes you feel ill: As everyone is different, this could be anything (peanuts, eggs, shellfish, tomatoes etc). If "X" makes you feel ill, stop eating "X" until your gut is working 100% correctly. There's a possibility that your gut will never work 100% correctly. Which proteins are safe?

Rice, quinoa & amaranth contain generally safe proteins. Properly-cooked legumes (peas, beans & lentils) contain generally safe proteins. Seeds contain generally safe proteins, but most types are very high in omega-6 fats (except for chia & linseeds). Tubers, root veggies & buckwheat contain pretty safe proteins. Meats & fish contain pretty safe proteins.

Pigging-out on safe proteins, (resulting in significant amounts of incompletely-digested proteins reaching the lower intestine) is asking for trouble. Ditto for eating excessive amounts of fruit with or shortly after eating safe proteins, as this increases the speed of peristalsis, which increases the amount of incompletely-digested proteins reaching the lower intestine.

That's all for now. If anything else comes to mind (or if you come up with a bright idea), I'll add it.

11 comments:

Diana Moon said...

I think I am OK with casein but this brings up an interesting question - maybe ppl who think they are lactose intolerant really have a problem w/the casein?


BTW buckwheat is botanically a fruit, not a grain. Yes I know that sounds like a POS nitpick but it's not. I really need a bread substitute.



Dammit, I bought 3 freakin' pounds of rye flour before I decided to go gluten free.



I also trashed my wheat germ. I find all that stuff very irritating. To think, I used to pour it on because it was 'good fiber.'

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Lactose intolerance causes the runs within hours. Casein intolerance - I don't know how that feels.

"I really need a bread substitute." Can you get any decent GF breads where you are?

Anyway, I'm off out for the night. Ciao for now!

Diana Moon said...

The gluten is only part of the picture. Fasano has done research that shows elevated zonulin in celiacs who don't eat gluten.

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/disease/autoimmune/


More bad stuff about wheat. Apologies if you've already linked to this.

George Henderson said...

There's potential for a synergistic toxicity. FODMAPs stretch the gut, prolamines muck with its immunity and integrity, trypsin inhibitors drive inflammation, and lectins inhibit the repair processes of damaged enterocytes. Some foods contain all of these and only some are denatured by cooking.

George Henderson said...

Lectins: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000687

Nigel Kinbrum said...

I haven't seen that link. I've added it to http://nigeepoo.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/wheat-oh-dear.html Thanks!

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Those veggies are out to get us! #dayofthetriffids

Diana Moon said...

I don't get what's so bad about buckwheat. It's not a grain.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

O.K. I'll move it from the "grains" that are generally safe section to the tubers & root veggies section that are pretty safe.

Diana Moon said...

I must've missed something. I thought all grains are more or less allergenic (to some, not all).

Nigel Kinbrum said...

I think that the it's the gliadins in Triticeae that are the problem. The gliadin in rice (Glutelin/oryzenin) and in non-Triticeae grains are safe for people with Coeliac Disease, which suggests that they are safe for everyone.