Nutrition And Health
Luke David Farrar
Introduction
Poor diets have become an issue in the modern world due to the massive selection and
lack of readily available information on what you are eating. This report will aim to raise
awareness of dietary related diseases, provide guidance on the anatomy and physiology of the
digestive system, and discuss important nutrients and associated symptoms of nutrient
deficiency.
Evaluation of coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder that is genetically inherited, causing your
immune system to attack your bodily tissue in the presence of gluten. Over time, this
damages the small intestine, making it impossible to absorb nutrients as the surface,
consisting of the villi. The villi, which are fibrous in appearance, act to increase the surface
area of the intestine, which absorbs nutrients that enter the body. The abundance of T cells
produced flatten the villi, reducing the overall surface area to decrease, reducing the amount
of nutrients absorbed. The specific substance that is attacked is gliadin, found in gluten,
which causes an autoimmune response to produce antibodies. When these antibodies are
produced in the small intestine, however, they “cause the surface of your intestine to become
inflamed (red and swollen).” (NHS, 2021). Coeliac disease is more common in women than it
is in men, in a ratio around 13:7 or, more generally, around twice as much as in men. The
reasons for this are unclear as the disease is hereditary, though a potential explanation is that
“women are more likely than men to seek help from a doctor for medical issues” (Lapid,
2021).
Some common symptoms of coeliac disease are diarrhoea, bloating and flatulence,
indigestion, and constipation. With the reduction of nutrients in the body due to the disease
defecation may end up oversaturated with fat—this is known as malabsorption, though,
especially regarding coeliac disease, is referred to as steatorrhea. Steatorrhea causes the
faeces to turn an orange colour as the flattened villi in the intestine can no longer absorb the
fat, so it is carried out with the faeces. Faeces caused by coeliac disease are generally more
consistent than those caused by diarrhoea, which is typically a very thin, liquid, consistency.
Defecation tends to occur after meals have been eaten with an increased frequency overall
which may greatly impact the time that a person can eat food (for example, snacking on
public transport may not be possible).
One of the major lifestyle changes required when faced with coeliac disease is a
gluten-free diet. Depending on the age of the person at diagnosis, this can become very
difficult. For younger people, suddenly being diagnosed with a condition they have no
knowledge about and being told that they can no longer eat the foods they have been enjoying
their entire life will be difficult for parents to explain/enforce. This is especially true when
you look at just some of the foods that need to be replaced in a gluten-free diet: breads, pizza,
beer, pasta, cookies, gravy, sauces, pancakes, etc. Currently, a gluten-free diet is the only
treatment for those with coeliac disease, so it is an absolute requirement that gluten is cut
from a diet in the event of a positive diagnosis. The Beyond Celiac cites these as alternatives
to gluten: “Amaranth, Brown, white, and wild rice, Buckwheat, Almond meal flour, Coconut
, flour, Corn, Cornstarch, Guar gum, Millet, Pea flour, Potato flour, Potatoes, Quinoa,
Sorghum, Soy flour, Teff” (The Gluten-Free Diet | BeyondCeliac.org, 2021).
The presence of coeliac disease is not routinely checked up on by doctors, so the
symptoms are the only way to determine whether a person may have it. One of the symptoms
apparent in younger people is a stunted growth due to a lack of nutrients—this may be a very
telling indicator to go to the GR, as a stunted growth during childhood will cause a late
development for that person, potentially causing even more dangerous issues unrelated to the
disease. Certain deficiencies in the body may be present in those with coeliac disease. Chief
among these are “iron 2 , B12, calcium 3, vitamin D, zinc, and copper” (Common Nutritional
Deficiencies in People with Celiac Disease, 2021), which may be lacking due to them not
being taken in by the intestine or by a gluten-free diet. This may lead to someone with coeliac
disease feeling weak, feeling tingles in the feet, and/or aches throughout the body.
While not a direct cause of coeliac disease, malnutrition can creep in if a person is
unaware that they have it due to the massively reduced absorption of vitamins from their
meals. Coeliac disease may also lead to several other autoimmune disorders, like multiple
sclerosis and diabetes, and can even cause migraines and epileptic fits. A lot of the side
effects of having coeliac disease are just as bad or worse than the affect it is having alone in
the body. A number from the NHS website claims that “1 in 5 people with coeliac disease
also develop dermatitis herpetiformis” (NHS, 2021) which showcases the likelihood of
developing side effects with the disorder. If I were to describe the severity of coeliac disease,
I would call it a gateway disorder—something that seems manageable at first but can easily
spiral out of control if the correct precautions are not adhered to.
Analysis of foods
FOOD REAGENT METHOD INITIAL COLOUR OF
SAMPLE COLOUR POSITIVE
RESULT
REDUCING Benedict’s Add Benedict’s to the food Blue Brick red
SUGARS and boil in a water bath precipitate
STARCH Iodine Add iodine reagent to the Yellow/ Blue/black
food brown
PROTEIN/ Biuret Add biuret reagent to the Blue Lilac/purple
AMINO ACIDS food
FAT Ethanol Add ethanol to the food to Colourles White
dissolve the fat then add s emulsion
water
