As a naturopathic doctor and women’s health expert, I recommend avoiding gluten to help clear the high-risk HPV virus from your body once and for all. 

We now know that 99% of cervical cancer is associated with high-risk HPV virus, and I’m extremely interested in reducing the rate of cervical cancer, as well as other HPV-related cancers for women and men around the world.

Understanding Gluten: Why It’s Personal for Me 

I’ve been an expert in gluten and have specialized in helping patients with it for over 20 years. I was forced to learn about gluten when I was getting severe migraines, and when my daughter developed severe eczema as an infant. I had to understand the role gluten was playing to help heal both myself and my daughter. 

This led me to research gluten endlessly, reading all available research articles from and speaking at professional conferences around the U.S. about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. In my books and programs, I help people identify gluten sensitivity and eliminate gluten from their diet without restricting their caloric intake or causing other health issues. 

I’ve had the unique opportunity to help women with both abnormal pap smears and at the same time with gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. Because of this experience, I started to notice that women who have anabnormal pap smears and are testing positive for HPV, are highly likely to also test positive for gluten sensitivity.

Gluten Sensitivity vs. Celiac Disease

When I say gluten sensitivity, I’m referring to IgA and IgG food sensitivity panels from a highly accurate lab – not just any lab. You’ve got to go to a highly sensitive food sensitivity lab with the right testing to get accurate results. 

When I see high IgA and IgG, I know that the person’s immune system is trying to protect them from gluten. If you want to know your IgA and IgG levels and your specific food sensitivities there’s a high-quality test that you can do at home.

Gluten sensitivity is not the same as celiac disease. Celiac disease is when it becomes an autoimmune condition with autoantibodies. The gold standard for diagnosing celiac disease a blood test showing antibodies to gluten, and an intestinal biopsy to identify tissue changes consistent with celiac disease. 

Currently, one in four people are estimated to have gluten sensitivity, and it might be even more common since not everyone gets tested. 

If you’re testing positive for HPV and having an abnormal pap smear that’s not getting better or going away on its own, I would encourage you to consider eliminating gluten from your diet.

Here are 7 reasons why I make this suggestion. 

Reason 1: The Inflammatory Nature of Gluten 

Let’s talk about the first reason to avoid gluten. Gluten is inflammatory for all humans, even if you’re not among the one in four with gluten sensitivity. Gluten is found in barley, rye, spelt, and any foods containing wheat or whole wheat. 

To understand what gluten is, think of a plant in a field growing a grain like barley or wheat, and then you grind it up and put it into food – the protein component of the grain is called gluten. Gluten can even be broken down to tinier molecules, known as gliadin and glutenin.

What we know is that all of these molecules related to gluten are inflammatory to humans. As soon as gluten hits our system – whether through skin contact, in our mouth, or in our gut – it triggers an inflammatory response. 

The HPV virus loves inflammation; it’s like a magnet. If there’s inflammation in the vagina, the virus will go right there and start causing trouble. 

We’re trying to get rid of HPV, which is absolutely possible – I see it in my patients every day. You can heal from the abnormal cells caused by HPV, and you can get rid of the virus and prevent it from coming back.

We know one of the ways to do that is to reduce inflammation. When we can drop inflammation in your whole body and drop inflammation in the vagina, we’re going to be more successful about protecting you from HPV and preventing cancer.

Reason 2: Humans Can’t Digest Gluten 

The second major reason to avoid gluten is that no human can fully digest it – this is true even if you don’t have a gluten sensitivity, and even if you don’t have celiac disease. We simply don’t have the enzymes to digest it. 

This means that any time we consume gluten, we’re consuming a substance that passes through our body undigested and can trigger inflammation and other issues, such as nutrient deficiencies.

To me, I want to be eating foods that I can digest, and I don’t want to eat something that has the potential for causing issues.

Reason 3: Gluten Causes Leaky Gut

The third crucial reason is that gluten causes leaky gut in all humans, though some are more affected than others. 

What is leaky gut? Think of your intestines like a tube lined with cells. The job of those cells is to make sure your food gets digested and nutrients are absorbed. 

When your intestinal cells are healthy, only nutrients can get through. When it’s leaky, which is caused by gluten, then undigested food can pass between cells, triggering inflammation and food sensitivities.

Leaky gut leads to inflammation, autoimmunity, and increased susceptibility to infections, including HPV. 

We want your body to grow healthy cells so you can absorb nutrients. When working to get rid of HPV, we need to heal leaky gut, and we don’t want to consume gluten which works against us in that effort. 

Remember, leaky gut is also caused by stress, toxins, and medications, so it’s very common. We all have some degree of leaky gut. It’s more a matter of how severe is the leaky gut. 

Reason 4: Gluten Disrupts the Microbiome 

The fourth key reason to avoid gluten is because of its effect on your microbiome. 

Research clearly shows that when people consume gluten, it disrupts their gut microbiome. Anything that disrupts your gut microbiome is going to disrupt your vaginal microbiome, and when your vaginal microbiome is disrupted, your risk of HPV goes up significantly. 

Why consume something for temporary taste or convenience when it’s going to end up disrupting your bacteria? 

You’re counting on these bacteria to protect you – your gut microbiome is part of your immune system, protecting you from infections, autoimmunity, allergies, and inflammation. Here you are trying to solve your microbiome issues, but you’re still eating something that disrupts it. 

We’re causing ourselves to paddle the boat upstream against the current, when really all we need to do is say goodbye to gluten and then everything becomes easier.

Reason 5: Gluten and Glyphosate (Roundup)

The fifth important reason to avoid gluten relates to glyphosate exposure. 

It’s well established, especially in the United States, that grains containing gluten are treated with glyphosate (Roundup), a pesticide. When we’re consuming gluten, we’re also getting exposed to glyphosate. 

This toxin is associated with leaky gut, affects our immune system, and decreases our ability to fend off HPV. Even if you can get organic gluten, there’s still a risk, so this is another compelling reason to avoid it.

Reason 6: The Problem of Overconsumption of Gluten

The sixth reason to avoid gluten focuses on how gluten permeates our entire diet – we end up having it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Think about what you ate yesterday: If you had any kind of bread for breakfast or even cereal, it likely contained gluten. If you had a sandwich for lunch, it had gluten in the bread. If you had pasta or bread for dinner, that’s more gluten. Add in snacks like cookies or muffins, and you’re consuming gluten at every meal.

It’s hard to find any other food that we eat with such frequency. We need variety in our diet – we don’t want to have the same thing over and over again. 

At the very least, reduce your gluten intake and get more variety in your diet. Try other gluten-free grains like rice, oats, or millet. 

No wonder we start reacting to gluten – no wonder our immune system starts trying to protect us from it. We consume it day in and day out, every day of our lives, and it really shouldn’t be like that for a healthy human body.

Reason 7: Gluten Causes Nutrient Deficiencies

The seventh crucial reason to avoid gluten if you want to get rid of HPV is that gluten causes nutrient deficiencies – this is well established in research and we see it clinically. 

People who consume gluten regularly often become deficient in vitamin D, which we need for many aspects of our health, especially our immune system. Iron deficiency is also highly associated with gluten consumption. 

When testing for iron deficiency, you can’t just test iron in your blood – you need to test ferritin, and if your ferritin is under 50, you have iron deficiency in your iron storage.

Many people with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease are low in vitamin D and iron, let alone all the other vitamins. When I check my patients who have gluten sensitivity and look for nutrient deficiencies, we find all kinds of nutrients that are deficient. 

This happens because gluten damages the intestinal cells, reducing nutrient absorption and affecting the microbiome. 

If you’re low in nutrients, you’re going to be more susceptible to infections in general, but in particular, the high-risk HPV virus.

Bonus Reason: The Blood Sugar Connection to Gluten

Here’s a bonus reason to avoid gluten: it’s related to blood sugar levels. 

Foods that contain gluten tend to be high in carbs and sugar. Even bread often has sugar in it, and if you think about cereals, crackers, cakes, pies – these gluten-containing foods tend to be high carb and usually contain sugar. 

Even though gluten is a protein, it doesn’t give you very much protein in food. To get protein, you’re going to have to go for protein-type foods like animal protein or even nuts and seeds or protein shakes.

Often, when someone’s consuming gluten regularly, they have high blood sugar levels or levels that fluctuate dramatically. Both high blood sugar and fluctuating blood sugar are associated with higher risk for HPV virus, let alone many other health issues. 

There is a long list of health issues associated with gluten – everything from osteoporosis and dementia to heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmunity like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Crohn’s disease.

Moving Forward Without Gluten

If you’re still thinking, “But I really like gluten” or “It’s going to be hard to convince my family to not eat gluten,” I would argue that it’s time to reconsider. 

There are many other options that taste good – gluten is not the only food available to us as humans. There are endless alternatives, and gluten has taken over our diet for what reason? It’s addictive, causes inflammation, and disruptions in our microbiome, and in the case of HPV, increases the risk of cancer.

I used to be addicted to gluten – I’m speaking from personal experience. I used to think it was going to be difficult to avoid it, and I just had to put my mind to it. 

Sometimes we get to the point where we say, “Listen, me feeling good is more important than eating this food with gluten in it. Me avoiding a migraine is more important than eating this food with gluten. Me clearing HPV is more important than eating gluten.” 

When you get to that point, then you figure it out. It’s going to bring such freedom – freedom from gluten!

Resources and Support

For resources and support for eating a healthy gluten-free diet, you can go to my website DoctorDoni.com where I have gluten-free recipes, meals plans, and programs – you name it, I’ve got it all planned out for you, including books where I teach you exactly how to eat without gluten in your life.

For starters, you can get my free holiday recipe guide that’s gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and egg-free. You can also check out this video on 5 Foods to Avoid to Help Your Body Clear HPV.

I’ve also designed the 21-Day Stress Remedy Program where you can avoid gluten for 21 days and see how you feel. In the process, you start balancing your blood sugar, healing leaky gut, restoring your microbiome, and so much more.

If you’re feeling bloated, experiencing brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, low mood, and you’re wondering what to do now, I would say check out my new 14-Day Detox Program. This program includes two protein shakes per day with 18 grams of protein, and two meals per day with a meal plan that I created based on making sure you get at least 20 grams of protein in each meal. 

Register Now

It also includes antioxidants, and videos from me to teach you to use mindfulness, as well as to replace toxins in your food and home. In this way, you can reset your diet, lifestyle and cell health all carrying on with your daily activities and routine.

Think of avoiding gluten like wearing a seatbelt – it’s a way to protect yourself from health risks. Yes, gluten-containing foods might taste good temporarily, but they work against your body’s health. Once you make the switch, you’ll likely look back and feel grateful for taking this step toward better health. 

If you’d like to learn more about my protocol to help you heal HPV naturally, visit clearhpvnow.com. There, you’ll find lots of resources and stories from women I’ve worked with and helped clear HPV for good. It worked for them, and it can work for you too.

I offer an online group program, called the Say Goodbye to HPV Program. You can access it from anywhere in the world because it is online videos, with handouts, recipes, resources, as well as live sessions and a private app, where I teach you to implement my Clear HPV protocol over 12 weeks.

In the program modules, I teach you how to test for food sensitivities and leaky gut, how to change your diet to avoid gluten and other food sensitivities, and how to heal leaky gut. I also teach you how to take the supplements I suggest to help you get rid of HPV, which I’ve collected in an HPV Support Bundle.

To learn more about my approach to healing from all of this using my Stress Recovery Protocol which involves optimizing cortisol and adrenaline levels to heal the adrenals, as well as neurotransmitters, using nutrients, herbs and C.A.R.E.™ – my proprietary program to support clean eating, adequate sleep, stress recovery and exercise – I encourage you to read all about it in my latest book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

I also offer one-on-one patient care. This is the perfect option if you have a complex case and/or if you would like to have my full attention on your case. To apply for a Comprehensive Breakthrough Session, click here.

I welcome you to reach to learn more about becoming a patient or joining one of my group programs. 

Thanks so much for joining me in this video, and please subscribe to How Humans Heal so you don’t miss the next episode!

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