Starting with a 1997 case study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine involving a 33-year-old patient, with pre-existing diagnosis of 'schizophrenic' disorder, who first came to medical attention for severe diarrhea and weight loss (classical symptoms of gluten intolerance), brain scan technology determined that cerebral hypoperfusion (decreased blood flow to the brain) was occurring within the patient's frontal cortex.[i] A gluten free diet resulted not only in the normalization of intestinal damage and autoantibodies, but the return of blood flow to the frontal cortex, and the resolution of schizophrenic symptoms.
Then, in 2004, a follow up study was performed to verify if the 1997 case study was just a fluke, or perhaps a widespread effect of untreated celiac disease. Published in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Institute of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy, compared 15 untreated celiac patients without neurological or psychiatric disorders other than anxiety or depression, with 15 celiac patients who were on a gluten-free diet for almost 1 year, and 24 healthy volunteers of similar sex and age. All subjects underwent cerebral single photon emission computed tomography examination.
The results were remarkable, with dramatically increased incidence of impaired brain blood flow in untreated celiac patients, reported as follows:
"Of the 15 untreated celiac patients, 11 (73%) had at least one hypoperfused brain region, compared with only 1 (7%) of the 15 celiac patients on a gluten-free diet and none of the controls (P = 0.01). Cerebral perfusion was significantly lower (P <0.05) in untreated celiac patients, compared with healthy controls, in 7 of 26 brain regions. No significant differences in cerebral perfusion were found between celiac patients on a gluten-free diet and healthy controls."They concluded: "There is evidence of regional cerebral blood flow alteration in untreated celiac patients."
Discussion
So, let's take a closer look at what cerebral (brain) hypoperfusion means.
Hypoperfusion is simply decreased blood flow through an organ. Whether it is an internal organ like the kidney, a muscle or the brain, the organ will experience lower availability of oxygen (hypoxia) and nutrients, and will therefore function at a suboptimal level. Cerebral hypoperfusion, therefore, is decreased blood flow to the brain - an organ with extremely high energy demands, and upon which our entire consciousness depends.
Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the #1 New York Times best-selling book Grain Brain, has made great strides in introducing the concept to the world that grains adversely affect brain health. We know that the carbohydrate content of grains alone contribute to disrupting insulin-mediated glucose homeostasis within neurons, ultimately contributing to their suboptimal functioning and in some cases demise, but the discovery that wheat in particular has blood flow disrupting properties to the frontal cortex of the grain, has profound implications.
For example, it is known that the frontal lobe house the 'executive functions' of the brain, including:
- Recognizing future consequences resulting from current actions
- Choosing between 'good' and 'bad' actions
- Overriding and suppressing socially unacceptable responses
- Retaining longer term memories which are not task-based.
- Determine similarities and differences between things or events.
For additional research on the adverse health effects of wheat, read our article: Wheat: 200 Clinically Confirmed Reasons Not To Eat It.
Also, for more information on the brain-specific harmful effects of wheat, read the following articles or watch the video:
- The Grain That Damages The Human Brain, by Sayer Ji
- This Is Your Body (and Brain) on Gluten, by Dr. Kelly Brogan, MD
- Video: Gluten Brain: How Wheat Cuts off Blood Flow - GreenMedTV
[i] A De Santis, G Addolorato, A Romito, S Caputo, A Giordano, G Gambassi, C Taranto, R Manna, G Gasbarrini. Schizophrenic symptoms and SPECT abnormalities in a coeliac patient: regression after a gluten-free diet. J Intern Med. 1997 Nov ;242(5):421-3. PMID: 9408073
The rest of the world isn't concerned about gluten. What makes us different? GMO consumption?