Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

Welcome to Gluten Intolerance Symptoms, where I will help you understand gluten intolerance and how to live a healthy and fun life while reducing the occurrence of wheat allergy symptoms or celiac disease symptoms.

A growing number of individuals are wondering if they are suffering from gluten intolerance symptoms or celiac disease symptoms and researching gluten sensitivity. I aim to help you determine whether or not you’re experiencing gluten intolerance symptoms or symptoms of a wheat allergy (these two conditions are not the same thing), and then help you through a new world of gluten-free cuisines. Being gluten intolerant shouldn’t stop you from living a healthy, happy life.

Don’t view your gluten intolerance symptoms as a harbinger of darker days. I’ll help you restore hope. I’ll try to keep this as comprehensive yet accessible as possible. Use the following index to skip to your desired section of this gluten intolerance guide:

• What Is Gluten?
• What Is Gluten Intolerance?
• What Are Gluten Intolerance Symptoms?
• Is Gluten Intolerance A Wheat Allergy?
• What Is Celiac Disease?
• What Are Common Celiac Disease Symptoms?
• What Is A Gluten Allergy?
• What Is Gluten Ataxia?
• Can Adults Develop Food Allergies or Gluten Intolerance?

Specifically, I hope to help you understand the difference between symptoms of wheat intolerance and gluten intolerance symptoms (or gluten allergy symptoms). Many mistake these to be the same, but they’re not! Please note this guide does not use wheat and gluten interchangeably as they are two distinct terms. Also, it is possible to experience celiac disease symptoms but test negative for celiac disease, which you’ll sometimes see spelled coeliac disease or coeliac sprue disease, or with the clinical label gluten enteropathy. You may also see celiac disease abbreviated as CD.

Additionally, you may see the term gluten allergy used, although the terms gluten intolerance, celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) or wheat allergy are all more accurate and meaningful than the layman term gluten allergy.

What Is Gluten?

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Gluten is not a protein itself but rather a protein composite, composed of the proteins glutenin and gliadin (in wheat), secalin (in rye) and hordein (in barley), which are elastic proteins in the protein family known as prolamins. Gluten is insoluble in water and comes from the endosperm (see the accompanying picture) within the seeds of grass-related grains.

Gluten Origin

Gluten exists in the grass-like grains wheat, barley, rye, kamut and spelt. Gluten provides an elasticity and glue-like capacity to hold its flour products together and provide them with a chewy texture. Some argue that other grains, including rice, corn and oats, contain some form of gluten, even if it is not the gluten with the profile of peptides associated with any form of gluten sensitivity.

Others argue that the peptide sequences in these grains do not have the unique qualities that define gluten as it is widely understood, particularly as it is understood in wheat. For the sake of studying gluten intolerance, these other grains are considered safe as their protein profiles do not match the profiles of the troublesome grains. Oats, however, usually must be avoided because oats are often harvested and processed alongside wheat and thus may be cross-contaminated. You can see how the question what is gluten can be surprisingly difficult to answer in a concise manner.

While western civilization has come to rely on gluten not only as an important nutritional protein but also as a utility for obtaining a desired texture and elasticity in foods, in recent years some substantial and controversial studies suggest our bodies may not tolerate and digest gluten as well as everyone had always assumed. It is worth noting that some people believe this applies to everyone, and not just people suffering from some degree of gluten sensitivity.

One key point to consider is that gluten is in more foods and products than you may realize. If you think removing gluten from your diet involves not eating bread and baked goods, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Gluten is often used in sauces, flavorings, flavor enhancers and even as a binder or filler in vitamins and supplements. Adapting a gluten-free diet requires more than just removing wheat products from your lifestyle.

I’ve found so many vague and inaccurate answers to the question what is gluten that I’ve written my own guide to this deceptively simple topic: What Is Gluten?

What Is Gluten Intolerance?

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First you must separate gluten intolerance into three distinct categories: Celiac Disease, Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity and a Wheat Allergy. (Technically, a wheat allergy is not a gluten intolerance. I’ll get to that in a bit.)

Celiac Disease Symptoms | Gluten Intolerance

Celiac Disease occurs when the proteins in gluten (glutenin and gliadin) trigger your immune system to overreact with strong and unusual anitbodies. Over time, such antibodies wear down the little hairs called villi, which line the walls of your intestine (this process is called villous atrophy). These finger-like tiny hairs grab and absorb nutrients as foods pass through your lower digestive tract. As celiac disease symptoms slowly destroy these villi, you become less and less able to process any nutrition from your food. This sets off a domino-effect of increasingly serious health problems. Celiac disease is also associated with leaky gut syndrome, also known as a permeable intestines. Undigested gluten moves through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. This may be the root of such gluten intolerance symptoms as dermatitis herpetiformis, a nasty gluten intolerance rash.

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity is currently a little more difficult to pinpoint. Basically, individuals who suffer from NCGS suffer very similarly to people with Celiac Disease, but the blood test which identifies and diagnoses celiac disease returns as negative. The only way to confidently diagnose NCGS is through a gluten free diet (I’ll write more about NCGS in the future as it is an interesting topic, which more directly addresses the controversy around the term gluten allergy symptoms).

Recent research and current gluten intolerance statistics suggest that 10% to 15% of the population may suffer from some form of gluten intolerance, and yet a vast majority of these individuals have not yet been properly diagnosed. Furthermore, even patients who test negative for celiac disease may suffer from some form of undiagnosed non-celiac gluten intolerance.

Wheat allergy symptoms is the third category. The origin of wheat allergy symptoms are fundamentally different than gluten intolerance or celiac disease symptoms, but some might refer to it as gluten allergy symptoms. This is a histamine response to wheat, much like a peanut allergy or hay fever. Wheat allergies manifest themselves in a wide variety of ways that can be different for different people. Some people experience hives while others might experience stomach pain. A wheat allergy, unlike a gluten intolerance, is considered a Type 1 Hypersensitivity.

A wheat allergy may also sometimes occur as a cross-reactive condition related to an Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS), which some people refer to as Pollen Foods Allergy Syndrome. This can also cause stomach pain that might be interpreted as gluten intolerance.

What Are Gluten Intolerance Symptoms?

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It may help you to have a more succinct gluten intolerance symptoms checklist. I will try to provide you one here, but keep in mind how there are over 250 documented symptoms of a gluten sensitivity and their manifestation varies greatly from person to person. With this list I think I have isolated both the most common symptoms and the most important symptoms you should know about right away. Some symptoms are rare and even counter-intuitive (for example, gluten intolerance and weight gain goes against the grain of normal gluten intolerance symptoms). Please let me know if you feel I have missed something obvious or important.

• Abdominal Distention
• Abdominal Pain and Cramping
• Alternating Bouts of Diarrhea and Constipation
• Anemia
• Arthritis
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
• Bloating (see Gluten Intolerance Bloating)
• Bone Density Loss
• Borborygmi (stomach rumbling)
• Constipation (see Celiac Disease Constipation)
• Stunted Growth and Failure to Thrive
• Depression, Anxiety and Irritability (see Celiac Depression)
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis
• Diabetes
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Low Ferritin Symptoms
• Malodorous Flatulence
• Malodorous Stools
• Gluten Ataxia
• Grayish Stools
• Hair Loss (Alopecia)
• Headaches and Migraines
• Hypoglycemia
• Infertility (see Gluten Intolerance and Pregnancy)
• Joint pain
• Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
• Lactose intolerance
• Mouth sores or mouth ulcers
• Nausea
• Numbness or tingling in the patient’s hands and feet
• Osteoporosis
• Peripheral Neuropathy (including either a tingling or sensation of swelling your toes and fingers)
• Sjogren’s Disease
• Steatorrhea (high lipids in the stool, which may cause the stool to float)
• Teeth and Gum Problems
• Turner Syndrome
• Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies
• Vomiting
• Unexplained Weight loss
• Urticaria

I hope this gluten intolerance checklist helps you, but again, do not try to diagnose yourself with a list you find on the Internet. Always consult a professional because this is a very serious condition. For a more focused list designed to help you work with your doctor in diagnosing a possible case of celiac disease, use my Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist.

One condition with a controversial connection to gluten intolerance is Autism. Many people feel a gluten-free, casein-free diet (often abbreviated as GFCS diet) helps reduce the manifestations of autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Some people strongly believe autism itself should be counted among the many signs of gluten intolerance. However, the support of this hypothesis is mostly based on anecdotal evidence, with several recent studies indicating little to no connection between gluten and autism. Put simply, the hard science is weak here, but many people are still staunch supporters of treating autism with a gluten-free, casein-free diet.

Is Gluten Intolerance A Wheat Allergy?

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Even though it occurs as a reaction to protein in wheat, Celiac Disease is not specifically a wheat allergy. A wheat allergy — like most well-known allergies — is the response of white blood cells called basophils and mast cells to something called Immunoglobulin E (or IgE for short). In laymen terms, this is a traditional allergy where you develop antibodies to an allergen, in this case wheat. Believe it or not, you can have a wheat allergy and not have Celiac Disease (or gluten intolerance), and you can have Celiac Disease and not have a wheat allergy. They’re two completely different responses in your body.

In a vast majority of cases, gluten intolerance symptoms will be systemic and will be a result of consuming gluten over a period of time. But symptoms of a wheat allergy will manifest themselves more like you perceive a typical allergy: quickly and with single exposure. Being gluten intolerant can be frustrating as this autoimmune disease can be subtle and insidious.

For example, if you eat a large, dense piece of gluten-rich bread and have immediate reactions, you are more likely experiencing wheat allergy symptoms rather than symptoms of gluten intolerance.

I know this can be confusing, but think of a wheat allergy reaction as similar to the way a person might react to cats if he or she is allergic to them. If he pets the cat and breaths around the cat, then he will almost immediately start having watery, itchy eyes and begin sniffling and sneezing.

In contrast, gluten intolerance symptoms manifest themselves more like a nutritional deficiency, with symptoms that sometimes arise slowly over time. The symptoms can be severe and serious, but in most cases they’re systemic, not immediate like symptoms of wheat intolerance. To make this even more confusing, people frequently refer to this condition as gluten allergy symptoms. General gastrointestinal distress or digestive disorders also sometimes originate from gluten intolerance. For example, some symptoms of Candida may develop as a result of gluten intolerance.

What Is Celiac Disease?

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The cold clinical definition to a celiac sprue disease diagnosis is this: Positive antibodies to the proteins glutenin and gliadin, tissue transglutaminase, and intestinal endomysium, along with the verified presence of HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 genes. Fun, huh? Such an explanation doesn’t exactly insinuate celiac symptoms.

Celiac Disease is caused by the inflammatory interaction of gliadin — a gluten protein in wheat and other grains such as barley and rye — and the enzyme tissue transglutaminase. This inflammation flattens the lining of the small intestine and thus impedes your small intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients.

If you and your doctor (or natural physician) determine your gluten intolerance symptoms are distinctly a result of consuming gluten, you may be diagnosed as having celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine. It can rear its troublesome head at any point from infancy to old age. Currently, celiac disease is believed to be inherited. However, as it has often gone misdiagnosed or undiagnosed in the past, you may have gluten intolerance in your family and not realize it.

Thankfully, people are becoming more sensitive and aware of gluten intolerance in children so gluten intolerance symptoms in children are now much more likely to be diagnosed than they were just ten years ago. Gluten intolerance symptoms in adults, however, are still somewhat nebulous as they often dovetail with conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, lactose intolerance and yeast intolerance. And because adults too often grow accustomed to some discomforts, celiac disease symptoms in adults often go left untreated.

It is important to recognize that clinical tests (a blood test and/or an intestinal biopsy) can determine to some certainty that you have coeliac disease, but inconclusive or negative results in these tests do not necessarily mean you’re free from wheat gluten intolerance. In fact, most people experiencing legitimate and significant gluten intolerance symptoms have officially tested negative for Celiac Disease. These individuals are categorized as Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive, or NCGS.

The best and likely only way to deal with this disease is a strict gluten-free diet. Thankfully, gluten-free foods are much more widely available than they were a decade ago.

Update: Please note that information on gluten intolerance vs celiac disease is undergoing quite an evolution right now. Please see gluten intolerance test for more. For example, testing for steatorrhea, or excess fat or lipids in one’s stool, has become part of a more rigorous gluten intolerance test and examination of one’s gluten sensitivity.

What Are Common Celiac Disease Symptoms?

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Because it is difficult to test conclusively, many people will be diagnosed based on a wide variety of screenings and observations. The most common symptoms are gastrointestinal problems (or gastrointestinal distress) such as diarrhea, flatulence, gas and bloating. Other symptoms may include joint pain, fatigue and headaches but many other peripheral symptoms may also lead to a celiac disease diagnosis or non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, such as gluten ataxia. (I don’t want to make everyone reading this paranoid so over time this site will provide a wide range of essays on different ways people have come to evaluate gluten intolerance symptoms.)

Keep in mind that currently there are an estimated 250 or more symptoms related to gluten intolerance or celiac disease and many of these symptoms may overlap with other diseases and conditions. While you will often see celiac disease symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, fatigue and joint pain mentioned as the most common celiac disease symptoms, keep in mind that such symptoms can occur with dozens of other diseases and ailments as well. Always consult a medical professional rather than attempt to diagnose yourself. In some cases, these may manifest as silent celiac disease symptoms and go undiagnosed for years.

The most accurate way to identify and diagnose your gluten intolerance symptoms is to use an elimination diet, a strict diet in which you completely eliminate gluten and all foods containing gluten for a significant period of time, then use careful record-keeping and observation to compare your symptoms before the elimination period to your symptoms after the elimination period. But gluten-free diets can be difficult for the uninitiated, so doctors often like to evaluate a patient’s condition thoroughly before prescribing a gluten free diet. If you’re new to a gluten-free lifestyle, I encourage you to get the Gluten Free Survival Kit.

What Is A Gluten Allergy?

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As I discuss on my gluten allergy symptoms page, defining a gluten allergy has been a surprisingly tricky matter for me. When I first began this website, I avoided using the term at all. Why? Because it is technically incorrect. Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are not allergies. An allergy is a Type 1 Hypersensitivity and involves IgE antibodies (Immunoglobulin E) and a histamine response. While a wheat allergy is an allergy, celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are not allergies.

However, an overwhelming number of people in the real world use gluten allergy in place of any of these other terms. You find it in major media outlets, in discussion forums and on gluten-free blogs. When I researched how often people use different terms to search the internet and when I researched the occurrence of different phrases in all news outlets, I found the term gluten allergy used far more often than celiac disease, gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity.

The term gluten allergy can also be misleading because to most lay people it implies an immediate response to consuming gluten. One of the most dangerous and insidious aspects of gluten intolerance is how silent celiac disease symptoms can occur or how people can have asymptomatic celiac disease (meaning, they don’t experience any apparent symptoms at all). For many people the term gluten allergy implies you should experience an immediate and tangible reaction to eating food with gluten. This is inaccurate, and if people with a gluten intolerance think they can eat gluten without consequence because they don’t have an immediate and obvious reaction, over the long-term they could be making a deadly mistake.

You can read more about distinguishing these different terms in my guide to gluten intolerance vocabulary. I discuss some practical uses of the phrase gluten allergy in that guide. (Basically, you take advantage of people’s familiarity with food allergies to get your point across quickly when necessary.)

What Is Gluten Ataxia?

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As a term for a condition, gluten ataxia is a relatively new designation. Ataxia itself is a neurological dysfunction where a person experiences reduced coordination and muscle control. The three basic categories of ataxia are cerebellar ataxia, sensor ataxia, and vestibular ataxia. Gluten ataxia is essentially cerebellar ataxia where gluten has been determined to be the trigger.

Gluten ataxia was initially discovered and verified with the examination of the cadavers of individuals who suffered from ataxia in their lives. Upon examination, the same antibodies that are triggered in celiac disease and gluten intolerance were found at the base of the cerebellum, the part of the brain that governs motor control. Further studies indicated that reduced gross motor control could result from untreated gluten intolerance.

I expand on this specific topic in a separate post: Gluten Ataxia.

Can Adults Develop Food Allergies or Gluten Intolerance?

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Too many adults develop a belief that once they reach adulthood, they have a full understanding of their sensitivities and allergies. It is also possible that you’ve either ignored or misread your gluten intolerance symptoms or wheat allergy symptoms. Celiac sprue disease is infamously under-diagnosed and diagnosis takes some study and thought. There isn’t a simple single test to give you an outright answer and the best and most comprehensive research on the matter has only become widespread in recent years. While sometimes a simple blood test (an antibody level profile testing for AGA and Anti-tTG) may indicate whether you have celiac disease, if you test negative you may still experience gluten intolerance symptoms, often referred to as Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS).

Adults experiencing unexplained joint pain, anemia, infertility or osteoporosis should discuss the possibility of gluten intolerance with their primary care physician. I encourage you to explore my in-depth articles on silent celiac disease symptoms and celiac disease symptoms in adults for more on adult-onset gluten intolerance.

I hope this helps you gain a basic understanding of gluten intolerance. In the coming months, I will provide multiple perspectives to evaluating gluten intolerance symptoms and I will begin rolling out some great ways to handle being gluten intolerant and living gluten free, including some fun gluten free recipes for the gluten intolerance diet.

For example, check out our comprehensive Gluten-Free Pantry or our first collection of Gluten-Free Bread Recipes.

Thank you for visiting and please return to my Gluten Intolerance site soon!

If you are new to a gluten-free diet, you may wonder how much gluten is too much gluten, and you may wonder what to do if you accidentally consume gluten because you couldn’t control the preparation environment or because you just didn’t know something was made with gluten.

While the Codex Alimentarius and the FDA define gluten-free as less than 20 ppm (parts per million), this doesn’t help the layman user trying to understand how much gluten will hurt him or her or a loved one. According to recent studies, it takes remarkably little gluten to do measurable damage.

So first I will try to teach how important it is that you avoid gluten at every turn, and then I will try to help you heal yourself in those inevitable (but hopefully rare) moments where you accidentally do eat a bit of gluten.

Read on to learn how little daily gluten it takes to do damage if you have celiac disease and to discover some reasonable steps you can take to help yourself heal after gluten exposure. [...]

Continue Reading: How Much Gluten Is Too Much?

Too often people suffering from some kind of gluten intolerance walk away from a negative celiac disease test not realizing they may still be suffering some kind of non-celiac gluten intolerance. If your blood test indicates the celiac disease symptoms you’ve been experiencing are not actually caused by celiac disease, you may be suffering from one of several gluten-related conditions possible even when celiac disease isn’t present.

Because doctors and researchers recently agreed upon an existence of a non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), we now have four separate and distinct medical conditions that may occur independent of a formal celiac disease diagnosis. In addition to non-celiac gluten sensitivity, a wheat allergy, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten ataxia are all possible medical diagnoses related to some form of gluten intolerance.

It can be difficult to distinguish wheat allergy symptoms from celiac disease symptoms, so you should be careful not try diagnosing yourself. Dermatitis herpetiformis is often referred to as a gluten allergy rash, but it is not really an allergy. It is an autoimmune mediated response.

The mystery of gluten and the consequences of consuming it continue to evolve. Read on to discover how to distinguish these different forms of non-celiac gluten intolerance from each other. [...]

Continue Reading: Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance

As you venture into the world of food allergies and specialized diets, you may find it daunting to research and learn everything you need to know to secure your health or the health of someone close to you. You may find researching and learning about wheat allergies especially difficult because of all the confusing or simply misinformed websites on today’s cluttered Internet.

To learn the difference between a wheat allergy and a gluten intolerance, you have to not only see a list of symptoms, but you have to understand the context and mechanism of those symptoms as well. I will try to do this for you in my comprehensive wheat allergy guide.

Remember, whether you have a wheat allergy or you are suffering from symptoms of celiac disease, it is important you have your condition, or your loved one’s condition, properly and accurately diagnosed so you may soon embark on your new, better and healthier life free of the consequences of your allergic reaction or your autoimmune disease.

Read on to discover the fundamental difference between a wheat allergy and a gluten intolerance, understand how the awkward term gluten allergy symptoms works into this discussion, and learn exactly how a wheat allergy happens and what wheat allergy symptoms occur as a result. [...]

Continue Reading: Wheat Allergy Symptoms

With this article on Gluten Allergy Symptoms, I will attempt to clarify something I feel confuses many people researching Celiac Disease (or Celiac Sprue Disease) and gluten intolerance.

Before you can understand the problems with gluten, you must be able to answer the question, what is gluten? For that reason, you might start by reading the home page of this site. For a more comprehensive understanding of the unique substance known as gluten, try my guide focusing on this subject: What Is Gluten?

To be honest, the term gluten allergy symptoms itself creates confusion and I’m not fond of it. I titled this article this confusing term on purpose to draw those using it so I might educate them on why it isn’t the best term for this condition. And yet even as I wrote it, I have come to the conclusion that it may still have a purpose if we can get the health community to use it in a specific way and in a consistent manner.

The first aspect you must understand is that clinical Celiac Disease and even Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) is fundamentally different than an allergy in the traditional sense. Celiac disease is not a food allergy; it is an autoimmune disease. I explain this to some degree with the main article of this site, but because I receive an overwhelming number of emails targeting the phrase gluten allergy symptoms, I thought I better address the term more directly in its own article. [...]

Continue Reading: Gluten Allergy Symptoms

One of the earliest ways to diagnose symptoms of celiac disease is a deficiency in one or more of the minerals or vitamins absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal wall where celiac disease first impacts the gastrointestinal tract. Because the first section of villi damaged by gluten intolerance is the proximal small intestine, the vitamins and minerals absorbed often are deficient in cases of untreated celiac disease.

These vitamins include fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K, and these minerals include calcium, magnesium and iron. An iron deficiency can lead to anemia so it is important to detect low ferritin. In several ways early symptoms of gluten allergy can dovetail with early low ferritin symptoms, so if a blood test indicates you have low serum ferritin, you may want to discuss the possibility of celiac disease or a non-celiac gluten-sensitivity with your doctor.

While change of diet or iron supplements can help many people suffering from low ferritin symptoms, if you have celiac disease you must strictly adhere to a gluten-free diet. This can be more difficult than you realize as many people don’t understand what is gluten and how pervasive it is in the western diet.

Read on to learn more about how celiac disease impacts ferritin, identifying low ferritin symptoms and treating low ferritin levels. [...]

Continue Reading: Low Ferritin Symptoms