Ask Dr. Rona: How To Go Gluten-Free, Why Decaf Coffee May Cause Headaches, and Flouride in Green Tea

Dr. Zoltan P. Rona practices

Complementary Medicine and is the medical editor of The Encyclopedia of Natural Healing. He has also published several best selling books including Return to The Joy of Health. Each week he will be answering all of your health related questions. If you have a question for Dr. Rona, send us an email to info (at) naturallysavvy (dot) com, or tweet us with the hashtag #askdrrona. You can also submit a question on our Facebook page.

Dear Dr. Rona:

I’d like to go gluten-free, where do I start?

~ NG

Dear NG:

There are two excellent books on the subject that I highly recommend you read. Start with "Meals That Heal Inflammation: Embrace Healthy Living and Eliminate Pain, One Meal at at Time ” by Julie Daniluk. Going gluten free reduces general inflammation in the body and prevents hundreds of health problems. Julie’s book is great because it not only goes into the rationale of going gluten-free but also provides the reader with practical advice on how to get started and stay on course.

If weight control is an issue for you, look into Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back To Health by William Davis. This book shows the strong connection between the consumption of gluten and how it correlates with obesity.

Thirdly, if you are dealing with psychological, neurological or emotional problems, Dr. David Perlmutter’s book, “Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain's Silent Killers

” is an ideal place for you to start. The more information you have on the subject, the better your results will be.

Dear Dr. Rona:

I have chronic headaches. Could decaf coffee be causing these?

~ PC

Dear PC:

Decaffeinated coffee contains small amounts of caffeine. If you are allergic to caffeine your body will react adversely to even minute amounts of caffeine, and you could get headaches. When people withdraw suddenly from caffeine, they get a rebound headache as a result. The same thing can occur with decaffeinated coffee, but the reaction will usually not be that severe.

Dear Dr. Rona:

Is there fluoride in green tea and is it dangerous?

~ CL

Dear CL:

Yes, all brands of green tea contain fluoride. The more green tea you drink, the more fluoride you will be getting. Fluoride boosts bone density but this is false security because the type of increased bone density produced by high intakes of fluoride causes the bones to be more brittle and fracture more easily.

Fluoride excess can lead to a condition known as skeletal fluorosis, a condition characterized by bone pain, calcified ligaments, bone spurs, arthritis and fused vertebrae. In the 1970s, doctors in the mistaken belief that fluoride reverses osteoporosis gave their elderly patients fluoride in very high dosages. An epidemic of skeletal fluorosis ensued and the practice was abandoned.

Green tea has some favorable benefits for the immune system and in fighting cancer, but I have stopped recommending it due to the unpredictable amount of fluoride in the tea. There isn’t a single company on the market that lists the fluoride content of their tea.

We are already exposed to a large amount of fluoride in our drinking water, fluoridated toothpastes, dental procedures, coated cookware, chewing tobacco, some wines, certain sparkling mineral waters and prescription drugs (e.g. Prozac contains at least 14% fluoride). Why add green tea to this mix?