If you are diagnosed with celiac disease, you must completely avoid gluten for the rest your life. It is time to turn the corner and focus on enjoying the benefits of being gluten-free rather than on the loss of all those foods containing gluten.

But we do not live in a gluten-free world. At some point, no matter how careful you are, you will accidentally consume a little gluten. So how much gluten is too much? And more importantly, what do you do when it happens?

Measuring Your Daily Gluten

While the most common understanding is that 100 mg of gluten per day is the minimum amount of gluten to cause problems, a recent study conducted in Finland suggests that as little as 30 milligrams of gluten may be enough to show a change in antibodies and in the health of the mucosal lining of the small intestine (as measured with an intestinal biopsy).

To give you an idea of just how little this is:

An average slice of sandwich bread will have a little less than 5000 milligrams of gluten (or about 4.9 grams). So you could have about 1/164th of a slice of bread once a day for about 30 days and you might do measurable damage to your small intestine.

This will vary by individual (see more below), and it is important to recognize that all these studies involve consistent exposure over time (although a very short time period; usually a couple of weeks to a month).

In all studies, there were statistical outliers, which means there were less common cases within each study where people would experience more damage with even less gluten consumption, and people who could consume more gluten yet experience less damage.

Please remember that both celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are not allergies; they are not a Type 1 Hypersensitivity. In more cases than not, you may not experience clear and tangible celiac disease symptoms after consuming a small part of a slice of bread.

This isn’t to suggest you can get away with eating those small amounts — you can’t. But it’s important — it is absolutely vital — that you understand how the damage can be done without you even feeling it.

Two Common Misconceptions About Gluten Intolerance

The most profound misunderstanding I’ve witnessed when consulting people with gluten intolerance is when people believe in one of two polar opposite (but equally inaccurate) perspectives:

1) Either they treat their celiac disease like an allergy and think that if there is a trace of gluten in their food they’ll become terribly ill right away. But again, celiac disease is not a Type 1 Hypersensitivity or a food allergy; celiac disease is very different than a true wheat allergy.

or

2) Because they don’t feel anything after eating a plate of pasta (surprisingly common among people in the early stages of celiac disease), they think they can just “cut down” on gluten and not eliminate it altogether. This is a big mistake and could in fact even be deadly if they let their celiac disease go untreated for years as it can lead to chronic inflammation and a host of other health problems.

To summarize: The important thing to understand is that it takes a very small amount of gluten to do damage to your small intestine, but you may not even feel it — not right away or maybe not even for days.

But just because you can’t feel it soon after consumption doesn’t mean the damage isn’t being done.

Will That Hurt Me?

A common question I receive from my newsletter subscribers is something like, “I accidentally consumed a soup with soy sauce in it. Will this make me sick?”

I want to stress that if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease you must avoid gluten for the rest of your life.

There are 3 variables that make it so I can’t answer this main question for any single person:

1) How advanced is your celiac disease?

Someone who just recently developed celiac disease will not have as much villous atrophy along the walls of their small intestine, and thus a tiny trace of gluten consumed a single time may not set them back as far (but it will still do damage).

But someone who has suffered for years and only recently went gluten-free may experience more suffering and damage.

There are no layman measuring sticks for “how advanced” your celiac disease is, just a wide swathe of gray area, which makes it very difficult for me to answer how bad it was that you had that soup.

2) Everyone’s body is different.

I mean this literally. Even every person with celiac disease generates a different volume of the damaging antibodies when they consume the same amount of gluten. And it’s almost impossible to measure just how severely your body reacts to a small trace of gluten compared to another person with celiac disease.

3) How much gluten was really in that soup?

Without constantly carrying around a gluten testing kit with you, it’s unlikely you can say exactly how much gluten you accidentally consumed.

And the difference between a damaging amount and an amount that won’t make too much of a difference is incredibly tiny according to a recent study conducted in Finland, so it’s really hard to tell if the soy sauce used to make that soup exposed you to 25 mg of gluten or 35 mg of gluten, which according to the Finland study is the difference between damaging you or not damaging you.

So those three variables are what keep me from being able to answer isolated, individual queries in a real meaningful way.

So What Can You Do If You Think You’ve Ingested Some Gluten?

Here are my quick suggestions:

1) For the following two weeks, be obsessively vigilant about avoiding gluten. I don’t like to encourage an irrational gluten phobia, but if you’re confident you accidentally consumed gluten and you have celiac disease, do your best to let your body repair itself.

2) While I’m a little skeptical of supplements where the manufacturer claims their supplement can let you eat a little gluten (it’s just not true, no matter how they market these products), keeping something on hand for the occasional and possibly inevitable times when a little gluten might slip into your food is probably a good idea. Quality products of this nature are just enzymes that help you digest certain proteins.

I’ve read quite a few good things about this one:

Garden of Life Immune Balance Gluten Freeze

3) In the third orientation email I send to new subscribers of my gluten intolerance newsletter, I offer several suggestions for helping people heal the damage done by gluten intolerance. In particular, the three following have an uncommon agreement of support from both the conventional science community and the naturopathic community:

• Probiotics
• Glutamine
• Aloe

Just make sure the supplement you choose in each of these areas is a gluten-free supplement.

My comprehensive guide to healing the damage done by gluten is a free email you’ll receive for subscribing to my newsletter, which you can join here.

Because the autoimmune response triggered by gluten tends to damage the proximal small intestine first, you might integrate foods rich in the vitamins and minerals absorbed by that part of your intestine. Calcium, magnesium, iron and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) are all absorbed by this part of your small intestine. Discuss this with your doctor, however, because you don’t want to assume you’re experiencing low ferritin symptoms and take too much iron.

I hope this helps you better understand how little gluten it takes to do damage and how to respond when you do accidentally “glutenate” yourself.

Not too long ago, people considered any diagnosis of gluten intolerance that wasn’t celiac disease to be unconventional. Today, however, there are several different possible non-celiac gluten intolerance diagnoses recognized by even the most skeptical of conventional doctors. While more may arise as we continue to learn about gluten and how it impacts our bodies, the following conditions are all possible diagnoses even if you have tested negative for celiac disease.

In laymen terms, people are widely using the term gluten allergy to represent the collective of all these terms, despite how some of these are not really allergic reactions.

Use this Table of Contents to navigate Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance:

• Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
• Wheat Allergy
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis
• Gluten Ataxia

All of the following conditions are related to digestion of the unique protein composite known as gluten. For a good foundation to the trigger of all these conditions, see my comprehensive guide: What Is Gluten?

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS)

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While I have written about NCGS on this website for several years now, it only became widely recognized as its own legitimate condition in March of 2011. In a study published in a the BMC Journal, several of the most respected medical experts on celiac disease announced the verified existence of a form of gluten intolerance that was distinct from celiac disease or a wheat allergy and could be present despite negative test results for both celiac disease and a wheat allergy.

They still haven’t isolated specific biomarkers for formally diagnosing this non-celiac gluten intolerance, but the common name applied to it is non-celiac gluten sensitivity. For now, the only way to diagnose this condition is to verify the presence of a reaction to gluten, while also determining that this reaction isn’t due to celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Taking a gluten intolerance test can help either diagnose or rule out celiac disease or a wheat allergy.

So if your doctor feels confident gluten is causing your problems but you test negative for celiac disease and a wheat allergy you will be diagnosed as being Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive (NCGS). Currently researchers estimate that around 10% of all people suffer from some degree of this sensitivity (yes, one in ten people!).

The symptoms of a non-celiac gluten sensitivity dovetail with those of celiac disease, so you can read gluten allergy symptoms, celiac disease symptoms or gluten intolerance symptoms to help you understand the full spectrum of health problems caused by a gluten sensitivity. Note that may doctors believe these symptoms tend to be less severe and consequential in people with NCGS than in people diagnosed with celiac disease, but don’t tell that to anyone suffering from it.

Wheat Allergy

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This one may seem obvious, but believe it or not I have heard of doctors overlooking this possibility. You can test negative for celiac disease but still have a wheat allergy, so it is important to have an immunology specialist conduct proper allergy testing to determine if you have a wheat allergy, even if you have tested negative for celiac disease.

There are many possible allergens in wheat, and not all of them are related to the proteins in gluten. A wheat allergy is a type 1 sensitivity unlike the other conditions listed on this page. That means if you have a wheat allergy you will likely experience significant and evident symptoms either as you are eating something containing wheat or within a couple of hours of eating anything containing wheat. Read my article wheat allergy symptoms for help on identifying a wheat allergy.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH), or Duhring’s disease, is a gluten allergy rash that develops as a result of a reaction to consuming gluten. While it is often a symptom of celiac disease, you can test negative for celiac disease (or a wheat allergy) and still test positive for dermatitis herpetiformis.

To test for dermatitis herpetiformis, an experienced dermatologist will take a small sample of skin adjacent to the rash. If he or she finds IgA, the antibody triggered by gluten, in that sample, you will be diagnosed as having this skin-borne manifestation of a non-celiac gluten intolerance.

Make sure the dermatologist is experienced in testing and diagnosing DH because if your skin is not properly biopsied you may be misdiagnosed with linear IgA disease. While some people consider linear IgA disease another non-celiac gluten intolerance, current data suggests a correlation to gluten in only 20% of people with a verified case of linear IgA disease. Linear IgA disease and dermatitis herpetiformis look and feel very similar, so only a dermatologist and a lab will be able to distinguish the two conditions.

Read more about DH in my guide: Dermatitis Herpetiformis Symptoms.

Gluten Ataxia

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Gluten ataxia is the least understood of these conditions. Ataxia is a non-specific diagnosis for neurological signs manifesting as poor voluntary muscle coordination. Gluten ataxia is a form of sporadic cerebellum ataxia where gluten is believed to be the trigger. When a doctor diagnoses you with idiopathic sporadic ataxia, he or she should consider the possibility that gluten is the trigger. This diagnosis should be considered even if you have already tested negative for celiac disease or a wheat allergy.

In the simplest terms, if you experience a strange increase in your clumsiness or decrease in coordination, gluten ataxia could be a possibility. Diagnosing this form of non-celiac gluten intolerance involves testing for markers such as IgA deposits versus TG2 in the small intestine and as well as extraintestinal locations. Gluten ataxia was verified as a condition when cadaver examinations of individuals who suffered from idiopathic ataxia (ataxia without a known cause) revealed IgA deposits at the base of the cerebellum (basically the motor control part of your brain).

More often than not, however, people with gluten ataxia will test positive for celiac disease.

I hope this guide to non-celiac gluten intolerance conditions helps you isolate and identify the different possible forms of gluten intolerance that may occur even when you test negative for celiac disease.

I’ve received some requests to discuss a wheat allergy and wheat allergy symptoms in greater detail, so here we go. When you eat wheat do you notice digestive discomfort? Do you ever sneeze, wheeze or have a rash after consuming pizza, bread or other wheat based foods? If so, then you may be experiencing wheat allergy symptoms. A wheat allergy is fundamentally different from celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, but that doesn’t mean someone suffering from this type of allergic reaction can’t suffer serious and challenging consequences.

Wheat Allergy vs. Gluten Intolerance

Unfortunately you will find tons of misleading information on the web where people use the terms celiac disease, gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy interchangeably. However, these are not all the same condition. Gluten intolerance is basically an umbrella term for these conditions, but celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and a wheat allergy are all distinct health conditions.

Wheat Allergy
A wheat allergy is a histamine based allergic reaction. When a person with this allergy ingests wheat, a hypersensitive immune system produces antibodies known as IgE (Immunoglobulin E). When histamine stimulates H1 and H2 receptors, it triggers an inflammatory response in your body. Histamine helps dilate blood vessels so that white blood cells (in this case mast cells and basophils, specifically) can fight off the allergy trigger (called the allergen or antigen). As a result, more fluids enter the cells and skin. This causes swelling and other symptoms, which may cascade in severity (untreated anaphylactic shock can be fatal).

An allergy is a type I hypersensitivity, implying it triggers an immediate response. Although most people associate Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) with allergies to fruits, nuts and vegetables, a wheat allergy may also manifest as a cross-reactive condition of OAS. Oral Allergy Syndrome is sometimes referred to as Pollen Foods Allergy Syndrome.

Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system of a patient who ingested gluten (a composite protein found in grassy grains like wheat, spelt, rye and barley) produces excessive antibodies (specifically AGA, EMA and Anti-tTG), which attack the walls of the small intestine (and possibly the cerebellum as well — see my Gluten Ataxia guide).

Over time, exposure to gluten causes significant damage to the villi (and microvilli) along the lining of the small intestines and can lead to frustrating gastrointestinal problems at first and then serious malnutrition, which then catalyzes a long list of more severe consequences. Celiac disease symptoms include (but are not limited to) nutritional deficiencies like anemia, osteoporosis and weight loss. Some people also experience general digestive distress and indigestion, bloating and alternating bouts of diarrhea and celiac disease constipation. Celiac disease is a serious condition that can even lead to death if not treated in a timely manner.

One problem with identifying celiac disease symptoms in adults is that they may not manifest themselves in an obvious way at first, which leads many people to not understand their condition until serious damage to their small intestine has already begun.

Gluten Sensitivity
Gluten sensitivity is similar to celiac disease (and many people use the two terms interchangeably, although recent research suggests a gluten sensitivity can manifest as a distinct entity separate from celiac sprue disease), but the difference is that people with a gluten sensitivity may have similar symptoms to someone with celiac disease, yet an intestinal biopsy exhibits a different biomarker within the intestinal villi.

Until recently, some people believed a non-celiac gluten sensitivity existed, but doctors and researchers remained skeptical. However, first a study in Australia and now a more recent study published in the BMC Medicine Journal finally corroborates this belief with real scientific data. What this means is that one can test negative for the various celiac disease tests (antibody check, intestinal biopsy, and celiac gene check — see gluten intolerance test for more on celiac testing) but still experience some degree of impairing gluten sensitivity. You can read more about ways gluten intolerance may occur even when celiac disease is not present by reading my article on Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance.

In all cases it helps if you understand the nature of gluten itself and how it is a component of wheat, not a grain or protein in itself. Read my guide on this matter: What Is Gluten?

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Wheat Allergy Symptoms

If you suffer from a wheat allergy, here are some of the symptoms you can expect:

Wheat Allergy, Image Credit to SciencePhoto.com

• Asthma
• Eczema or atopic dermatitis
• Headaches
• Hives
• Inflamed sores
• Intestinal bloating or cramping
• Itching
• Itchy eyes
• Sensation of a racing heart
• Sore throat, or a feeling of the throat swelling
• Stomach discomfort
• Swelling in the face or mouth
• Swollen-feeling or itchy tongue
• Vomiting in severe cases
• Urticaria
• Wheezing

Additional, cumulative effects may develop if a wheat allergy is left untreated and undiagnosed, including reduced energy, brain fog and anxiety or even depression. Specifically, as with all allergies, anaphylactic shock is a possibility and can be deadly. Some common gluten intolerance symptoms, such as diarrhea or constipation, are not as common with a wheat allergy, but they still may occur.

Gluten intolerance symptoms can be similar, except that you may notice them anytime you eat any kind of gluten grain or gluten grain food product, and they may occur hours or days after consuming that gluten-containing grain. The primary gluten grains are wheat, spelt, rye and barley. Oats are also usually contaminated with gluten as they are almost always processed with gluten grains, though they don’t contain the gluten peptides we associate with either celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.

However, what is troubling about a gluten sensitivity is that many patients do not experience an immediate response to ingesting gluten. Unlike an allergy, a gluten intolerance or celiac disease is not a type 1 hypersensitivity. This does not mean it is any less serious a condition and in fact it may lead to more severe long-term consequences because people often don’t realize they are suffering from the disease. For a better understanding of gluten and gluten intolerance read the home page of my website (Gluten Intolerance Symptoms) and for help understanding the technically inaccurate term gluten allergy symptoms please read my guide on that strange semantic matter: Gluten Allergy Symptoms.

Again, the biggest distinction here is that a wheat allergy is specifically an allergy; you will have an immediate response to consuming a product with wheat in it. Celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are autoimmune responses, which means you may not feel the impact of your food for hours or even days after you eat it.

Wheat Allergy Treatment

While living with a wheat allergy can be inconvenient and even frustrating at first, feel comforted by the fact that you will find effective treatment. The best way to combat a wheat allergy or a gluten intolerance is by following a wheat-free diet or a gluten-free diet. Fortunately, today you will find many products on the market which do not contain wheat or gluten. At first, it may be easiest to do more of your own cooking and avoid eating out. You will experience a learning curve as you discover which foods contain wheat or gluten — particularly in restaurant food. I suggest you peruse my gluten free pantry to help you get started on gluten-free and wheat-free cooking. When you do go for meals out, choose Asian restaurants initially (but bring wheat-free soy sauce) since you will usually find more wheat-free offerings at Japanese, Thai and Chinese restaurants.

Until you develop the knowledge and skills to live wheat-free or if aren’t yet sure that wheat is causing your allergic reactions, you might consider taking an antihistamine, such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Claritin (loratadine), Allegra (fexofenadine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine). But please discuss this suggestion with a pharmacist or better yet your doctor. You should never prescribe yourself medication by what you read on the Internet without consulting an in-person medical professional first. Also, please note that antihistamines are useless for gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

You might also consider that medications often have side-effects and their own consequences. So you should not take any of those antihistamines without serious consideration. You should carefully weigh their benefits against their side-effects before deciding to proceed with one of them. If you would prefer a natural alternative to antihistamine medications you might look into quercetin, a plant-derived flavonoid found in foods like grapefruit, green tea, apples, and red onions. I’ve heard it works well, but it won’t be as potent as the aforementioned allergy medications and I’ve heard some people complain about mild heartburn when they take quercetin.

Once you understand the cause of your allergic reaction, avoiding the consequences by avoiding exposure to wheat will become easier. By respecting your wheat allergy symptoms and adhering to a strict wheat-free diet, you may never have to suffer another wheat allergic reaction again.
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With this article, Gluten Allergy Symptoms, I will attempt to clarify something I feel may confuse people researching Celiac Disease (or Celiac Sprue Disease or gluten-sensitive enteropathy) and Gluten Intolerance.

To be honest, the term gluten allergy symptoms itself creates confusion and is not technically correct. 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.

Use this Table of Contents to navigate my guide:

• Celiac Disease Is Not A Food Allergy
• Wheat Allergy Symptoms
• Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
• Gluten Allergy Symptoms: Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity?
• Misuse of the Phrase “Gluten Allergy” Online
• Legitimate Gluten Intolerance Resources Online

Celiac Disease Is Not A Food Allergy

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The first aspect you should understand is that clinical Celiac Disease and even Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) is fundamentally different from an allergy in the traditional sense. An allergy is a Type 1 Hypersensitivity and produces a different response in our bodies than an intolerance or an autoimmune disease.

Someone suffering from celiac disease symptoms isn’t suffering from a food allergy; they’re suffering from an autoimmune disease. I explain this to some degree with the main article of this site, but because I receive an overwhelming number of visitors and emails targeting the phrase “gluten allergy symptoms” so I thought I better address the term more directly in its own article.

Celiac disease is not a food allergy and so it may not cause the immediate and severe reaction people associate with food allergies. In fact, one dangerous aspect of celiac disease is how it can be latent or silent. When you eat gluten, you may not experience obvious, tangible symptoms; but the damage is still being done. This is critical to understand because someone who eats gluten and experiences no immediate or apparent reaction could still be suffering from celiac disease, which is a serious medical condition with very serious long-term consequences if left untreated.

Wheat Allergy Symptoms

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Gluten Allergy Symptoms

First, you should understand exactly how an allergic reaction to wheat occurs. It’s important for people to understand that an allergic reaction is completely different than the systemic reaction your body experiences over time with gluten intolerance. An allergy is a type 1 hypersensitivity while both celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are autoimmune responses. Still, both allergic reactions and autoimmune diseases have come to fall under non-celiac gluten intolerance in the public eye.

Wheat allergy symptoms are the result of a histamine response. By itself, such an allergy doesn’t indicate Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance. An allergic reaction to wheat is more like the kind of allergy you might associate with allergies to pollen (hay fever) and pets (I’m sure you’ve known someone allergic to cats or dogs).

With such a histamine response, what’s happening is that white blood cells known as basophils and mast cells over-react to Immunoglobulin E. This causes an immediate response. Symptoms of wheat allergy manifest themselves not unlike other allergic reactions you may recognize: hives, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, stomach discomfort and even pain.

But just because you eat something with wheat in it and you experience these symptoms does not specifically mean you suffer from gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease. This instead is a food allergy that can be diagnosed with an allergen test.

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One example how fundamentally different this can be from gluten intolerance is that often times people can be allergic to foods containing wheat but can do fine with other gluten-based foods, such as spelt or barley.

It is vital that you understand how this is NOT the case for people who are truly gluten intolerant. Spelt and barley are just as bad for you as wheat if you are truly gluten intolerant and not just allergic to wheat.

Please note that I am not trying to downplay the seriousness of a wheat allergy. Anaphylactic shock can be deadly.

Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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One could argue that gluten intolerance and celiac disease are in fact more complicated, more subtle and yet just as serious (if not more serious, in some cases) over the long term. And because so many cases in involve silent celiac disease symptoms, the gluten intolerance statistics reveal a disturbing trend of unaware patients walking around undiagnosed.

(Note: I don’t mean to marginalize the seriousness of allergic reactions. However, it is imperative for people to appreciate how real gluten intolerance has long-term consequences far more serious than most immediately recognizable symptoms. If you suspect real gluten intolerance, you should look into a gluten intolerance test.)

Celiac Disease, and the formal definition of gluten intolerance, is when you have overly strong antibodies reacting to the proteins in gluten (giadin and glutenin). These overreacting antibodies lash out at your intestinal enomysium. For a more detailed definition, please see my site’s home page: Gluten Intolerance Symptoms. For a more detailed understanding of the peculiar substance at the heart of this phenomenon, read my article: What Is Gluten?

If that last paragraph looked like a Martian language to you, don’t worry. I’ll try to explain it a little more simply. What basically happens here is that when you eat a gluten-containing food, your body overreacts to it and that overreaction affects certain innocent bystanders of your intestines: villi (also known as microvilli).

These villi, which are tiny hairs or tiny fingers along the inner lining of your intestines, perform the vital role of grabbing nutrition from your food as it passes through your small intestine.

Gluten Intolerance and Intestinal Villi

Over time, villous atrophy occurs. What this means is that your body’s overreaction to gluten slowly wears down and kills off the villi, making your small intestine less capable of digesting all foods — not just gluten-containing foods. This malabsorption has serious and far-reaching consequences. Short term consequences include:

• Celiac Disease Constipation
• Gluten Intolerance Bloating
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Joint Pain
• Low Ferritin
• Headaches
• Skin rashes, especially Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Real gluten intolerance will lead to vitamin deficiencies and nourishment deficiencies in your nervous system, your brain, bones and other organs (especially your liver).

This in turn may lead to a whole array of health problems, including severe malnutrition, autism and current studies may indicate even cancer. Children with gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease frequently suffer from a failure to thrive and grow.

(Just to further confuse you, there are rare cases where gluten intolerance and weight gain have become associated. Please read my article on that matter: Gluten Intolerance and Weight Gain.)

Gluten Allergy Symptoms: Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity?

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To make this matter all more confusing, you can experience gluten intolerance but still not test positive for Celiac disease. There is still much to learn about this new subset of gluten intolerance, but the vital part is that you can be gluten intolerant yet test negative for Celiac Disease. Some of these individuals may be enduring silent celiac disease symptoms for years without knowing it.

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) or Gluten Related Disease (GRD) may ultimate prove to be Celiac Disease once better forms of diagnosis are discovered, but for now you it exists as its own diagnosis and phenomenon. Please note that both Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity should be treated the same: Both require you completely eliminate all traces of gluten from your diet.

Update: As of March 2011, researchers now know that a non-celiac gluten sensitivity exists entirely separately from celiac disease. While it is a form of intolerance to gluten, intestinal biopsies indicate different gene expression and villi damage than what occurs with celiac disease.

This still doesn’t mean all cases where someone tests negative for celiac disease are cases of this new gluten sensitivity. In some cases, people could suffer from latent celiac disease and test positive several years after the initial negative test.

Wheat Allergy Symptoms

It’s possible that NCGS is the most accurate single health condition for the phrase gluten allergy symptoms, as it is neither a wheat allergy nor a formal, clinical diagnosis of Celiac Disease. It is often the heart of gluten allergy symptoms in adults. This is because adults sometimes grow accustomed to a certain level of health and physical discomfort and don’t proactively pursue in an improvement in their life. When gluten intolerance in children appears, attentive and responsible parents often do everything possible to address it. Gluten allergy symptoms in children are often addressed promptly compared to gluten allergy symptoms in adults.

So what are gluten allergy symptoms anyway? If you are experiencing an allergic reaction to wheat, the symptoms will likely manifest themselves through gluten allergy hives or gluten allergy rashes. You might also experience gluten allergy bloating. However, symptoms like fatigue and extended irritable bowel syndrome symptoms typically are more likely to indicate a gluten intolerance. More severe skin reactions, like Dermatitis herpetiformis, can indicate Celiac disease as well.

Additionally, peripheral conditions may develop. These could include gluten intolerance bloating or symptoms of Candida.

Misuse of the Phrase “Gluten Allergy” Online

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However, please note that this is just my own attempt to find a use for the overly used and misused term. When you are researching wheat allergies and gluten intolerance, please note that in most cases you will likely see the phrase gluten allergy used by sources which you shouldn’t entirely trust as knowledgeable sources.

In fact, when I Google the exact phrase “gluten allergy symptoms,” several of the sites that returned at the top of the results provided contradictions and even serious misinformation. In those cases I suggest you double-check with reputable sites such as the Mayo Clinic and or WebMD before you accept their suggestions or conclusions.

Please take gluten intolerance very seriously. Begin eliminating gluten entirely from your diet immediately and be vigilant. To help you get started I have a Gluten Free Pantry, which helps you to understand how to replace gluten in your everyday meals and recipes. To help allay your fears of never eating good bread again, I have two recipe pages: Gluten Free Bread Recipes and Gluten Free Bread Machine Bread Recipes.

Legitimate Gluten Intolerance Resources Online

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For a more thorough and scientific look at the Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity phenomenon, try Dr. Scott Lewey’s excellent article on Celiac.com:

Gluten Sensitivity: A Gastroenterologist’s Personal Journey Down the Gluten Rabbit Hole

And here’s a short video of a well-known doctor and immunologist describing the difference between a wheat allergy and Celiac Disease (which should help you understand why I’m not fond of the phrase gluten allergy symptoms):

I hope this helps you better understand gluten allergy symptoms and thank you for reading Gluten Intolerance.

A storage protein called ferritin both transports iron throughout our bodies and helps moderate our iron levels. Low ferritin symptoms can indicate a number of conditions, including anemia, restless leg syndrome and celiac disease.

Low ferritin symptoms are common in people with gluten intolerance because in both celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity antibodies first target the proximal small intestine (the earlier part of your small intestine), and this part of your small intestine is responsible for absorbing iron.

• What Is Ferritin?
• Low Ferritin Symptoms
• Low Ferritin Causes
• Celiac Disease and Low Serum Ferritin
• Low Ferritin Symptoms In Runners and Athletes
• Low Ferritin Treatment

What Is Ferritin?

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Ferritin is an intracellular, globular protein complex (in simpler terms, it is a soluble protein complex rather than an insoluble protein complex like fibrous proteins) that performs two critical roles: it transports iron to all the tissues of your body and it helps moderate your iron levels from being too low or too high. When ferritin isn’t bound with iron, it is called apoferritin.

Ferritin Protein Complex

Iron is a key element of healthy hemoglobin, the molecule carrying oxygen to tissues all over your body. If you don’t have enough iron, various cells and tissues all over your body may not get the oxygen they need to perform at optimum levels or to remain healthy. Iron plays a critical role in your body’s ability to generate energy, experience cellular respiration and maintain a healthy immune system. Ferritin performs transportation and moderation of this critical element throughout your body.

Serum ferritin levels are tested to detect either low or high iron, but conditions associated with either low or high iron often require additional examination because ferritin levels can be raised when infections or a sources of chronic inflammation are present. In other words, if you have an infection or some other inflammation, you could have borderline low iron but a serum ferritin test could still indicate a normal ferritin level.

Low Ferritin Symptoms

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Early signs of low ferritin levels are easy to miss because they may seem relatively mild or they may seem like a natural part of the ebb and flow of how you feel day in and day out. These earlier symptoms include:

• Body aches
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Low libido

As your ferritin stays low or goes lower, the following symptoms may occur:

• Confusion
• Long, heavy menstrual cycle in women
• Palpitations
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Tingling or numbness in fingers or toes (neuropathy)
• Weakness

If you fail to raise your ferritin, you may become anemic or begin experiencing the following low serum ferritin and low iron symptoms:

• Pale skin or eyes
• Brittle nails
• Bruising easily

Chronic iron deficiency can lead to organ failure, so you should see a doctor if these last low ferritin symptoms seem familiar to you.

Low serum ferritin is also associated with hypothyroid disease, so if you either suspect thyroid problems or are diagnosed with a thyroid problem, you might want to discuss an iron supplement with your doctor.

A woman’s menstruation may also cause reduced serum ferritin levels, but don’t let that mask a real case of low ferritin. Unfortunately, there have been cases where doctors passed off low ferritin or low iron as being caused by a woman’s period, when later it was discovered that celiac disease was the real cause.

Note that low ferritin is not the same thing as anemia but rather a precursor to anemia.

Low Ferritin Causes

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The most common causes of low ferritin are:

• Poor Diet (not consuming enough of high-iron foods or enough of foods with the nutrients required to help absorb iron)
• Blood loss (can be internal or external, from injury or from giving blood)
• Intestinal disease (like celiac disease, Crohn’s Disease, ulcerative colitis or gluten sensitivity)
• Intestinal medical procedures (intestine surgery, and in some rare cases colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy)

When you examine reasons for low ferritin, you should be able to narrow the cause down to one of those primary reasons fairly quickly. However, within each of these primary reasons you may find difficulty narrowing down your particular situation.

Poor Diet

There are two parts to the diet cause of low ferritin. First, you need to make sure you are consuming enough foods that contain iron.

There are two forms of iron: Heme Iron and Non-heme iron. The human body more readily absorbs heme iron (as it is more “bioavailable”), which only occurs in animal products, but high-iron vegetables often contain far more non-heme iron per 100 calories than heme iron sources, so you can still address your low ferritin or anemia by eating generous portions of foods like spinach, kale and lentils if you’re trying to avoid red meat. For example, 100 calories of cooked spinach contains about 15 milligrams of iron, while 100 calories of choice sirloin steak contains less than 1 milligram of iron (although keep in mind there are far more calories in a serving of steak than there in a serving of spinach).

The second part to the diet equation involves consuming enough of the nutrients required to help you absorb the iron you eat. The most important nutrients you need to integrate into your diet to help you better absorb iron are folic acid (folate) and vitamin C (especially vitamin C). Fortified whole grains, citrus fruits, eggs and leafy green vegetables are all good sources of these nutrients.

See the section below on Low Ferritin Treatment for more dietary suggestions to raise your ferritin levels.

Blood Loss

Another common cause of low ferritin is blood loss. This can result from an internal or external injury, so don’t assume that just because you’re not overtly bleeding after an injury that you’re not suffering from some form of blood loss.

Intestinal Surgery

Intestinal procedures, such as an appendectomy or surgeries addressing colon cancer or other intestinal disorders often cause low ferritin symptoms. Intestinal procedures may reduce your ferritin levels because of either temporary damage done to the intestinal wall where iron is absorbed or by causing temporary internal bleeding (or both). If you have had such a procedure, discuss your iron levels with your doctor. If necessary, he or she will prescribe dietary changes or temporary iron supplementation as you recover.

Intestinal Diseases

As far as this gluten intolerance site goes, the cause of low ferritin symptoms we’re most concerned with are intestinal diseases, in particular celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity. However, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease may also cause problems with iron absorption.

Celiac Disease and Low Serum Ferritin

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One of the first vitamin or mineral deficiencies you may develop if you have celiac disease is an iron deficiency, or anemia. This is because minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron are absorbed in your proximal small intestine, which means the early, upper part of your small intestine. This is where the antibodies triggered by your consumption of gluten first attack, and where villous atrophy occurs the earliest for people with either celiac disease or a non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

As the villi, which are finger-like protrusions from the mucosal lining of your small intestine, slowly flatten in villous atrophy, your intestines become less and less able to absorb nutrients from your food. So if blood test results or a blood panel reveals you have low serum ferritin levels, and you don’t have another obvious explanation (like you just donated blood), you should discuss the possibility of celiac disease, including possibly a celiac disease test, with your doctor. You may need to make this suggestion as celiac disease isn’t yet a common diagnosis path for many doctors.

Fatigue is a common symptoms of celiac disease, and some people may be frustrated when their doctor tells them they do not have anemia. It is possible to suffer from low ferritin but not yet have anemia.

A smart celiac disease diet for recently diagnosed celiacs should include increased intake of iron, Vitamin C and folic acid to help raise your low ferritin levels.

Low Ferritin Symptoms In Runners and Athletes

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As iron-rich ferritin is largely responsible for carrying oxygen to muscles as they do their jobs, endurance athletes often stress their ferritin resources much more than the average person. So it is not uncommon for endurance athletes with otherwise healthy diets and good blood panels to suffer from low ferritin symptoms. In particular, the phenomenon is more common in women endurance athletes.

If you are an athlete and you recognize some of the above symptoms of low ferritin, you might consult with a nutritionist about diet modifications you can make to compensate for your increased exhaustion of your body’s iron resources.

Low Ferritin Treatment

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The first step towards treatment of any case of low ferritin is to determine why serum ferritin levels are low in the first place. Too often I see people skip over this important step by addressing their low ferritin with diet and supplements before they even know why their ferritin is low.

Once you and your doctor know the cause of your low ferritin, you may have specific changes you need to make to your diet or lifestyle.

Salad Rich With Iron, Vitamin C and Folate

For most people suffering from low ferritin, a change in diet will be necessary. In the western diet, we often don’t eat enough of the combination of foods that provide iron, vitamin c and folic acid in a high enough quantity to maintain healthy iron levels. Some good sources of iron include:

• Almonds
• Brazil nuts
• Cereals and foods fortified with iron
• Collard greens
• Dark chicken meat
• Dark turkey meat
• Eggs
• Fish
• Kale
• Legumes (black, kidney and pinto beans)
• Lentils
• Liver
• Quinoa
• Red meat (especially beef)
• Soybeans
• Spinach

Some dark, leafy vegetables are veritable powerhouses of iron, vitamin c and folic acid all together. These superfoods include collard greens and spinach. You’ll need to eat quite a bit more than one small salad a day to obtain your iron from these superfoods, but they’re still an excellent source of absorbable iron because of their mix of iron, vitamin c and folate all in one food.

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, you can easily manage without meat, but you do need to increase your intake of these high-iron foods and eat them with foods containing vitamin C and folic acid as often as possible.

Iron Supplements

Iron supplements are a fast and effective way to treat low ferritin levels. However, iron can be toxic if taken in too high amount for too long. I believe the toxicity of iron supplementation is often under-appreciated, so before you supplement your diet with an iron supplement discuss the amount and length of time you need to take it with your doctor before you begin your iron regiment.

Also, iron supplements are especially toxic to children, so please keep any iron pills you own well out of your child’s reach.

I don’t mean to scare you from taking an iron supplement; it can be very effective. Just be careful about hemochromatosis, a relatively common iron storage disease. Iron toxicity is possible and it can be dangerous, so I don’t recommend taking an iron supplement without having your ferritin serum levels checked and without supervision of a health professional. In some borderline cases moderate dietary changes may be all that is necessary to raise your ferritin levels.

In people with celiac disease, the most critical low ferritin treatment you can implement will be a strict gluten-free diet. It is crucial you allow your small intestine to repair itself over time by avoiding gluten and staying on a healthy diet. As your gut repairs itself, your body will slowly improve its ability to absorb iron again. Gluten is more pervasive than many realize.

I’m not suggesting you avoid iron supplementation, but just understand if you have celiac disease or a non-celiac gluten sensitivity the most important first step is to eliminate all traces of gluten from your diet.

You should now have a better understanding of low ferritin symptoms, how low ferritin levels may occur, and you should have a better idea what you can do to improve your serum ferritin levels.

One of the more confusing areas of researching a gluten allergy is whether or not it can manifest as a gluten allergy rash. To understand why this is more complicated than a simple allergic reaction and to understand whether or not gluten can trigger a rash at all, you have to understand the difference between an allergy and an autoimmune disease, and then you have to understand the different conditions that fall under the umbrella of the term gluten allergy.

• Wheat Allergy Rash or Celiac Disease Symptoms?
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis and Linear IgA Disease
• Eczema, Psoriasis, and Urticaria
• So Do I Have A Gluten Allergy Rash?

Wheat Allergy Rash or Celiac Disease Symptoms?

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While the term gluten allergy is widely used to describe various gluten allergy symptoms, it is not a meaningful or accurate term by itself. You may suffer from a wheat allergy, celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, but a gluten allergy is not an available diagnosis. Instead, gluten allergy is often used as a blanket term for these three other conditions.

In addition, a gluten allergy rash might be a manifestation of an allergy or an autoimmune response that involves some kind of gluten intolerance not diagnosed with celiac disease or a wheat allergy.

To understand how these conditions are separate, differentiate them by how quickly symptoms manifest after exposure. An allergy is a type 1 hypersensitivity. This means you will react either immediately or almost immediately. It also involves IgE (Immunoglobulin E) rather than the antibodies present with diagnosed celiac disease symptoms.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease with a delayed immune response. Celiac disease is not a food allergy. In addition, many skin manifestations of gluten intolerance can be delayed and do not involve IgE, thus they are not food allergies either.

Many people assume that if you are reacting to something you ate, then you are having an allergic reaction. It isn’t that simple, and it is important to understand how an autoimmune disease is different from an allergy because you won’t always have an immediate reaction to something that your body treats as toxic.

So remember, what many people refer to as a gluten allergy rash is often not an allergy at all.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis and Linear IgA Disease

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The most common rash associated with gluten intolerance is dermatitis herpetiformis (also known as Duhring’s disease). Dermatitis herpetiformis manifests through pinkish to redish blisters that occur most often on the outside of joints (knees and elbows) and from the back of the neck down to the buttocks along the spine. This kind of gluten allergy rash most often begins with a strong itch before the rash even appears, and when it does appear it forms small, watery blisters.

A skilled and experienced dermatologist can diagnose dermatitis herpetiformis with a small biopsy of the skin adjacent to the rash. When a lab examines this sample, they may find IgA antibody deposits, which indicate an autoimmune reaction to the consumption of gluten. You can test negative for both wheat allergy symptoms and celiac disease but still test positive for dermatitis herpetiformis, so don’t make any assumptions if your doctor has previously ruled out celiac disease or a wheat allergy as the cause of your rash.

The reason I mentioned that a skilled and experienced dermatologist needs to take the biopsy is that if the sample is not taken correctly and from the right location, dermatitis herpetiformis can be misdiagnosed as linear IgA disease. This is a different autoimmune disease that doesn’t have as close a relationship with gluten. While about 90% of dermatitis herpetiformis cases are a result of a gluten intolerance, less than 20% of linear IgA disease cases are the result of a response to gluten.

Dermatitis herpetiformis and linear IgA disease look and feel very similar, so they require accurate lab work to differentiate these two skin rashes.

Eczema, Psoriasis, and Urticaria

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These are three different skin conditions many people relate to gluten, however they are not all the same thing and their relationship to gluten and wheat is still being researched and determined.

Psoriasis can manifest as a kind of skin plaque instead of a blistering rash, and it often involves pain separate from the desire to scratch.

There is little scientific evidence suggesting gluten or celiac disease cause psoriasis, though there is a correlation between psoriasis and many other autoimmune diseases, including celiac disease. This correlation exists between many different autoimmune diseases. Simply put, if you have one autoimmune disease, you are far more likely to have another autoimmune disease. Such a correlation does not necessarily suggest causation.

Eczema and Urticaria, however, appear to be possible symptoms of a wheat allergy. It’s important to note that they are not always present when a wheat allergy is present and a wheat allergy can be present without eczema or urticaria being present. But because some evidence suggests a relationship between these skin conditions and wheat allergens, if you have been diagnosed with one of them you should talk to your doctor about a possible wheat allergy.

Eczema is a broad term applied to a broad range of dermatitis diagnoses. It may appear differently in different people, but symptoms often include blisters, cracking skin, patches of crusty, dry skin, itchy spots, pinkish skin blotches and skin edema (skin swelling).

Urticaria is basically what most of us call hives. It manifests as blotches of swollen, pale red and itchy raised bumps. Most cases of urticaria involve some kind of allergy, though some cases of chronic urticaria are either categorized as idiopathic (basically, the cause is unknown) or have a correlation with an autoimmune disease (similar to how I described psoriasis above).

One study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 1989 suggested that if a mother and her infant avoided all the most common allergens (including wheat) in the infant’s first year of life, these skin conditions may not develop.

So Do I Have A Gluten Allergy Rash?

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To determine if the rash you’ve developed might be considered a gluten allergy rash, you should go over the options discussed in my gluten allergy test article, as well as in my guide to a comprehensive gluten intolerance test.

At this point in our understanding, if you test negative for celiac disease, wheat allergy and dermatitis herpetiformis, it is unlikely that your rash is closely related to gluten or wheat.

While the research and understanding of gluten intolerance appears to be evolving and improving at a rapid pace right now, if you test negative for these three conditions don’t assume you are suffering from some form of gluten allergy or gluten sensitivity and that science just hasn’t caught up with the reality of gluten and how it impacts our bodies.

While in a few cases this may turn out to be true, I am concerned some of my readers may blame their problems on gluten without having any formal medical confirmation that gluten is causing their ailments. The reason this concerns me is that if you conclude that gluten is the problem without a medical professional confirming this, you may actually miss the real cause and thus not properly treat your condition.

I hope this helps elucidate the confusing phenomenon that is a gluten allergy as it relates to what many people call a gluten allergy rash.

In email exchanges with readers, I often make the careful suggestion to discuss the intimate and technical details of their possible celiac disease symptoms with their doctors.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to realize many people enduring problems with gluten don’t seem to trust conventional doctors.

This is unfortunate, but I understand why. Celiac disease is still one of the lesser understood diseases and many primary care physicians or internists still seem a little behind in their understanding of it, or at least in their willingness to proactively consider a celiac disease diagnosis. For example, take a look at how often celiac disease symptoms go undiagnosed.

Navigate my explanations or skip straight to the checklist:

• Why This Celiac Disease Checklist Is Needed
• What Makes A Useful Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist
• Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist
• How to Grade Your Celiac Disease Checklist Results

Why This Celiac Disease Checklist Is Needed

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My hope for this celiac disease symptoms checklist is to arm you with information you can take to your doctor. If you fulfill several of the areas of the checklist, you will be armed with the “what and why” to take to your doctor so you can encourage him or her to at least actively pursue the possibility of a celiac disease diagnosis. In some cases, at least your doctor may refer you to a gastroenterologist for specialized care or diagnosis consideration.

Please note this checklist isn’t meant to be used as a tool to persuade anyone (yourself or your doctor) that you have celiac disease.

Some of you may be hoping to see a simple checklist of symptoms here. While my hope is that what you find below will be relatively concise and simple, I’m afraid diagnosing celiac disease symptoms isn’t as simple as comparing a list of symptoms against your own. Celiac disease manifests itself in widely varying ways in different people and it is often asymptomatic, which means it may not exhibit obvious symptoms at all.

So I cover three areas doctors and researchers experienced with this condition use to identify a potential celiac disease diagnosis.

What Makes A Useful Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist

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This checklist will provide three distinct sections to help you determine your risk (or your child’s risk) for celiac disease:

1. Family history of celiac disease or gastrointestinal problems, autoimmune problems or conditions like anemia or osteoporosis. This will include existing diagnoses in direct relatives (mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter) of specific autoimmune diseases or associated conditions related to an increased risk of celiac disease.
2. Existing diagnoses you have (or your child has), which may indicate a greater possibility of a celiac disease diagnosis. For example, someone with either type 1 or type 2 Diabetes is at much greater risk for celiac disease. This will also include possible misdiagnoses masking a potential case of celiac disease, the most common and obvious one being Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
3. Celiac Disease Symptoms: And finally a relatively concise list of the most common celiac disease symptoms in children and celiac disease symptoms in adults.

If you subscribe to my free newsletter (it really is completely free), I provide the checklist in the form of a PDF booklet ebook. This isn’t necessary, but some people prefer an isolated ebook they can print and take to their doctor. To subscribe just add your email to the subscription form in the sidebar to the right and click on the “Sign Up Now” button.

Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist

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Section 1: Your Family History

Section 1A – Associated Autoimmune Disorders:

If any immediate family members (mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son) have been diagnosed with the following, place a check for each family member next to the listed condition. So place one check if just one family member has been diagnosed with the condition, or two checks if two family members have been diagnosed with that condition, etc.

___ Addison’s Disease
___ Chronic Urticaria
___ Crohn’s Disease
___ Diabetes Mellitus (Type I Diabetes)
___ Eczema
___ Fibromyalgia
___ Irritable Bowel Syndrome
___ Inflammatory Bowel Disease
___ Lactose Intolerance
___ Multiple Sclerosis
___ Osteoporosis or Osteopenia
___ Psoriasis
___ Rheumatoid Arthritis
___ Sjögren’s Syndrome
___ Thyroid Disease (hypo or hyper)
___ Ulcerative Colitis
___ Unexplained Contact Dermatitis

Section 1B: Directly Related Conditions

Again, place a check for each immediate family member diagnosed with any of the following conditions in the space next to the condition.

___ Celiac Disease
___ Dermatitis Herpetiformis
___ Gluten Intolerance
___ Wheat Allergy

Section 2: Your Medical History

Place a check in the space next to any condition you currently have or have had at any point. For the most accurate results, please only place a check next to each condition formally diagnosed by a doctor.

Section 2A – Diagnoses That Increase Your Risk Factor:

___ Addison’s Disease
___ Cancer of the Small Intestine
___ Chronic Urticaria
___ Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes)
___ Eczema
___ Fibromyalgia
___ Infertility
___ Lactose Intolerance
___ Multiple Sclerosis
___ Osteoporosis or Osteopenia
___ Peripheral Neuropathy
___ Psoriasis
___ Rheumatoid Arthritis
___ Sjögren’s Syndrome
___ Thyroid Disease (hypo or hyper)
___ Unexplained Contact Dermatitis

Section 2B – Diagnoses That May Be Masking Celiac Disease

___ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
___ Crohn’s Disease
___ Dermatitis Herpetiformis
___ GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease)
___ Irritable Bowel Syndrome
___ Inflammatory Bowel Disease
___ Nervous Stomach (Non-ulcer Dyspepsia)
___ Ulcerative Colitis
___ Wheat Allergy

Section 3: Celiac Disease Symptoms

Aside from failure-to-thrive, almost all these symptoms may occur in either adults or children. This is not meant to be a 100 percent complete list of symptoms. There are over 250 verified possible symptoms of celiac disease and the list just keeps growing. Instead, this is meant to be a high-risk or high-likelihood set of symptoms your doctor can evaluate alongside the other risk factors listed in this checklist.

Place a check next to each symptom you have experienced regularly (about once or more a week) for the last three months.

___ Abdominal Distention
___ Bloating
___ Bruising Easily
___ Constant Unexplained Fatigue
___ Constipation
___ Diarrhea or Runny Stools
___ Failure to Thrive (Children)
___ Foul-Smelling Stools or Fatty, Floating Stools
___ Frequent Headaches or Migraines
___ Frequent, Loud Stomach Rumbling or Growling
___ Gas or Stomach Cramping
___ Grayish Stools
___ Heartburn
___ Joint Pain
___ Pallor (unhealthy pale appearance)
___ Panic Attacks
___ Stomach or Intestinal Pain
___ Tingling or Numbness in Extremities
___ Unexplained or Unusual Muscle Weakness
___ Unexplained Skin Lesions
___ Weight Loss

How to Grade Your Celiac Disease Checklist Results

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I keep trying to simplify the grading, but there are still some quirks to it, so read carefully.

You and your doctor should consider testing for celiac disease if:

1. You have any checks in section 1B AND any checks in section 3.
2. You have two or more checks in section 1A AND any checks in section 3.
3. You have two or more checks in section 2B AND any checks in section 3.
4. You have at least one check in sections 1A AND 2B.
5. You have checks in each of the three main sections (Family History, Medical History and Symptoms Sections).
6. You have 3 or more checks in any single section, including both subsections of a section (so 1 in 2a plus 2 in 2b would be 3 checks in section 2).

Remember, if you grade yourself as “at risk” based on this celiac disease symptoms checklist, it doesn’t diagnose you. It just means a diagnosis of celiac disease should be explored as a possibility for your condition.

When you begin researching the confusing phenomenon that is a gluten allergy, hopefully you identify that the term gluten allergy represents several conditions, each with a different gluten allergy test.

Celiac disease, wheat allergy and skin rashes like Dermatititis Herpetiformis are all under the umbrella of a gluten allergy. The most confusing part of this is that the term gluten allergy is not yet a technically meaningful medical label. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease and a wheat allergy is a true food allergy, but a true gluten allergy is still a bit of vague, nebulous beast, mostly used by laymen on the Internet.

So the term has become a layman’s umbrella term for all gluten-related conditions. In this guide to a gluten allergy test, I will summarize several different tests for several different conditions under the gluten allergy umbrella. In all cases, a gluten-free diet or a wheat-free diet will be required if you test positive.

Navigate this Gluten Allergy Test Guide:

• Allergy Vs. Autoimmune Disease
• Celiac Disease Test
• Wheat Allergy Test
• Gluten Sensitivity Test
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis Test
• Which Gluten Allergy Test Is Right For You?

Allergy Vs. Autoimmune Disease

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An allergy is a type 1 hypersensitivity, which means it provokes an immediate response. An allergy also involves a response by IgE (Immunoglobulin E) and mast cells.

Unlike an allergy, an autoimmune disease often doesn’t manifest tangible or visible symptoms right away. That doesn’t mean it isn’t doing damage, just that the damage sometimes doesn’t become apparent to the patient until days or even weeks after the patient consumes the trigger of their autoimmune response.

This is why so many celiac disease symptoms go undiagnosed. Too many people think that when someone is gluten intolerant or has celiac disease, if they eat a piece of wheat bread they will become sick immediately. This isn’t always the case. Someone can have a severe intolerance to gluten but still not realize it for weeks or even months, and they may have no obvious symptoms even right after eating a meal dense with gluten.

But someone with a wheat allergy will experience symptoms either instantly or within hours of consuming food with wheat in it.

Celiac Disease Test

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As discussed in my article, Gluten Intolerance Test, if your doctor determines you need to be tested for celiac disease, he will start with a screening involving the following blood panel:

• Endomysial antibodies (EMA)
• Tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG)
• IgG tissue transglutaminase
• Total IgA antibodies

In most cases, this blood panel will help reveal an autoimmune response caused by the consumption of gluten. To verify that celiac disease is creating the problem, your doctor will order an endoscopic biopsy of your small intestine. This biopsy will allow a lab to examine the health of the lining of your small intestine. If villous atrophy and the presence of specific antibodies are significant enough, the biopsy will verify the presence of celiac disease.

This small intestine biopsy is still considered the gold standard for celiac disease testing. My celiac disease symptoms guide will help you get up to speed on celiac disease.

Wheat Allergy Test

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There are three basic ways to diagnose a wheat allergy, but none are 100 percent accurate. A skin prick test is often considered, but in young children or in people weakened by other conditions, a blood test is preferred. However, measuring the allergen response can be tricky, so some combination of medical deduction and a wheat-elimination diet are often used.

There are different kinds of wheat allergies (because there are multiple possible allergens in wheat), and your doctor will first deduce the subset of a wheat allergy you are experiencing before trying to determine the safest and most appropriate way to conduct this form of a gluten allergy test.

Gluten Sensitivity Test

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While doctors and researchers are trying to isolate and identify biomarkers of a non-celiac gluten sensitivity, we don’t yet have a way to isolate and test this specific form of gluten allergy.

The only real way to test for a non-celiac gluten sensitivity is to test for a wheat allergy and then for celiac disease; if both tests are negative but the patient still experiences gluten allergy symptoms, a gluten sensitivity will be diagnosed by deduction.

Dermatitits Herpetiformis Test

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Another form of gluten intolerance is the skin condition known as dermatitis herpetiformis. While it isn’t always associated with gluten intolerance, the current estimate is that around 90 percent of dermatitis herpetiforms diagnoses are related to a gluten intolerance.

To learn more about dermatitis herpetiformis, visit my article on this skin rash: Dermatitis Herpetiformis Symptoms.

To diagnose this skin condition, an experienced dermatologist will take a biopsy of skin adjacent to the rash or skin blisters. The test biopsy must be taken carefully, because if the biopsy is taken from the wrong location, you may be misdiagnosed with linear IgA disease instead.

Which Gluten Allergy Test Is Right For You?

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For more on determining which test might be most appropriate for your condition, I encourage you to review the following lists of symptoms:

• Celiac Disease Symptoms
• Celiac Disease Symptoms Checklist
• Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
• Gluten Allergy Symptoms
• Wheat Allergy Symptoms

In particular, I designed my celiac disease checklist as a document you could fill out and take with you to your doctor.

I hope this helps you find the appropriate gluten allergy test for your condition or your child’s condition. However, try not to diagnose yourself or your loved one based on what you find on the Internet. Use this information to empower you in your visit to your doctor, but always let a medical professional determine the appropriate course of action in diagnosing and treating these serious gluten allergy conditions.

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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?

Back to Top Gluten Intolerance Symptoms

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!

The classic form of inflammation we are most familiar with is acute inflammation, which forms as a result of an injury like a sprain or a bump. But there is another type of inflammation known as silent or chronic inflammation that can cause a lot of damage in the body over time and increase the risk of developing certain serious diseases. Anyone suffering from gluten intolerance symptoms should understand the connection between gluten intolerance and inflammation to avoid the ongoing damage it can cause.

What Is Chronic Inflammation?

Inflammation is an immune response triggered to protect or heal the body; without inflammation wounds wouldn’t heal. But there is another side to this response that can be damaging.

When the immune system is triggered to respond to a perceived threat, but it fails to shut off, (or stop the immune response), it will keep sending inflammatory compounds. These compounds can spread through the body and cause damage. This constant release of immune cells over time interferes with healthy tissue, which can lead to cell and tissue damage, mutations or the rupture of plaque deposits in the arteries causing a stroke or heart attack.

What makes this scary and even deadly is that this hidden inflammation can occur undetected in the body for years until it causes a serious problem like a heart attack. While there are many tests to help diagnose specific conditions, for example a gluten intolerance test, there is no specific test for inflammation. But high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood plasma can be an indicator of inflammation in the body.

The more the medical community learns about chronic inflammation the more it is linked to serious conditions like Alzheimer’s, arthritis, diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.

The Connection Between Gluten Intolerance And Inflammation

Because gluten intolerance is a condition that triggers an immune system response it isn’t too surprising that there is a connection between gluten intolerance and chronic inflammation. When people who are gluten intolerant eat gluten the immune system reacts to deal with what it sees as a harmful substance, or “invader”, and as a result it triggers an inflammatory response. Ignoring a gluten intolerance can exacerbate chronic inflammation and amplify your problems, resulting in potentially serious consequences.

If you know you have an intolerance to gluten or suffer from celiac disease symptoms it is important to follow a gluten-free diet if you want to reduce your risk of chronic inflammation. The same is true for any type of food intolerance or sensitivity, including lactose intolerance.

Keep in mind people who don’t have a gluten intolerance may not have the same inflammatory reaction when they eat gluten. But people who are sensitive to gluten need to understand more about what is gluten and how to follow a gluten free diet.

What You Can Do To Reduce Chronic Inflammation

In cases of chronic inflammation there may be an imbalance where there are too many pro-inflammatory compounds but not enough anti-inflammatory compounds. Normally when the body reacts to a trigger by sending out pro-inflammatory compounds, hours later it will send out anti-inflammatory compounds to restore the equilibrium. Keeping a balance of these may be able to help.

Studies have shown that taking medications with anti-inflammatory properties like statins or aspirin have lowered risks in patients with excess inflammation, but most medical professionals agree this isn’t the best treatment as all medications come with side-effects and the possible risks of taking them regularly for decades isn’t known. The best and safest thing you can to is to take steps to reduce the inflammation triggers.

Besides adhering to an appropriate diet for any food sensitivities, for example keeping a well stocked gluten free pantry, there are a number of things you can do to reduce the occurrence chronic inflammation.

Chronic Inflammation Diet

What you eat and what you don’t eat can have a big impact on the inflammation in your body. Studies have shown that following a Mediterranean diet can help lower levels of pro-inflammatory compounds in the body. A Mediterranean diet is rich in legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts and olive oil.

It’s also important to balance your fats. Eating too many trans fats or saturated fats can promote inflammation, as can a diet too high in omega-6 fats and too low in omega-3 fats. Reduce your intake of foods high in omega-6 fats like high fat animal products (especially red meat and high fat dairy) and vegetable oils (including corn, soybean or sunflower oils), and increase your intake of foods high in omega-3 fats like walnuts, extra virgin olive oil and flaxseeds or flax oil.

Avoid refined foods that can spike your blood sugar; this includes sugar, refined grains and starches. Replace them with whole grains, for example quinoa or brown rice in place of white rice. Eating higher carbohydrate foods with meals that are high in fiber and with healthy fats (like olive oil) can slow digestion and reduce those blood sugar spikes that can trigger inflammation.

This type of diet can also help with celiac disease constipation.

Exercise to Relieve Chronic Inflammation

People who get regular exercise produce less inflammation than people who don’t because exercise can protect against metabolic syndrome. Too much of a good thing isn’t good either though. Endurance athletes may need to supplement with things like quercetin, green tea extract and DHA/EPA to avoid raising levels of inflammation. Exercising between 30 to 60 minutes a day will provide all the health benefits without causing inflammation.

Losing Weight Reduces Inflammation

Being overweight increases your risk of chronic inflammation. The type of weight that is particularly unhealthy in this respect is the excess weight around the belly or abdomen. Having a combination of high glucose levels, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure lead to an inflammatory condition known as metabolic syndrome. Following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise should help you maintain a healthier weight and overall better health.

Following a healthy, gluten-free diet can also help reduce your risk of struggling with gluten intolerance and weight gain if you have a gluten sensitivity.

Reduce Stress

Stress can trigger both inflammation and weight gain. Try to take steps to reduce stress in your life and make sure you get enough sleep.

Foods That Can Cause Inflammation

Certain foods may trigger the inflammatory process. It is best to limit these foods as much as possible:

• Trans fats including hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
• High fat animal products
• Refined grains
• Sugary foods and drinks
• High sodium foods

Foods That Reduce Inflammation

While some foods may trigger inflammation, other foods can help reduce it. Add plenty of these foods in your regular diet:

• Legumes
• Lentils
• Vegetables, especially dark, leafy vegetables
• Fruits
• Gluten-free whole grains
• Unsalted or low sodium nuts
• Olive oil
• Turmeric
• Ginger
• Flaxseeds (preferably freshly ground)
• Hemp seeds
• Chia seeds

While chronic inflammation can cause health problems in anyone, people with gluten intolerance may be particularly susceptible to the damage it can cause if they are trying to heal a body already damaged by celiac disease or a non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Understanding how gluten intolerance and inflammation can make a bad situation worse is important. Following a strict gluten-free diet is critical as is following a low inflammation diet and lifestyle.

With the sales of packaged gluten-free products making over 3 billion dollars in 2010 and expected to make over 5 billion dollars by 2015, some feel the marketing and hype for the gluten-free diet fad has transcended gluten intolerance medical need into becoming a cultural phenomenon.

And once again I find myself frustrated with how our low attention span society over-simplifies a serious matter and then polarizes itself between fanatics and skeptics. Somewhere in between you will find a significant part of the public enduring unexplained and undiagnosed celiac disease symptoms.

I will address two separate issues here. First, because of the profit potential in this gluten-free market, I’m seeing a number of companies and products entering the market with questionable motivation. Second, because of the amount of attention brought to the gluten issue in recent years and because of the passion expressed by people going gluten-free, I’m seeing a reaction in the opposite direction; I’m seeing a growing doubt and criticism of the overall gluten phenomenon.

I appreciate having far more products than ever before available for people who need to be gluten-free, and I appreciate how there are a number of misinformed individuals jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon. But I worry that the reaction to these two phenomenons may have a chilling effect on the overall quality and integrity of the gluten intolerance cause.

Questioning The Motivation Behind the Marketing

As I watched this market explode during the last five years, I explored the background of some of the new companies entering the gluten-free market. Many of these companies feature backgrounds in marketing and sales, with no history or experience in any field of health. I know about at least one well-promoted supplement targeting the celiac disease market with its origins as a marketing campaign conceived by an experienced sales staff (the product may be decent, but the marketing for it is full of excessive unscientific hype).

In addition, we still don’t have a universal, established and reliable way to certify products as gluten-free or even wheat-free. Some companies are hurrying to create popular junk foods and slap the gluten-free label on them just so they can grab a piece of the massive gluten-free profit pie.

So before your eyes alight when you see gluten-free labeling and you feel a thrill to spot products and supplements targeting people with gluten intolerance, question whether a company’s motivation comes from a desire to provide truly beneficial products or a desire to make money off your condition.

The flip-side of all this cynicism, of course, is that those of us who must adhere to a strict gluten-free diet now have many more choices than ever before. I recognize and appreciate the relief of finding more options when you shop or go out to eat. Just be diligent in understanding how many companies don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind, and not everything marked as gluten-free is healthy.

Real Patients Squeezed Between Fanaticism and Skepticism

In recent years I observed a duel-edged phenomenon arise, where the massive growth of the gluten-free diet and the marketing hype surrounding it triggered two polarized groups. First we have fanatics, many of whom are self-diagnosed, who now see gluten as the root of all health problems, and then we have the skeptics who roll their eyes at all the gluten-free blogs and gluten-free marketing hype, quick to point out how many people are self-diagnosed and also quick to point out the lack of science to support the perspective of gluten being universally toxic.

Both sides have legitimate concerns, but the discussion among even mainstream news sites creates a simplified, polarized perspective of a serious health matter.

For example, on Time magazine’s website, they recently ran the following story:

All Hype? Gluten-Free Diets May Not Help Many

While a greater understanding may exist behind that short story, many mainstream viewers may come away with the notion that the gluten-free diet is just another diet craze soon to pass. It leaves out the frightening fact that it takes, on average, 5.8 years after a patient goes to his or her doctor to discuss celiac disease symptoms until those symptoms are accurately diagnosed, or the cold, hard fact that most celiacs are still undiagnosed, or that undiagnosed celiac disease greatly increases your chance of developing serious, life-threatening cancers.

It is true that all current, verifiable scientific evidence indicates a majority of people can consume gluten safely. Unfortunately, that reality may both marginalize the still-significant population that can’t consume gluten safely and it elicits a reactionary response from the anti-gluten crowd. It also suggests a lack of appreciation for the different forms of problems under the gluten intolerance umbrella, like gluten ataxia or dermatitis herpetiformis.

I can also corroborate from personal experience how a large percentage of the gluten-free population tends to be self-diagnosed, which is an unfortunate phenomenon borne by the medical community’s remarkable and well-documented ability to miss so many diagnoses of celiac disease. With the confusing terms like gluten allergy symptoms and a general misunderstanding of gluten itself (see What Is Gluten?), misunderstanding and over-simplification seems to be the rule of the game.

Self-diagnosis can be dangerous or at least troublesome, and many people do seem to be jumping on a bit of a gluten-free bandwagon despite little understanding of the gluten phenomenon or their own conditions.

But the skepticism this instills often ignores the real statistical trends, which strongly suggest gluten’s overall possible toxicity, and this skepticism may cause both patients and doctors to withhold action or diagnosis for a condition that is already terribly under-diagnosed.

The Inevitable Fire From Holding Fast to the Middle Ground

Despite my being someone with a real, diagnosed case of celiac disease and my being an ardent supporter of gluten intolerance awareness, I will likely come under fire for just trying to aim a reasonable eye on the big picture and our current scientific reality.

Marketing hype will do that. It seems to polarize by default. The billion dollar spending and advertising to exploit that spending potential whips the anti-gluten crowd into a fanatical froth, while the skeptics muster greater stubbornness and criticism because of the severity of the fanaticism they face.

It’s all frustrating to me because behind the gluten-free diet fad we are dealing with real medical issues with real people enduring real, life-long suffering, yet it all becomes sidetracked for this polarized battle between fanatics and skeptics.