Casein and Gluten, opiate receptors, and GFCF withdrawal

Opiate Withdrawal Is Real
Opiate withdrawal from discontinuing gluten and casein? Cautionary note: sounds absurd until you see it.

2649780281 86a1e9595a m14 Celiac Notes: Opiate Withdrawal from Gluten and Casein?

Image by gato-gato-gato via Flickr

You might want to warn gluten sensitive, celiac and casein sensitive patients about this odd, frequent, and painful clinical phenomenon: Withdrawal after stopping wheat or milk products can be painful, exhausting, and depressing, with weakness, anger, and brain fog as subsequent downstream effects that can drive the uniformed back to their comfort foods.

I have a very interesting and refractory client in Ohio who has struggled for years with a variety of severe reactions to psych meds, suicidal depression, mercury toxicity, and became completely regressed on previous withdrawal of Prozac before I saw him in DC. With autoimmune issues in abundance and at times psychotic like feelings of loosing control we tested him for gluten/casein sensitivity, hit pay dirt with positive findings, and asked him to go on a gluten free/casein free diet [GFCF is the acronym].

He felt remarkably better at first, better than he had in years, then the withdrawal set in. Having had previous experience with addictive opiates prescribed for pain, he recognized signs of withdrawal immediately. First a note on the opiate receptors from Great Plains Laboratory:

The peptides from gluten [gliadorphin] and casein [casomorphin] are important because the react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine. These compounds have been shown to react with areas of the brain such as the temporal lobes, which are involved in speech and auditory integration.

Children with autism frequently seem addicted to wheat and dairy products. Presumably, people with Autism and schizophrenia incompletely digest wheat and dairy products. These incompletely digested peptides are then absorbed into the body and bind to opiate receptors, altering behavior and other physiological reactions.

And one more reference here:

Notes From Dangerous Grains
Below is from the book Dangerous Grains by Ron Hoggan

The addictive nature of gluten is often overlooked. For some, the first
days and weeks of following a gluten-free diet are characterized by
food cravings, disorientation, irritability, sleepiness, depression,
mental fogginess, fatigue, and/or shortness of breath.

If you are a
member of this group, the very fact that you are experiencing many of
these symptoms should reinforce the need to exclude gluten from your
diet. These are common symptoms of withdrawal of detoxification from
gluten-derived opioid and brain neurochemical imbalances. The evidence
suggests that about 70 percent of celiac patients will experience these
symptoms when beginning a strict gluten-free diet.

See other withdrawal comments at Celiac Forums and the Gluten Free Forum.

Another Reference to Support What We See In The Office
From the Journal of Biological Chemistry – Opiate Peptides From Food Proteins April 10, 1979, 254, 2446-2449

- The take-home appears simple: if these symptoms occur, do go more slowly on the GFCF diet, respect the withdrawal process and support other nutritional and physiologic activities. As a side measure consider the importance of comorbid withdrawal issues from either food significantly altering neurotransmitter balance causing cognitive and emotional symptoms.

- Would welcome your experience out there with these matters so please do comment.
Thanks to my anonymous contributor from Ohio.
cp