KRON-TV Interview on Gluten and Weight Loss [Video]

Video: KRON TV interviewed on gluten and weight loss

Transcript of the video

The following program is intended to educate the public on a variety of cosmetic procedures and is paid for by the participating doctors.

Hi, I’m John Collins. Welcome to a special edition of Body Beautiful. Our guest today is Dr. Vicky Peterson. She was just nominated for Gluten-Free Doctor of the Year. Congratulations! She’s the founder of Health Now Medical Center and the author of The Gluten Effect. She’s also an ebook author. Dr. Peterson is committed to increasing awareness of gluten intolerance. Welcome, Dr. Vicky Peterson.

Thank you.

If people don’t know anything about gluten, they’re going to want to stick around today. This is an amazing conversation. Of course, before we get started, any advice we give you today, obviously consult your own physician. Alright, Dr. Peterson, what’s the connection between gluten and being overweight?

First of all, I think we should define the term just in case people are new to it. Gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, rye, and barley. Obesity is a huge problem in the United States. Two-thirds of our population fit in that category, so the odds are that someone watching or someone who’s near and dear to them fit into that category as well. Gluten is absolutely a culprit in obesity, which we’re going to prove today. It’s my goal that by the end of the show, everyone watching will feel how important it is for them to figure out if they are gluten intolerant. If they are, they’ll lose the pounds and save their life.

Alright. Two-thirds of the population is overweight. All that’s not due to gluten, so what are the symptoms if somebody’s got a problem with gluten?

Well, there’s a tremendous number of symptoms. Gluten is associated with over 300 symptoms and conditions.

Wow.

So, anything from fatigue, migraines, thyroid disease, skin conditions, infertility, IBS, digestive problems—it actually goes on and on. It’s a huge list.

But, um, if somebody’s on a diet—yeah, I know that, you know, whenever I’ve tried to be on a diet, the biggest thing for me is just cravings. Does gluten have anything to do with that?

Oh my gosh, yes. It is the culprit.

Really?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you hit it right on the head. Patients can—well, anybody—they don’t have to be a patient, but they can be on a diet, and the downfall is the cravings. They kind of push them aside for a while and, you know, not listen to them for a while, but eventually, in they come, and that’s the end of it. Maybe you’ve had the experience where you eat a meal—it was a decent meal, it should have lasted you…

Especially pasta, I find, for me.

For you, okay. And that’s a gluten-containing food, so that’s interesting. You eat the meal, and you go, “That should have been enough,” but then the cravings start. It’s always that sugar or simple carbohydrate like the pasta that you mentioned. It’s almost like having a monkey on your shoulder saying, “Sugar, sugar” or “Starch, starch,” and it won’t let up until you give in. Then you give in, and of course, it’s the wrong food, and there goes your diet.

So, gluten is causing that?

Yeah, absolutely. Here’s why and here’s the simplicity: the two major causes of cravings—first of all, is digestive. When you eat, food goes in your mouth, goes to your stomach, and then it’s supposed to go to your intestines, be broken down, and then delivered to all your cells. You have 10 trillion cells.

Fair bits of feed, right?

Yeah. So, if those cells don’t get the nutrition…

Right.

How do they feel? They’re still hungry, and that’s where the cravings come from. Your cells are trying to tell you, “I saw it go in your mouth and I saw it go in the stomach, but we didn’t get it.”

So gluten interferes with that digestive process?

Exactly. Gluten is the culprit where it’s not allowing your food to turn into good fuel. That’s why we eat ultimately—to fuel our cells so they can do their job and be healthy.

So the fuel isn’t getting there, and I just keep getting hungrier and hungrier.

Yeah, and because the cells are so hungry, they want you to feed them quickly. So, the things that go into your bloodstream quickly are sugar and simple carbs.

Ah, so that’s why it’s not organic kale.

Exactly.

They’re not yelling for that.

Yeah, exactly.

And then, um, so that’s the answer for the digestive ones—the ones that can’t be satisfied. Of course, there’s no way you’re going to lose weight.

But sometimes I’m feeling full, so it doesn’t—I don’t feel like I need to eat anymore, but I still—there’s something going on in my head that I just want…

Yeah, well, that full is like you actually ate enough, and the stomach is full, but once again, those cells aren’t getting it. The only way they can tell you is they want that quick fix, and that’s why it’s always the thing that will railroad in very fast, which is the sugar and the simple carbs.

So the real solution is not to say, “You know, I don’t hear you, cravings.” It’s to have them stop because you’ve actually effectively and efficiently fed your cells. So, there’s no more monkey saying, “Feed me, feed me,” because the cravings are gone. If you can imagine no cravings, then it would be pretty easy to eat well.

I like that kind of a diet—no cravings. Now, there’s also a chemical component to this too, right?

What’s that side of it?

It’s very interesting. It’s how gluten actually affects your brain. If you’re sensitive to gluten and you eat it, you can get what’s called a chemical like morphine being produced.

Real? Like gluten actually makes a morphine-like thing?

Truly. It’s called gluteomorphine—technical name. They put gluten and morphine together. Of course, you get this euphoria, and I think it’s really where the concept of pleasure foods came from or comfort foods. You know, that like, “Ah, I feel so good. I just had that stack of pancakes or that big brownie,” and you feel great. But then, as that food starts coming out of your system, so does the morphine, and then what do you get? “I want more. Give me some more of that,” because you’re truly addicted.

So for some people…

They feel like—they’ll say, “I’m addicted to sugar” or “I’m addicted to carbs.”

They truly are. They actually know it on a visceral level.

They do. These are the people, when you talk about changing their diet, they get a little freaked out. It’s not hard to fix. You have to get off the gluten, but you have to do it with a clinician who can really hold your hand through it. Not hard, but then when that monkey’s off your back and you truly don’t have that addiction, then it’s easy.

This is incredible. It’s actually a morphine that gluten is creating and actually addicting you to those carbs and those gluten-containing substances.

Exactly.

That is actually—that’s like the headline we should have started with. That’s amazing. So, there’s a basic hunger mechanism: your body isn’t digesting well. And then there’s also a real addiction mechanism here. This is going to surprise a lot of people. That’s incredible.

Now, the other thing that you say in the book is that gluten is the great masquerader. What do you mean by that?

Gluten is the great masquerader because gluten is known to affect literally every system and organ in your body. I mean, from heart disease to cancer to thyroid disease to liver disease to joint disorders to skin—I mean, every system you can think of, gluten affects. It’s called the great masquerader because you might say, “If I was gluten intolerant, how might I feel?” Well, the factual answer is there could be something wrong with any part of your body, and it could be because of gluten. It doesn’t have to be, but it could be. So, say you’re depressed, and it’s because of gluten, which—that’s a very strong correlation.

Really? Even depression?

Oh, very strong. Very strong. So, someone is given a drug to treat their depression, but they’re missing the fact that gluten is the underlying root cause. Or your thyroid disease—you’re given a drug, but gluten is the underlying root cause. Imagine you could change your diet and get rid of these diseases for good. That is a potential.

Is this one of the reasons that people don’t specialize in gluten intolerance? There are just no drugs that help you out? You have to make a change in what you’re doing?

Yeah, that’s very well said. I mean, you know, the truth is we’re in a very drug-oriented society, and there’s not the quick pill that I can just give you and say, “Now you’re treated.” That’s not going to happen. What we’re talking about here is anywhere from 10 to 30% of the population falls in this category. This is not a small percentage. What’s even sadder is that 95 to 99% of the people suffering don’t know it’s a problem for them.

Wow.

Huge, huge.

So, beyond just being overweight, it sounds like gluten can have a whole lot of other negative effects on your system. People are trying to cover it up with drug therapies. What’s the upshot there?

I mean, gluten increases your risk of death from all causes—research.

Wow. Let’s—we’ve got to take a break, but let’s talk about that. Coming up, gluten can put your life at risk. But first, if you’d like to get a free health analysis from the doctors who pioneered the study of gluten, call right now 408-733-0400. Obviously, they can’t take everyone for free, but right now, the first 50 callers will get a free health analysis. Gluten can play such a strong role in creating poor health and obesity, it’s smart to just rule that out while getting at the root cause of your health problems. You’ll spend half an hour with a doctor at no charge. It’s a chance to see if they can help you with your weight loss or health issues. 408-733-0400. We’ll be right back with Dr. Vicky Peterson on Body Beautiful.

The information and advice given on this program is for general informational purposes only. For medical advice on specific treatments, medical professionals should be consulted. You should not initiate a course of treatment without consulting a qualified doctor. The opinions expressed on the program are those of the guests and not those of Kron TV, its management, employees, or advisors.

Hi, I’m John Collins, and I’m with Dr. Vicky Peterson, author of The Gluten Effect. Again, any advice we give you today, obviously, you want to consult your physician. Right before the break, we said gluten could actually kill you. I assume you mean shorten your life expectancy?

Absolutely. There are a couple of key studies out that I really wanted to review. One was from 2009—30,000 people, so this was not a small study.

30,000?

Big, yeah, exactly. What they found was that there was an increased risk of death from heart disease and cancer, which are our number one and number two killers in this country. The increased risk was anywhere from 35 to 72%.

Wow, that’s…

Yeah, that’s an incredible statistic. This is our number one and two killer, so because you are gluten intolerant…

The next study looked at the fact that autoimmune disease—now, autoimmune diseases as a whole—there are over 100 of them. You know a lot of them: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Sjogren’s, lupus. There’s a huge…

A big section of diseases, yeah.

When you take them together as a whole, they are the third leading cause of death, which a lot of people don’t realize. This study showed that if you have celiac disease, which we’ll define in a moment, you are 10 times more likely to have autoimmune disease.

Wow.

Now, we have the number one, number two, and number three leading causes of death vastly increased because you’re gluten intolerant.

Wow. Mostly, doctors just paper over these symptoms that are caused by gluten with drugs, so they never really get at this root cause.

We’re treating the heart disease, we’re treating the cancer, we’re treating the autoimmune disease, but we’re not treating gluten. Then gluten itself—celiac disease, which is a form of gluten intolerance—has increased 400% in the last 50 years.

Is that just—are we getting better at diagnosing? Why is there such an increase?

That’s a good question. Basically, we feel that it’s because we’re less healthy, actually. It’s our poor diet.

Yeah.

Unfortunately.

That’s the root cause?

Absolutely. What we have here is something that we really have to pay attention to. I did want to define our terms as far as celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. I use the term gluten intolerance—that’s kind of the umbrella term. Celiac disease affects anywhere from 1 to 4% of the population. Gluten sensitivity, newer on the scene—the estimation is anywhere from 10 to 20, maybe up to 30% of the population. The reason it’s kind of vague is that research has just begun. You mentioned our book, The Gluten Effect. We were one of the first on the scene to say there is such a thing as gluten sensitivity.

Well, and your patients were telling you that. They were coming to you and saying, “Hey, this is more than what they’re saying here.” Now, celiac disease—they have pretty good testing for that. They can actually do a biopsy in different parts of your intestines, so they can nail that down. But how do you figure out if you’re gluten intolerant?

That’s a very good question. You have to test. As you mentioned with the testing, there are blood tests for both, but they’re not perfect. So, you want to be tested for both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. You need to go to a doctor that realizes there is such a thing as gluten sensitivity.

Yeah.

Or you’re going to miss the boat. The other thing is the doctor really needs to appreciate the fact that the tests aren’t perfect, so you want to back it up with a lifestyle change. Fortunately, as far as the tests not being perfect, they’re still not perfect, but they’ve gotten a lot better in the last year and a half to two years because a new lab has come on the scene. It’s called Cyrex Labs, and they have a blood test that actually has markers for both diseases.

Oh.

One blood test and markers for both diseases, which is great. They truly are leaders in the field. I have no vested interest in the company.

You don’t own stock?

No. I wish I did, actually. They’ve brought so much to this field because they also have other lab tests that look at what we call the secondary effects associated with gluten, which is very comprehensive. They’re on the scene, which is great. You want to go to a doctor that can order you that type of test. The other fact is you have to appreciate that you also have to change your diet.

Now, you’re too modest here, but I’m going to tell folks: before she wrote the book, people were not looking for a way to even test for gluten intolerance. People didn’t even think it existed. So, you sort of pioneered this to a large extent, and the laboratory testing stuff has kind of caught up with you. That’s amazing.

Thank you. It’s true. There was a synergy that happens when something starts being obvious that it’s there, and then there was more research being done on it, etc. The dietary key is important. Sometimes people say, “Well, I got off gluten for a week and I didn’t notice much.” It’s minimum 30 days, and you have to be perfect. You really have to know. You can go to our website to know all the hidden things. The other day, somebody said, “Well, gluten can’t be in a liquid, can it?” It’s like, “Yes, soy sauce, beer…”

Beer? Oh, wait, I’ve got to give up beer? Is there gluten-free beer?

There is.

Oh, okay, I don’t have to give up beer.

You’re alright.

I’m alright.

But it’s very important that you know that you have to back it up with the dietary change for 30 days because the tests aren’t perfect. The other problem is some doctors—it’s not that easy to get tested. I hear from people all over the world saying, “My doctor won’t test me. My doctor refuses to test me.”

Doctors are refusing to actually test people. We have to take a break, but we’re going to talk about that in a minute. Coming up, why some doctors refuse to test patients. But first, if you’d like to get a free health analysis from the doctors who pioneered the study of gluten, call right now 408-733-0400. Obviously, they can’t take everybody for free, but right now, the first 50 callers will get a free health analysis. Gluten can play such a strong role in creating poor health and even obesity. It’s smart to just rule that out so you can actually get at the root of what’s happening with your health problems. 408-733-0400. We’re coming right back with Dr. Vicky Peterson on this special edition of Body Beautiful.

Welcome back to the special edition of Body Beautiful. We’re talking about gluten with the author of The Gluten Effect, Dr. Vicky Peterson. Now, why would some doctors just plain refuse to test for it?

It sounds a little unbelievable, but here’s why. When we were trained as doctors, the model of celiac disease, which was originally discovered hundreds of years ago, the way the patient presented was very, very underweight, a lot of digestive pain, severe diarrhea. You kind of got that drilled in your head—that’s what a celiac patient looked like. Gluten sensitivity is new on the scene, so if doctors aren’t current, they don’t even know that it exists. Then, they’ve got this dated model of what a celiac looks like. In their view, gluten intolerance equals celiac, which equals thin, which is not what the reality is out there.

Right.

So, a patient walks in who’s even normal weight, let alone overweight—two-thirds of our population is overweight—they go, “Gee, I really think this might be a problem,” and doctors go, “No, I’m not going to test you. You’re fat; you can’t be gluten intolerant.” I’ve heard that.

You really need somebody who knows about this subject area.

You really have to have an expert in this subject area.

Oh, absolutely. A good test is: have you heard of gluten sensitivity? Just ask the question.

Right.

Absolutely.

A great research study came out. They followed people for 10 years—all different ages. Forty-four percent of them—this is just 2010—forty-four percent of them at the time of diagnosis were overweight.

Wow.

Yeah, so that’s the shift that needs to occur, and doctors are not there yet, which is why 95 to 99% of the people suffering do not know it. Their doctors are not finding it out, and that’s something I’m committed to changing.

There could be thousands of people right now watching the show. In all likelihood, thousands of people watching the show are gluten intolerant and just don’t know it.

Exactly.

I know that we have a great before-and-after picture of one of your patients, Eric. Tell me about Eric a little bit.

Eric is great. He’s lost over 100 pounds, and he is now running races and winning races in his age category.

Wow.

I tell him he looks like his own son, which he truly does. If you didn’t know it was the same guy, you’d really have to stare a little bit to know. This is not somebody who lost 100 pounds who needed to lose 250 pounds. This is a guy that if he had lost 90, he still would have looked fantastic. He looks amazing. He feels amazing.

He didn’t just get rid of the gluten, though, but he also really cleaned up his diet—good, healthy food.

Was he one of those guys that just had the cravings that we were talking about earlier, the chemical—the gluten creates that morphine, which is just this addiction process in your brain?

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. He was hungry all the time. This was a guy—and I didn’t know this until he did a little video for us—he said he had tried everything. He named off every diet plan you’ve ever heard of, and this is a guy when he goes for it, he goes for it.

Much like a gentleman here, Todd.

Todd. I don’t know Eric, but I do know Todd Scow, one of our producers here. Todd went gluten-free and lost a bunch of weight, so Todd is a believer as well. You have a Kron 4 employee on your side.

Let me tell folks how they can get a hold of your clinic. If you’d like to get a free health analysis from the doctors who pioneered the study of gluten, you can give them a call right now at 408-733-0400. Obviously, they can’t take everybody for free, but right now, the first 50 callers will get a free health analysis. That’s great that you’re offering this. Gluten can play, like we’ve been saying, such a strong role in creating poor health and obesity. It’s smart to just rule that out to get at the root of what your health problem might actually be. This is a half-hour for free with a doctor, just to see what Health Now Medical Center can do to help you. If you have a weight problem or a persistent health problem, this could be the best half-hour you invest in your health all year. 408-733-0400. We’re coming right back with Dr. Vicky Peterson on Body Beautiful.

Welcome back to the special edition of Body Beautiful. We’ve been talking about gluten with the author of The Gluten Effect, Dr. Vicky Peterson. People come from all over the country and around the globe to come to your clinic. We’re really lucky to have you with us, just right here in our backyard in the Bay Area. What is the least somebody needs to take away from this show? If they haven’t watched anything so far, what do they need to hear right now?

Yeah, a good summary is: if you’re overweight, if you have any chronic health problems—meaning just things that are not being handled, or you have to take medication for them—then get tested thoroughly for gluten intolerance. That means a blood test for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, and a 30-day gluten elimination diet.

That’s key.

That’s really key—all three, so you really know for sure. Then, if you find out you’re intolerant, look at your family because I guarantee you, you’ll find others in your family that are that way as well because it is a genetic problem. Lastly, find a clinician who knows about this. The reason we became a destination clinic—people come from all over the world, all over the country—is because they’re not getting the help they need. That’s unfortunate because you’re trying so hard, but you don’t have somebody backing you up to just kind of fill in those little pieces. That’s what we want to do. That’s my goal—to raise awareness and stop people from suffering from things they don’t even know is the cause of their problem.

What’s the simple question you can ask your doctor to find out if you’re going to the right doctor?

Do you know about gluten sensitivity?

That’s too simple.

That’s the key to success here.

A litmus test.

Just so people are aware, gluten prevents you from absorbing the right nutrition. It also creates a morphine-like drug in your brain to create a craving—an ongoing craving. Unlike the earlier impressions of gluten, it can cause you to be overweight.

Absolutely. Key item in overweight.

Key item in overweight, and a key item in the top three causes of death—heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disease.

It’s a fascinating read. If you want to learn more about gluten, pick up the book The Gluten Effect. For more information about the Health Now Medical Center, call 408-733-0400 or go online at healthnowmedical.com. Right now, the first 50 callers are going to get a free health analysis. You can call and give the appointment to a friend or a family member you think might need it. You’ll spend a half-hour with a doctor at no charge to assess your health and weight goals. It’s 408-733-0400. Thank you, Dr. Vicky Peterson, for coming in today. Come back and see us.

Thank you.

The information and advice given on this program is for general informational purposes only. For medical advice on specific treatments, medical professionals should be consulted. You should not initiate a course of treatment without consulting a qualified doctor. The opinions expressed on the program are those of the guests and not those of Kron TV, its management, employees, or advisors.

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