Posted 4/26/2017 3:39 PM (GMT 0)
I started a thread last night asking about avoiding gluten, but when I went down the research rabbit hole, I came across a recent and very interesting article about different proteins in wheat - not gluten - that may contribute to IBD and overall inflammation:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313514.php
"ATIs only make up a small amount of wheat proteins - around 4 percent - yet the immune response they induce significantly affects the lymph nodes, kidneys, spleen, and brain in some people, causing inflammation. ATIs have also been suggested to exacerbate rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), asthma, lupus, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as inflammatory bowel disease."
"As well as contributing to the development of bowel-related inflammatory conditions, we believe that ATIs can promote inflammation of other immune-related chronic conditions outside of the bowel. The type of gut inflammation seen in non-celiac gluten sensitivity differs from that caused by celiac disease, and we do not believe that this is triggered by gluten proteins."
"Instead, we demonstrated that ATIs from wheat, that are also contaminating commercial gluten, activate specific types of immune cells in the gut and other tissues, thereby potentially worsening the symptoms of pre-existing inflammatory illnesses."
See also this large study documenting 1647 IBD patients on a gluten free diet - the research above may explain why this worked: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331053/
Again, we know that NOT everyone with UC is sensitive to gluten/wheat, and diet changes don't help everyone, but for those still struggling with symptoms (I am) who haven't tried eliminating wheat, maybe this explains why.