The effects on pregnancy are better defined and are discussed at the end of this article.

CD FEMALE FERTILITY

The papers on celiac disease and infertility seem to quote the same statistics, which since 2000 all retain the same positive message. That is, If you are celiac, you must maintain your gluten free diet while attempting pregnancy and once successful, during pregnancy. The only extra advice is to replace the vitamins and minerals that you may be missing by excluding gluten grains from your diet.

The reason for maintaining a gluten free diet during attempts at conception are that it is believed that Infertility and miscarriage in celiacs are caused by mal-absorption affects – due to the body’s inability to absorb the nutrients required conceive and then carry a healthy baby. In fact studies have shown that “the incidence of celiac disease in women with unexplained infertility has been estimated at four to eight percent” (ref 1)

Researchers also found that “CD women who were not on the gluten-free diet started their menstrual cycle up to a year and a half later than women with celiac disease who were following the diet. In addition, researchers found that up to 39% of women not on the gluten free diet experienced periods of amenorrhea (irregular periods), compared to only nine percent of CD women who were on the gluten-free diet. Women with celiac disease who were not on the gluten-free diet were found to enter menopause four to five years earlier than women with celiac disease who were on the diet. (ref 1)

“Researchers who have studied women with infertility have found that they test positive for celiac disease-related antibodies at a rate that is ten-fold higher than the normal population.” (ref 1). It is noted that many of these ‘infertile’ women often go onto delivering healthy babies, assisted by eating a strict gluten free diet.

“Celiac disease and infertility causes the menstrual cycle to be an on again off again thing. Unfortunately, under those conditions, it may take longer to become pregnant, if at all, since a gluten free diet may bring on the menstrual cycle earlier and menopause earlier.” (ref 2)

While none of this data proves that celiac disease causes infertility, it strongly suggests that people diagnosed as celiacs are likely to have more difficulty conceiving and they can massively improve their chances when observing a strict gluten free diet.

CD MALE FERTILITY

“A Male CD person has a greater risk of infertility and other reproductive disturbances, as well as a greater incidence of hypoandrogenism.” (ref 4) This medical condition means a deficiency of androgens in the body that leads to a lack of virility and sexual potency.

“As regards nutritional aspects, the folic acid deficiency of CD can affect rapidly proliferating tissues, such as the embryo and the seminiferous epithelium. More attention should be paid to deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and E, observed in CD. Vitamin A is important for Sertoli cell function as well as for early spermatogenetic phases. Vitamin E supports the correct differentiation and function of epidydimal epithelium, spermatid maturation and secretion of proteins by the prostate. Therefore, CD male patients should be considered as vulnerable subjects” (ref 4).

The practical conclusion of this is that just as CD has a profound effect on women’s fertility, it has a similar effect on male fertility via the quality of their sperm. Again a gluten free diet is the only viable ‘fix’ for infertility issues for males who experience unexplained infertility.

PREGNANCY

The adverse effects of CD are equally devastating on pregnancy, though as for conception, celiacs pregnancies can be restored to near normal by following a gluten free diet. Rather than ‘gild the lily’ I will simply quote the known statistics below:

“In a study of 25 patients and 60 pregnancies of CD women, researchers found that 21% of women who were not on the gluten-free diet experienced pregnancy loss, and 16% of women experienced fetal growth restriction”. (ref 5)

“In a large Danish study with 211 infants and 127 mothers with celiac disease, researchers found that the mean birth weight of children born to mothers on a gluten-containing diet was significantly lower than babies born to mothers without celiac disease. Interestingly, this same study determined that women on the gluten-free diet gave birth to children weighing more than those born to mothers without celiac disease!” In a case-control study that looked at the effect of the gluten-free diet on pregnancy and lactation, investigators learned that women with celiac disease who were not on the gluten-free diet experienced pregnancy loss at a rate of 17.8%, compared to 2.4% of women with celiac disease who were on the gluten-free diet.

“in a group of women with celiac disease who had been pregnant more than once, researchers looked at the effect of the gluten-free diet on their future pregnancies. They concluded that the institution of the gluten-free diet upon diagnosis caused a relative 35.6% drop in pregnancy loss, 29.4% drop in low-birth weight babies and an increase of two and a half months of breastfeeding.” (ref 5)

As you can readily see, celiac disease, caused by eating grains that include gluten, has far reaching effects regarding inhibiting reproduction. If you have any of the symptoms (discussed on the site in the ref box), it is a relatively simple process to get yourself checked out. Unexplained infertility is a growing subset of the reason people can not have children. If you think you have some of the symptoms, as well as infertility, there are several non invasive tests you can try before going the IVF path.

References

1    http://www.maleinfertilitysolutions.com/celiac-disease-and-infertility.php

2    http://celiac-disease.com/how-does-celiac-disease-cause-infertility/

3    http://health.bloodyhealth.com/medicines-and-remedies/infertility-and-celiacrsquos-disease-the-warning-signs/

About The Author

Poor nutrition is a concern that affects many people, but did you know that as many as 1 in every 133 Americans (or 2 million in the continental United States) suffer from a special kind of nutritional disorder called celiac disease that can lead to a variety of other health problems?

Once thought to be a disease that affected only a rare few is now known to be much more common. And while that does not bode well for those that suffer from its effects, it has led to a greater understanding of celiac disease that is aiding (and will continue to do so) the treatment effort.

What Is Celiac Disease?

For those who have never heard of celiac disease, here is how it works: quite simply, celiac disease is a disorder of the digestive system that inflicts damage to the small intestine and prevents proper absorption of nutrients. People afflicted have a particularly difficult time digesting gluten, which is a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. More specifically, celiac disease damages the villi, or protrusions of the small intestine lining that aid in absorption. As a result, no matter how much an individual eats, he or she will remain malnourished.

What Triggers Celiac Disease?

While celiac disease is a genetic disorder, certain factors can trigger it. You can expect celiac disease to become active, if it runs in the family and is not immediately noticeable, after events such as surgery, infection, stress, pregnancy, or childbirth.

Children and adults can exhibit symptoms of the disease differently. In children, signs such as these could raise the flag:

• Chronic diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Excessive weight loss
• Abdominal bloating
• Abnormalities in stool, such as fattiness, unusually foul odors, or discoloration
• Adults may exhibit some of these signs, though it is far less common. Usually, celiac disease manifests itself in one or more of the following ways:
• Fatigue
• Arthritis
• Depression or anxiety
• Seizures
• Sores inside of mouth
• Skin rashes
• Numbness of the feet and hands
• Osteoporosis
• Pain in bones or joints
• Unexplained iron deficiencies in blood (or anemia)

Keep in mind these symptoms are not automatic indicators you carry the disease. Awareness of family medical history is extremely helpful, and consultation with your doctor is essential. It is important for you to realize that celiac disease does not have to rule your life. There are treatments available, but you must take advantage of them. Oftentimes, a gluten-free diet helps you to live a normal life, free of the long-term effects, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune thyroid and liver diseases.

But it is just as important for you to realize that celiac disease is a condition, which can lead to more harmful long-term effects. By knowing the limits of your body, and the proper nutritional information for how to deal with celiac disease, you place yourself at less risk. For more information on understanding celiac disease, visit our website, where you will find more details on what is celiac disease: how it affects you, how you can specifically fight back, and what to expect in both short and long terms.

About the Author

To learn What is Celiac Disease, visit www.WhatIsCeliacDisease.com.

To be allergic to wheat in America is akin to being allergic to rice in China. In other words it is hard to find food to eat when you can’t eat gluten products. However, there are gluten free grains that can often be used as substitutions for gluten-laden foods. Rice is one of them.

Don’t Rely On Rice, However

Although any kind of rice is considered by most medical experts to be gluten free, the jury is still out by gluten intolerance sufferers. Some report that they get symptoms from rice, especially white rice.

There are many kinds of rice in the world, including red, brown and long grained wild rice. Try these as opposed to the white rice, you might have better results. There are also substitutions for rice, in case you become intolerant to rice in any of its forms.

The Major Gluten Free Grains

The following is some of the most popular gluten free grains available in most supermarkets, health food stores and ethnic specialty cooking supply stores in the real world and online:

* Quinoa: This is a nutty, rice-like grain from South America that can be used as a substitute in any rice, couscous and some pasta recipes. It takes a couple of tries to get used to it, but a little goes a long way.

* Corn: Yes, corn, and all of its wonderful variations. Not all of it has been converted to ethanol yet. Not only can you eat corn, but you can eat anything made from corn flour and you can substitute cornstarch for wheat flour in gravy recipes.

* Millet: Considered one of the first cultivated grains, let alone being one of the gluten free grains. This is cheap and plentiful.

* Buckwheat: Nice and confusing, isn’t it? Despite the name, buckwheat does not contain wheat, so it’s on the gluten free grains list. Some commercial products like frozen waffles are made of buckwheat and not wheat wheat.

* Sorghum: You see this more and more often in all kinds of foods, whether gluten-free or not. Gluten free beer is often made from fermented sorghum. It looks a lot like sugar cane. It’s a popular ingredient in commercial ice cream.

Other Gluten Free Grains

Other, less well known gluten free grains include amaranth, montina (otherwise known as Indian rice grass), teff (a tiny Ethipoian grain found in ancient Pyramids as well as modern dinner bowls) and wild rice. They may take a little more research to find. But if you see them as ingredients in any commercial foods or condiments, then you know they are safe.

Remember that if you are gluten intolerant the best way to tell if you can or can’t eat something is to read the ingredients. Look out for gluten, wheat, rye, oats or barley as ingredients.

If you are having a hard time finding gluten free foods, you can get a gluten free eating guide. They are easy to find in bookstores and on the Internet. These guides are loaded with all the info you need, as well as recipes, to make some of your favorite dishes at home, gluten free.

About the author:
Brue M. Baker, is an expert on natural health and fitness who has helped people from across the world sky-rocket their health and well-being. Rather than hitting your head against a wall trying to find unbiased health information let Brue take you by the hand and give you the best natural health information and resources on the web. Visit DietHealthAndFitness.com to learn more.

Gluten allergy is a food allergy that makes the sufferer sensitive to gluten. Coeliac disease is a health condition
in the small intestine. What happens to a person with gluten allergy is once the allergen comes in contact with the small intestine, it causes the immune system to attack the lining of the bowel.

This attack on the small intestine’s lining of the gluten allergy sufferer weakens the stomach and can cause serious health problems in the future. The delicate lining is responsible for the absorption of nutrients and vitamins in our body. Once it is weakened, we lose our capacity to effectively turn food into energy,

Gluten allergy starts at a young age, right after the weaning period and the mother is feeding the baby with cereals. There are no specific reasons why a person develops the gluten allergy but when it happens, the only thing the gluten allergy sufferer can do is avoid gluten at all cost.

Symptoms of Gluten Allergy

Gluten is usually found in wheat products. Breads, pasta and other baked goods can be considered dangerous to a person with gluten allergy. Biscuits, pastries, breakfast cereals and instant soups and sauces also have gluten. The symptoms of a gluten allergy differ from children and adults.

Children with gluten allergy may suffer from slow physical growth, weight loss, with poor appetite. Gluten allergic symptoms also include vomiting and diarrhea. Because the small intestine’s lining is damaged, the vitamins and minerals do not go to the body. The kids end up looking thin, pale and have no energy at all.

In adults, gluten allergy symptoms are similar, with loss of weight, diarrhea or constipation complicating the disease. Aside from this, adults often complain about depression, extreme fatigue, lethargy, bone pain and ulcers in the sufferer’s mouth.

Treatment

Treatment for gluten allergies begins like all other food allergy, avoiding contact with the allergen. There are certain food substitutes for gluten allergy sufferers like using sunflower oil instead of the usual cooking oil and drinking wines instead of beer.

There are medications available to these sufferers. But unlike other food allergies that show external symptoms like rashes, gluten allergy destroys from the inside, making diagnosis and detection hard. Oral medication can help ease the pain from the small intestine and vitamin supplements must also be taken along with it.

Gluten allergy prevention

Gluten allergy sufferers are asked to be vigilant in monitoring their diet. Reading the labels for anything with wheat is a good start. Self-discipline is the key to beating gluten allergy. The food selection for coeliac disease sufferers is still varied like fruits, salads and vegetables, rice, corn, nuts, meat and chicken eggs and dairy products, fish and seafood.

What could be the worst-case scenario for gluten allergy sufferers? If left untreated, coeliac disease can result in anemia, bone disease and some form of cancer. The best advise is to steer clear of gluten-laden foods. The more the person does not intake gluten, the better their chances of not having a serious health problem in the future.

About the author:
For answers to All your frequently asked questions about gluten allergy, please go to: gluten allergy or go to: allergyanswers.net blog.

Before you put anything into your mouth, you need to ask the question, “Is this gluten free?” Beer has gluten. Pastas have gluten (yes, that includes pizza). Gravy has gluten. Pet food even has gluten (for the really desperate).

But did you know that medications
, such as bupropion, can also contain gluten? If you are prescribed the antidepressant you have to ask, “Is bubropion gluten free?”

Is bupropion gluten free? Yes! One of the reasons there are so many antidepressants on the market is that people aren’t alike. The millions of Celiacs around the world and their purchasing power is why gluten is not in bubropion.

The brand names of the generic bupropion includes Wellbutrin, Budaprion and Zyban. Always know the active generic name of the ingredient for any medicine you take. So, if you have been thinking, “Is my Zyban gluten free?” It is the same as “Is bupropion gluten free?”

Why Take Bupropion

It’s not for everyone, even though it passes the question “Is bupropion gluten free?” This powerful antidepressant came out in 1986 and reacts on people differently. Some people get wired. Some people turn into zombies. Others thrive on it. Depression is a life threatening illness that needs immediate medical attention.

Depression is also a symptom of Celiac disease. Your depression may or may not be a direct result of your Celiac Disease. So your doctor will most likely have you take medications for depression, for any malnutrition, and have your diet changed.

If you dislike medication or suffer from its side effects than there are also many natural alternatives to alleviating depression, such as a healthy, organic diet, proper exercise, and meditation. The manager of your local health food store should be able to help you.

In modern times, bupropion is not just used for depression. It is also used for Attention deficit/ hyperactive disorder in children, as well as counteracting some of the harsher side effects other prescription medications.

It is also well-known as an anti-seizure medication that can sometimes be prescribed for quiting smoking and for those with sexual problems.

Read the instructions carefully. Tell your doctor any and all of the medications, vitamins and herbal supplements
you take to avoid incredibly bad interactions with bupropion. And never take it with beer, even gluten-free beer.

About the author:
Brue M. Baker is a natural health and fitness expert whose distinguished ability to help people skyrocket their health and well-being has become known all over the world. If you would like to learn how you can live a simple, gluten free lifestyle let Brue introduce you to what he considers to be the best Gluten free lifestyle guide on the planet. Visit: www.CompletelyGlutenFree.com to learn more.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

Failure to thrive in infants

Pale sores inside the mouth, called aphthous ulcers

Tooth discoloration or loss of enamel

Itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

Celiac disease may also present itself in less obvious ways, including irritability or depression, anemia, stomach upset, joint pain, muscle cramps, skin rash, mouth sores, dental and bone disorders (such as osteoporosis), and tingling in the legs and feet (neuropathy).

Symptoms of celiac disease can occur at any time in a child’s life. Some kids experience symptoms the first time they are exposed to gluten, while others develop symptoms later in life after consuming gluten products without a problem for years.

What causes celiac disease?

The destruction of the inner lining of the small intestine in celiac disease is caused by an immunological (allergic) reaction to gluten in the diet that inflames and destroys the inner lining of the small intestine. There is evidence that this reaction is partially genetic and inherited.

European decent -It has been discovered that the highest rates of celiac disease are found in Western Europe and in areas where Europeans have emigrated including North America and Australia.

Diagnosis

There are several tests that can be used to assist in diagnosis. The level of symptoms may determine the order of the tests, but all tests lose their usefulness if the patient is already taking a gluten-free diet. Intestinal damage begins to heal within weeks of gluten being removed from the diet, and antibody levels decline over months. For those who have already started on a gluten-free diet, it may be necessary to perform a re-challenge with 10 g of gluten (four slices of bread) per day over 2–6 weeks before repeating the investigations.

Treatment of Celiac Disease

Improvement in symptoms begins within days of starting the gluten-free diet. Complete healing of the small intestine, meaning the villi are intact and working, usually occurs in 3-6 months, although it may take up to 2 years in older persons.

Initial treatment

When celiac disease is diagnosed, you should immediately adopt a strict gluten-free diet. Eating even the smallest amount of gluten can cause symptoms such as weight loss and diarrhea. You may be advised to temporarily avoid milk or milk products until your intestine heals, at which time you usually can gradually reintroduce them.

About the Author:

peterhutch has 1405 articles online.

If you are a celiac, your miracle cure is under way – being trialed in Melbourne Australia from April 2009! It could conceivably desensitize people with celiac disease to the point that the villi in their small intestine are not damaged by the gluten protein. However with the need for extensive testing in this three phase trial, the vaccine may not be ready for release for several years.

Before we go into the details of such a cure it should be noted that this vaccine might not be a ‘magic bullet’ that makes people permanently immune to the gluten protein, it might ‘only’ desensitize them. Also be aware that if you choose to undertake the ‘therapy’ there are no guarantees of how you will react, and the only way to regularly check to see if you have been ‘cured’ would be regular intestine biopsies. As it is known that some people take over two years to heal their intestines from gluten damage, how risky will this strategy be? It is expected that testing will be extensive so these questions may all sit under the ‘devil’s advocate’ category, and all may be well.

An even more philosophical question is what effect covering up the cause of your disease will have on your body. Books have been written that suggest that it is the increased gluten potency in wheat and other gluten grains as well as increased use in manufactured foods that has led to an overdose of gluten. Our bodies then pass a ‘tipping point’ where our genetic predisposition to CD turns into an active disease. If this is true, how wise would it be to continue ingesting unnaturally high levels of gluten, once ‘cured’ just because we can? Sure it would make life simpler not following a gluten free diet, however maybe we should wait for gluten to be decreased at the source, the growing fields, before we return to a gluten filled diet.

Different types of celiac disease identified

With all these issues under consideration, I am sure that every celiac would still be interested in a ‘cure’. A July 2007 article based on research conducted in Victoria, Australia, showed that “Celiac disease – is strongly associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ2 and to a lesser extent with HLA DQ8.”

“HLA genes are part of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which plays a pivotal role in the immune system. HLA-DQ2 mediated celiac disease is common in people of European ancestry, with about 90 per cent of sufferers positive for DQ2. Another five per cent possess HLA DQ8. In China and East Asia, DQ2 genes are rare while DQ8 genes are as common as in Europe.”

So it appears that this preliminary research has been able to isolate two main versions of celiac disease. However the molecular workings of the immune response in the two antigens appear to be very different. The researchers discovered that T-cells in people with DQ8-associated celiac disease reacted quite differently to the small proteins in gluten than the T-cells in people with the DQ2 form of the disease.

“At the moment a gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac disease but nearly half the people on the diet still have damage to their small intestine. Consequently other therapies, including a vaccine and three different drugs, are in various stages of development. The research team believes celiac disease might be the first example of an immune disease where treatments are customized according to the genetic make-up of the patient.”

The celiac vaccine discovery

The discovery that lead to the creation of the vaccine was that the one critical part of wheat gluten protein that was toxic was the common genetic version (HLA DQ2) of celiac disease. “As much as the identity of the toxic component of gluten was important, it was the way in which it was found that has proven to be even more important. By eating gluten in wheat, rye, or barley for three days (even a single meal will suffice in some people), immune cells (T cells) that damage the small intestine are mobilized into blood for a few short days. The T cells in blood can be monitored and analyzed to define what part of gluten they recognize. The parts of gluten recognized by the vast majority of T cells involved in celiac disease can be condensed to a few “short” fragments of gluten that remain after its digestion in the gut. These gluten fragments can be synthesized using fairly standard chemistry and are the basis for the celiac vaccine.”

The Celiac Vaccine Trials

The original research began at Oxford England in 1997. The work continued in Australia in 2002 and by April 2009 Bob Anderson from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical research (Melbourne, Australia) will commence the first world trials of a celiac vaccine that could reduce or eradicate the need for being gluten free. In fact Bob Anderson calls the vaccine a “next-generation desensitization therapy” that has been successful in mice and is soon to be tested on celiacs.

“The vaccine will be tested on 40 volunteers with celiac disease over 11 months to establish that it does not harm them. In a subsequent phase 2 trial, which is designed to find out if the treatment is effective, volunteers will receive the treatment and then be challenged with foods containing gluten. Their immune response and intestines will then be examined to see if a tolerance to gluten has developed. The therapy involves repeatedly injecting solutions of gluten at increasing concentrations. The aim is to desensitize the subjects slowly, in a similar way to hay fever and dust allergy desensitization treatments.”

Testing process

“For a new drug to be accepted for use in people in Australia, Europe, or North America it must have progressed successfully from Phase 1 (safety) studies usually involving up to about 30 volunteers, to Phase 2 (efficacy) studies to show that “it works” in people with the medical condition of interest (typically about 200 volunteers in several locations around the world), and to Phase 3 (similar to Phase 2 but involving several thousand volunteers in many sites around the world).”

The celiac vaccine future

Due to difficulties in funding, Bob Anderson (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) co-founded a commercial company called Nexpep to develop the vaccine. Nucleus Network, Centre for Clinical Studies (CCS) in the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, will be conducting the Phase 1 clinical trial.

The difficulty he has faced, besides the technical issues, is the low diagnosis level of celiac disease and the mass of associated symptoms has made a vaccine cure unattractive to traditional pharmaceutical companies. These companies always prefer well defined markets to accurately forecast payback periods for their R&D and marketing expenses.

The facts are that for this vaccine to prove financially viable, The US will need to approve the drug and doctors and celiacs will need to accept the treatment. One report estimates that only 600,000 people are diagnosed with celiac disease (out of the 5 million with celiac disease in North America and Europe).

Compounded to the funding challenges is that previously, globally, there have only been three “randomized, controlled” studies of the gluten free diet – one in children and two in adults – the largest with 57 participants.”

The assessment of the vaccine treatment will require repeated endoscopy and collection of small intestine biopsies which are expensive and un-enjoyable for volunteers. However a recent trial in Italy has shown that biopsies are still the only ‘almost’ guaranteed method of assessing gluten damage. The study findings showed that “two years after adopting a gluten free diet, about half those people diagnosed with celiac disease continued to have villous atrophy as severe as when they were first diagnosed. Only about one in five of those with severe intestinal damage (villous atrophy) on a gluten free diet had raised (abnormal) blood levels of transglutaminase antibody, meaning that standard blood tests to monitor disease activity were relatively ineffective.”

So while the development of this vaccine is an important step in potentially eradicating celiac disease, philosophical questions still remain as issues for the long term efficacy of the vaccines. As an Australian first, this research is applauded by the gluten free community. We wish the researchers and medical staff all of the best in demystifying this illusive disease.

Article references are available on the gluten free pages website.

In the Last few years I have had a strong interest in e-marketing and website optimisation. My strongest desire is to be working in the sustainability industry which causes large reductions in greenhouse gases. Save the planet, save the people… www.glutenfreepages.com.au

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in products we use every day, such as stamp and envelope adhesive, medicines, and vitamins.

Celiac disease runs in the family. You inherited the tendency to get this disease from your parents. If 1 member of your family has celiac disease, about 1 out of 10 other members of your family is likely to have it. You may have this tendency for a while without getting sick. Then something like severe stress, physical injury, infection, childbirth or surgery can “turn on” your celiac disease.

Celiac disease affects each person differently. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system, or in other parts of the body. One person might have diarrhea and abdominal pain, while another person may be irritable or depressed. Irritability is one of the most common symptoms in children. Some people have no symptoms.

Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. Oats may contain gluten as well. When a person with celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in the small intestine, resulting in damage to the surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients from food.

The body’s inability to absorb nutrients can also mean that young people with untreated celiac disease may not grow properly and may have weight loss and fatigue. In addition, people who have celiac disease may be prone to developing other diseases, such as thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, and gastrointestinal cancer.

Normally, the body’s immune system is designed to protect it from foreign invaders. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system forms antibodies to gluten which then attack the intestinal lining. This causes inflammation in the intestines and damages the villi, the hair-like structures on the lining of the small intestine. Nutrients from food are absorbed by the villi. If the villi are damaged, the person cannot absorb nutrients and ends up malnourished, no matter how much he or she eats.

Celiac Disease may appear at any time in a person’s life. The disease can be triggered for the first time after surgery, viral infection, severe emotional stress, pregnancy or childbirth. CD is a multi-system, multi-symptom disorder. Celiac Disease symptoms are extremely varied, can often mimic other bowel disorders and are not always gastrointestinal.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune medical condition
in which damage to the epithelia (inner lining) of the small intestine occurs following ingestion of a substance called gluten. Gluten is a grain protein used in food processing because it binds, stabilizes, and prevents crumbling. The gluten protein in wheat has a portion called gliadin, which is toxic to people with celiac disease. Barley, rye, and triticale also contain proteins toxic to celiac patients.

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• The definition of Tier 1 (very low) and Tier 3 (very high) gluten markets
• Outliers to the standard trend called hyper and hypo markets
• A linear relationship is shown between raw searches and Adjusted Celiac Searches
• A logarithmic relation is shown between a countries adjusted searches and the wealth of the country (per person).

This research draws together all previous GFP Matrix research and articles on the GFP website and is based on analysis of Google search results for gluten products made in December 2008. The analysis compares communities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Communities are defined as specific language segments within a country. Most countries have the bulk of their market defined by their incumbent language searches and English language searches.

To assist analysis, gluten related search terms were divided into seven groups as shown below. Only the top 50 search terms were used for detailed statistical analysis, but in most cases, these fifty terms represent 95% of all terms.

Gluten Group Composition:

• Generic GF Product: This group of search terms all involve the word gluten and are generic in nature, such a gluten, gluten free, gluten free products, gluten free meals.
• Gluten Diet: These are terms that are related to the specifics of gluten free diets such as: gluten free diets, celiac diet.
• Gluten Free recipe: Terms such as gluten free recipes, gluten recipe, gluten free baking, wheat free baking
• Celiac related: These are terms related to information on the disease such as: celiac, celiac disease, gluten intolerance, gluten allergies
• Wheat free: Terms such as: wheat free, wheat gluten, wheat allergy
• GF Locations: gluten free stores, gluten free shopping, gluten free restaurant
• Specific GF Foods: gluten free bread, gluten free pizza, gluten free cakes, gluten free muffins

Another main concept in this research was the development of a term called ‘Adjusted Celiac searches’. This value is based on raw gluten search term volumes and ‘adjusted’ (increased) to account for internet usage in a country as well as the probable total search engine gluten queries (using specific country Google Market share as the basis). This adjusted value thus estimates the total gluten searches as if 100% of a country had internet access and all search engine results were used. This intermediate value is then divided by 100 to gain a monthly ‘adjusted celiac search’ value. This assumes that the average celiac rate is approximately 1 in 100 people (diagnosed and undiagnosed). This hypothetical value thus estimates the average number of times that a celiac searched for gluten free products in a community per month – assuming that all celiac’s search. Note that the main difference in English spelling in all countries is whether they use celiac (UK derived) or celiac (USA).

While it was found that a communities number of raw searches per population can act as a rough guide to its level of development, there are several exceptions. It was found that at the very low (Tier 3) and high raw searches positions (Tier 1), a pattern emerged in how the search groups are proportioned. See below:

TIER 1 characteristics

The primary classification of this group is high raw search results (searches / population). The group comprises: Australia (0.0218), US (0.0123); Canada English (0.0175); UK (0.0135); Singapore English (0.02730). Singapore’s standout result is partly due to the countries very high economic success (GDP per person) and its very high usage of telecommunications (see Asia GFP Matrix article).

At the high ‘raw search’ end of the spectrum, (AND high adjusted celiac searches) it was found that there are a high proportion of ‘generic gluten searches’ compared to other groups. It was also found that the majority of these searches were for CORE generic terms such as: gluten, gluten free, gluten free food, gluten free products etc

And of these generic searches, usually two terms comprise 90% or more of the total group’s searches. There are also usually more than ten generic terms in the top 50 search terms. While several tier 3 communities also have the top two terms being a high proportion of the group, the group usually comprises only five or less terms.

The second highest group is usually the celiac group. Like the generic group these terms are often CORE terms such as: celiac, celiac disease, gluten intolerance etc.

The specific food group on average has a low proportion of seven percent of the top 50 searches.

It is speculated that the reason for the top two groups comprise 70% TO 80% of top 50 searches are that in the generic group, these communities are in high internet penetration and have high economic wealth countries where high demand has created a high supply of gluten websites. The gluten specific websites act like gluten malls with internal search functions that people use to find the gluten info they are after. Whereas in less developed countries these large sites may not exist and people have learned to use unique and three or four word search terms to find what they want right from the search engine stage.

The high proportion of celiac group searches are most likely by newly diagnosed people and older diagnosed attempting to find if new medical breakthroughs have occurred in the disease. Again CORE terms usually dominate this group because there are enough large all encompassing celiac devoted sites that provide the answers people are seeking.

What foods to TIER 1 communities search for? The table below shows that bread (1.6); is almost always the first and/ or second searched for term. Then on average the next three most popular specific food items are cake (2.5), dairy (3.5) and pizza (3.8).

TIER 3

The primary classification of this group is very low raw search results per population. The group comprise communities such as: US Spanish (0.0011); Mexico Spanish (0.0004); Brazil Portuguese (0.006); China Simplified (0.009); India Hindi ( (0.0004); Indonesia Indo ( 0.0008).

As can be seen from the table, the average generic search proportion for the tier 4 communities was 32% (compared to tier 1, 58%). While compared to Tier 1 communities, the average proportion of the specific foods group was three times as high at 22%.

Of the specific foods, on average the highest average ranked tier four foods were: cake (1.3), pizza (2.0), cookies (2.3), flour (2.7), bread (3.3), corn (3.5), oatmeal (3.6)

Tier 2

These communities are developing gluten free markets. Their raw searches lie somewhere between tier 1 and tier 3 communities. In graph plots of raw or adjusted celiac searches versus GDP or other similar metrics these communities form the bridge between tier 1 and tier 3 communities.

While some tier 2 or tier 3 communities may appear to have high generic searches, often a high proportion of these are for non-core terms such as: gluten free breakfast, gluten free snacks, gf desserts, gf gifts. etc

Hypo markets

These are markets that exist in highly developed countries (like tier 1 communities) have very low raw gluten searches (like tier 3 communities) and very high proportions of generic gluten searches (like tier 1) markets.

Three classic examples of tier 2 communities are the incumbent language searches in: Germany, France & Spain.

It can be seen that the average raw search value is 0.0016, the average % of Core generic terms is 81% (much higher than the average tier 1 communities) and specific foods is 6% – very close to tier 1.

Typically the specific foods searched for are similar to tier 1 communities. For example the top three foods searched for by French speaking people in France were: gluten free Flour, oatmeal and rye flour.

Assuming that European communities have a typical proportion of celiac’s per population, the low raw searches are an anomaly. These communities have a high internet penetration and relatively high Google market share so the low share is likely to be caused by low diagnosis within the communities. These areas still have a relatively high level of wheat and gluten consumption via breads and pastas so either there is something else in their diet keeping celiac disease at bay, or they find their gluten products some other way.

Hyper Markets

These are ‘over performing’ markets.

On raw searches per population they appear like tier 3 communities, that is they have very low search values, however when adjusted for Internet penetration and Google share, they have over performing high values for ‘celiac searches’ per month.

Typically, unlike hypo markets, they are developing communities with relatively low GDP per person values. Prime examples of hyper markets are Russia English Speaking, China Traditional and Indonesia English speaking

The average raw search values are low size at 0.0035 but these convert to a very high celiac search value of 5.4. This means that these large population countries have relatively low searches, also have low internet penetration. When values are adjusted for internet penetration and Google market share they have some of the highest ‘per celiac’ searches of any communities.

Hyper markets also tend to have a lower proportion of generic searches than tier 1 and even tier 3 and the specific food searches proportion lies between that of tier 1 and tier 3.

These hyper communities are also often characterised by being smaller English speaking communities within larger non English lower economic wealth countries. It is likely that these enclaves have a higher than normal proportion of people who have access to enhanced health care (to be diagnosed in the first place) and that their relative wealth makes their gluten free tastes more exotic/ luxurious than even tier 1 communities. For example the top Russian English specific foods in order of search size are: pizza; gluten free beer; gluten free cakes; gluten free muffins.

Similarly Indonesian English speaking searches searched in order of size for: gluten free pizza, gluten free pasta; gluten free muffins then flour.

GLOBAL CONCLUSIONS

The raw search versus ‘adjusted celiac search’ plots shows a linear relationship between the two parameters. While this may be expected, this graph reveals Russia China and Indonesia as anomalies to this trend. As discussed previously, the things these places have in common are that they all have very large populations, are developing countries and have low internet penetration.

The reasons for these outliers are discussed in hyper markets section above however one of the most useful things is to see how so many developed and developing communities are clustered at the undeveloped market end of this graph. While Australia, US and Singapore markets are not anywhere near fully developed as yet (still a large undiagnosed amount of people – much less than the 1 in 100 forecast), it shows that there is a very large room for development in these markets also. As being a celiac is a disease and has severe medical consequences for its sufferers, it is amazing that very developed countries such as France, Germany and Italy should have such lowly developed gluten demand.

Even more remarkable is the implications of the plot for ‘Adjusted celiac values V GDP per person’ resulting in a strong logarithmic trend. Ignoring the effects of outlier hypermarkets such as Russia, China and Indonesia, it can be seen that most countries lie on a steadily decreasing arc as the celiac search values increase.

This clearly demonstrates that for the majority of countries analysed that wealth (GDP per person) is a clear indicator of gluten free demand and/ or celiac diagnosis. While India and Mexico might also appear slightly off the log trend, it should be noted that these countries have very low internet penetration and so the adjustment factors to convert tier raw values into celiac search values are much more sensitive to small changes in media estimations of internet and Google share.

The relationships also suggests that particularly for countries with at least moderate internet penetration, that knowing their GDP per person value may allow an estimate of their gluten free market development and/ or diagnosis level.

Author Credit:

Original career in electronic engineering morphed into Corporate Marketing via MBA in 1998. In the Last few years I have had a strong interest in e-marketing and website optimisation. My strongest desire is to be working in the sustainability industry which causes large reductions in greenhouse gases. Save the planet, save the people. More gluten free articles availalbe at www.glutenfreepages.com.au