Given the choice between a heart transplant and a gluten-free diet, the vast majority – if not all – of us would quickly opt for the diet! Yet the medical community continues to ignore celiac disease as a potential cause of cardiac complications, despite documented connections between the two conditions.
The Gluten Free RN is sharing her experience with heart attack and stroke victims in the ER, and discussing the necessity of screening cardiac patients for celiac disease. She gets into the nitty gritty of how intestinal damage leads to nutrient deficiencies that affect the cardiac system, and reveals the cardiac symptoms that may resolve on a gluten-free diet.
Listen in and learn about the actual cause of heart attack and stroke (spoiler alert – it’s not high cholesterol) and how Nadine has achieved a lipid panel akin to that of a ‘23-year-old marathon runner’!
What’s Discussed:
The connection between cardiac issues and celiac disease
- Study linked celiac disease to almost doubled risk of CAD
- Documented connection between gluten and cardiomyopathy
The real cause of heart attack and stroke
- Thought to be high cholesterol
- Actual cause is inflammation/malabsorption
How a gluten-free diet can resolve cardiomyopathy
- Medical community claims cardiomyopathy can be treated with meds, but not cured
- Patient eventually needs heart transplant
- Anecdotal evidence proves that removing gluten may cure profound heart failure
Nadine’s experience in treating cardiac patients as a critical care nurse in the ER
- ER staff does not take a magnesium panel
- Deficiencies in magnesium or calcium can cause arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat)
- Even when patient tested for ‘everything,’ celiac disease and nutritional panels often omitted
How to correct a magnesium deficiency
- Food (pumpkin seeds, molasses, etc.)
- Magnesium supplements (including calcium, zinc and vitamin D)
How intestinal damage leads to nutrient deficiencies that affect the cardiac system
- Thiamine deficiency may lead to wet beriberi or acute pernicious beriberi
- Low electrolytes may lead to arrhythmia
- Low iron, B vitamin may lead to anemia (less oxygen in blood)
- Low vitamin K levels affects protein S and protein C levels (involved in clotting)
Cardiac symptoms that may resolve on a gluten-free or Paleo diet
- Arrhythmias
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
The myth that fat is bad for us
- Nadine consumes a super-good high fat diet
- Her lipid panel ‘looks like a 23-year-old marathon runners’
- Cardiac risk factor very low
Nadine’s call for a worldwide mass screening for celiac disease
- Find undiagnosed
- Prevent cardiac disease, stroke
Resources:
“Celiac Disease Linked to Almost Doubled Risk of CAD” by Marlene Busko
Gluten Toxicity: The Mysterious Symptoms of Celiac Disease, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance by Shelly L. Stuart
Connect with Nadine:
‘Your Skin on Gluten’ on YouTube
Books by Nadine:
Dough Nation: A Nurse’s Memoir of Celiac Disease from Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism
loved your podcast and information I too, am a celiac and retired nurse and glad to hear your getting the word out there I am also doing this with friends any family members out of 8 brothers and sisters 4 so far are celiac… keep up getting the word out…Kathleen Wolchuk Chicago ill
Hi Kathleen,
Thank you for listening to my podcast! Currently, we are planning to offer a 2 day, approved for 16 contact hours of professional education for health care providers across the country. Is there a great venue to offer a course, live and in person near you in Chicago? Good job educating your family!
Nadine
Such a great podcast on the effects of gluten. I am also an RN and worked for years in ED/ trauma/ critical care. I have been learning about people who have the MTHFR gene mutation which can cause an increase in homocysteine which can lead to heart disease and stroke. Some forms of the mthfr mutation cannot process folic acid appropriately and need the non synthetic form folate. They fortify a lot of foods including flour with folic acid. In 1998 the FDA required that folic acid be fortified in a lot of foods. This doesn’t take into account the people with homozygous mthfr who have a highly reduced ability to convert folic acid into a usable form and can lead to accumulation of the amino acid homocysteine. The CDC website does not yet recognize this as fact although we are learning more everyday about this and I feel they have not caught up to current data. Thank you for sharing about this very important topic and helping to work toward prevention strategies for patients.
Hi Maggie,
Thank you for being an ED/trauma/critical care RN! I am glad you found value from this podcast. MTHFR is an important factor, albeit one of many contributors to cardiac issues and stroke. Folate / folic acid are vital to our neurons systems, which includes the heart and brain, of course. Are you working as an RN now? Wherever you are working and in whatever capacity, they are lucky to have you!
Warmly,
Nadine