Program addresses celiac disease

The medical community at one point treated celiac disease patients by prescribing a high-carbohydrate diet.
“I would say that for between 12 and 14 years, I lived on bananas,” Jeff Weiner recalled. “We were all called ‘banana babies’ back then. And to this day, I will not touch a banana.”
His diagnosis came when he was an infant, decades before researchers ascertained the link between celiac and gluten, a substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.
“Celiac has been around for generations, and you’re just starting to hear about it,” he said about the hereditary autoimmune disease, which was the subject of “Gluten Intolerance: Myths and Facts,” a program Weiner and his wife, Suzanne, recently co-hosted at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
“There are 300 traits of celiac. It’s not just stomach disorder,” Jeff Weiner explained, with a few of the possible symptoms including depression, attention deficit, headaches, bone or joint pain, and chronic fatigue.
Celiac disease has no known cure, but the Weiners, who are members of the Gluten Intolerance Group of Western Pennsylvania and owners of Eden’s Market in Mt. Lebanon, recommend a specific path to relative wellness.
“It’s the foods we eat,” Jeff Weiner said. “Years ago, we ate real food. That’s the way we should be eating today. It’s so hard because everything is processed. Everything is pasteurized and homogenized and everything else, and it’s so genetically changed. So we’re not eating what we call ‘real foods’ today, and that’s where the big issues come out for everyone.”
Eating more healthfully, in turn, can boost the immune system.
“The higher we build that immune system, the body works and flows the way it’s supposed to,” he explained.
An estimated one in 133 Americans, or about 1 percent of the population, has celiac disease, according to the awareness and advocacy group Beyond Celiac, of which the Weiners also are members.
“Eighty-five percent of the people who have it have not been diagnosed,” Suzanne Weiner noted.
In the United States, celiac disease blood testing is the prevalent method of detection. For accuracy, though, such tests require subjects to be on a gluten-containing diet.
“If you’re off gluten, the test is going to show a false negative,” Jeff Weiner said. “It’s not going to show up at all. And that’s basically what you want it to do, because once you’re gluten-free, the body starts healing. And it will heal up very quickly.”
Genetic testing, widely available in Canada and many European countries, serves as a better indicator.
“You’re born with one or both of the genes that predispose your body to develop celiac,” Suzanne Weiner said.
As far as dietary considerations, Jeff Weiner stresses practicing moderation.
“Just because we have foods today that aren’t bad – they’re gluten-free; they’re chemical-free, and all that – doesn’t mean you sit down and eat the whole thing,” he said.
Eating properly, he explained, represents a holistic approach to well-being.
“If you go into the doctor, and you have a pain in your leg or you have joint problems, they’re going to treat you for that problem. And if this pill doesn’t work, we’re going to give you another pill,” he said. “Today, everything can be fixed by your diet. It’s so important to get all that garbage out of your system.”
For more information, visit www.celiac.org and www.edens-market.com.