So, I’m still pretty much on hiatus, but this was such an interesting bit of research that I had to post it.
Essentially, while previous studies found quinoa to be safe for celiacs, a study released last year looked at numerous cultivars and found that two of them – which do NOT contain gluten – still set off immune reactivity in celiac disease cells. It was comparable to how these cells react to wheat.
http://ultimateglutenfree.com/2012/07/is-quinoa-gluten-free-research-questions-celiacs/
So what does this mean? We don’t know. It hasn’t been studied any more than this, I haven’t found.
But it makes me reflect on things I’ve run into before. Like the few celiacs on various forums who have always said that they could not get better until they dropped quinoa, and that quinoa always makes them have a gluten reaction.
It makes me think of the celiacs I’m meeting now who don’t seem to feel good until they drop ALL grains.
And it makes me wonder: how much more do we not know about this disease? Is there more than one grain where a few strains could make a celiac react? Or is it that some celiacs (and their cells) react to more than just wheat, rye, and barley, and it’s actually the cells that are different, not the strains of grain or pseudo-grain? Or something else completely?
Obviously, I don’t know the answer. But I think it’s yet another reason to remind ourselves to be good to one another as we try to regain our health, and not to be so quick to judge when someone with our condition has an experience that is different from our own.
Just because it’s different doesn’t mean that it’s a reaction that’s any less valid, or true, than our own.
