HI Heather, I spoke to Sheila George, MD, and she will be getting back to you on the answer to this question with a more complex answer, b/c there is some debate about quinoa.

The first thing, however, that people must double check as far as quinoa goes is whether or not has been cross-contaminated with wheat or other gluten-containing grains during processing. If the company does not source from a dedicated gluten-free farm, does not ship by dedicated gluten-free means, does not have a dedicated gluten-free facility and does not test for gluten, the risk for cross contamination is high. In other words, people could be reacting b/c their quinoa has been cross-contaminated. Stay tuned for more answers on this from the doc.

Thanks, Brooke!

thank you Sheila!

Here is an article about a study on quinoa. Apparently, some quinoa varieties may be unsuitable for strict gluten-free diets. The study found that people reacted to certain varieties but not others, however, they are not releasing which passed the test until further study is done:

"A new study has questioned advice to include quinoa in gluten-free diets for those with celiac disease, finding that some varieties may trigger symptoms."

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science/Some-quinoa-varieties-may-be-unsuitable-for-strict-gluten-free-diets-study-suggests

Thanks for the question, Heather. Let me know how it goes, will you?

Hi Austinskyeler...

I sent your question to Sheila George, MD, CA, of the Center for Metabolic Wellness, and she said that it might be time to get an evaluation by a seasoned functional medicine physician. Make sure you write down the time frame around the adverse reaction your daughter is having, if she has this with gluten as well or any other foods. If you haven't had her tested for food allergies, she suggests doing so, as well as consider other causes with the doctor.

Functional medicine is an emerging field of medicine that moves beyond treating symptoms to finding and alleviating the underlying causes of disease. Get a couple of opinions.

Here is a press release from the Dr. Oz show, actually that describes functional medicine very well:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9146899.htm

To help rule out any allergies to quinoa or other foods, these articles will help you communicate with the doctors you are interviewing / seeing.

http://www.tenderfoodie.com/10-steps-to-get-started/

http://www.tenderfoodie.com/what-is-a-food-allergy-defini/

Best wishes & I hope you can figure this out soon!

elisabeth

Hi B Haverly,

have you been tested for celiac disease? if you haven't, there is a rash called dermatitis herpetiformis that is celiac related. A lot of doctors are not familiar with this, yet.

Here is how you get tested - review this whether you have had the test or not, it is the latest info from the Center for Celiac research:

http://www.tenderfoodie.com/blog/2011/12/22/interview-w-dr-alessio-fasano-part-2-how-to-get-tested-for-c.html

Another thought is that you need to get gluten-free quinoa and gluten-free buckwheat - if not certified, tested gluten-free, many grains and quinoa and flax etc. are often processed with gluten grains. Since they share the same factory and machinery, a great deal of cross contamination can occur. In other words, even though buckwheat and quinoa are naturally "gluten-free", the grains you buy could be heavily cross contaminated with gluten. If you have gluten sensitivity, you can have serious symptoms that are similar to celiac diseae, but it appears that the small intestine is not damaged. It's a newly discovered immune response. Read more here:

http://www.tenderfoodie.com/blog/2012/1/3/interview-w-dr-alessio-fasano-part-3-gluten-sensitivity-a-ne.html

Also, quinoa & buckwheat have similar proteins to wheat, so there is something called a cross-reaction that tests might not pick up. Your body thinks that you are eating wheat, b/c the structure of the protein is similar enough to wheat that your immune system gets confused. There is a new test called the ALCAT test that tests for the white blood cells. something to ask your doctor about, perhaps! But it is thought to be much more accurate than the IgG testing, and catches different types of immune response than the skin prick (IgE) testing does.

Finally, there are people who have allergies to both quinoa and buckwheat. Again, it depends upon what type of allergy testing you have done, but there are some alternative testing that is a bit more accurate.

Does this help? All of this is something to discuss with your doctor and I hope this helps you!! Feel free to ask more questions and in the meantime, much success and healing to you, and let us know if we can help you further on your healing journey.

~Elisabeth

BKV - thank you very much for the link to the lovely blog in Finland!

Hi Kaz!

Thanks for your comment. What a mystery! It is possible, according to my consulting nutritionists and physician, to have an allergic reaction of some kind or a sensitivity to quinoa without having one to gluten. However, I would make a visit to a very good doc to be sure that the pain doesn't have to do with a deeper issue.

Feel better!
elisabeth

Thanks for your thoughtful and informative comment, Amaphi. Your reactions to quinoa sound dreadful, and you are not alone. We'll do a post on quinoa sensitivity/allergy in the future to help break this down further.

Thanks very much for adding your experience to the forum, Michelle. I'm finding it interesting how many people are reacting to quinoa. It's such a great food, but people aren't aware that it must be washed, and there are some folks who have mild to severe reactions to it.

Thanks again for piping in!

elisabeth

Hey Kris! Thanks for your question. It could, indeed, just be the quinoa! there are a couple reasons I can summarize for you:

1. saponins (see above): even if it says that the quinoa is pre-washed, make sure you wash it. Keep filling a bowl with the quinoa and water to rinse of all "suds". Then soak and rinse for 5 minutes before boiling

2. It could be the TYPE of quinoa. Some are more digestible than others, is what I"m finding. Two of the 15 types, Ayacuchana and Pasankalla are not safe for people w/ celiac disease or gluten allergies or sensitivities. If you don't have these issues, this might not be it.

3. Lectins can also cause problems in the small intestine in anyone, like saponins. Fermenting quinoa can reduce the lectins by quite a bit. Fermenting can be a great practice for other grains as well.

We are doing more research on this as we can. I also found a really great article on another blog that I'll post, but I'd like to have one of my consulting nutritionists take a look at it before I do. Some people handle quinoa just fine, and others do not. It might not be the food for you! or it might simply be that more prep needs to be done. And some people can have a quinoa allergy, too.

Here is an article, too, that we had posted above, about the different types of quinoa and some of the research being done on it. Seems good to post again.

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/R-D/Some-quinoa-varieties-may-be-unsuitable-for-strict-gluten-free-diets-study-suggests