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Hi, I am a bit confused by some labels that say they are Gluten Free and then it says "Less than 20ppm Gluten" under that. That doesn't sound gluten free to me. Should this be concerning? Or will I not react to levels that low?
Also, is it possible to have mast cell issues and not a food allergy? How do they test for mast cells?
Thanks!
Melanie
Gluten Free Label
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Hi Melanie,
The world standards for gluten free labeling, (unfortunately), allow up to 20 parts per million of gluten, so really, there is no such thing as gluten free in today's world. This standard was sort of arbitrarily selected, a few years ago, based on some dubious research by Dr. Fasano, that involved only about a dozen subjects, one of which had severe reactions to gluten at below 10 ppm, so Dr. Fasano just ignored that result, and selected 20 ppm as the standard, because the other subjects didn't seem to show any serious damage after a few weeks of eating gluten at 50 ppm.
The bottom line is, some of us are going to react at 20 ppm, (though, theoretically, at least, most of us should not react), so many of us just avoid commercially processed foods, and we prepare all our meals from scratch, using safe, whole foods, (meat, potatoes, vegetables, etc., but nothing in a box, with added ingredients).
Yes, some of us have classic allergies, without having food sensitivities. We're not actually allergic to those foods, instead, they cause a delayed, autoimmune response. Allergies cause immediate reactions, (typically, within 10 to 20 minutes). The type of reactions to foods that we have, with classic MC, usually take anywhere from a few hours, to a few days. If mast cell reactions are involved, we can begin to react within a few minutes.
An elevated mast cell count is more than 20 mast cells per 100 enterocytes, based on an intestinal biopsy sample. Mast cells are located in the lamina propria, and they are much more easily detected if the pathologist uses a tryptase based stain, to prepare the slide before examining it under the microscope. A way to check for systemic mast cells is by doing a tryptase blood test, but this level tends to decline rather rapidly, (within a matter of hours), depending on how long it has been since the exposure to the source of the reaction occurred.
It's very possible to have mast cell problems even though your mast cell count is normal, however. This is known as mast cell activation syndrome, (MCAS), and it occurs because for some of us, our mast cells degranulate too easily, thus triggering the release of histamines and possibly cytokines and other proinflammatory modulators. For such individuals, eating foods that contain a high histamine level will also usually trigger a reaction.
You're very welcome,
Tex
The world standards for gluten free labeling, (unfortunately), allow up to 20 parts per million of gluten, so really, there is no such thing as gluten free in today's world. This standard was sort of arbitrarily selected, a few years ago, based on some dubious research by Dr. Fasano, that involved only about a dozen subjects, one of which had severe reactions to gluten at below 10 ppm, so Dr. Fasano just ignored that result, and selected 20 ppm as the standard, because the other subjects didn't seem to show any serious damage after a few weeks of eating gluten at 50 ppm.
The bottom line is, some of us are going to react at 20 ppm, (though, theoretically, at least, most of us should not react), so many of us just avoid commercially processed foods, and we prepare all our meals from scratch, using safe, whole foods, (meat, potatoes, vegetables, etc., but nothing in a box, with added ingredients).
Yes, some of us have classic allergies, without having food sensitivities. We're not actually allergic to those foods, instead, they cause a delayed, autoimmune response. Allergies cause immediate reactions, (typically, within 10 to 20 minutes). The type of reactions to foods that we have, with classic MC, usually take anywhere from a few hours, to a few days. If mast cell reactions are involved, we can begin to react within a few minutes.
An elevated mast cell count is more than 20 mast cells per 100 enterocytes, based on an intestinal biopsy sample. Mast cells are located in the lamina propria, and they are much more easily detected if the pathologist uses a tryptase based stain, to prepare the slide before examining it under the microscope. A way to check for systemic mast cells is by doing a tryptase blood test, but this level tends to decline rather rapidly, (within a matter of hours), depending on how long it has been since the exposure to the source of the reaction occurred.
It's very possible to have mast cell problems even though your mast cell count is normal, however. This is known as mast cell activation syndrome, (MCAS), and it occurs because for some of us, our mast cells degranulate too easily, thus triggering the release of histamines and possibly cytokines and other proinflammatory modulators. For such individuals, eating foods that contain a high histamine level will also usually trigger a reaction.
You're very welcome,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.