Learning to accurately define gluten is an important step in mastering the gluten free lifestyle. When you first try to tackle gluten intolerance, you must first learn to answer, what is gluten?
Despite what you may have read on many misinformed, vague or just plain inaccurate websites out there, gluten is not a protein itself and it is possible to have a poor response to consuming gluten and yet still test negative for celiac disease. Gluten is rather a protein composite — that is, it is made up of many different proteins — and non-celiac gluten sensitivity is even more common than celiac disease.
Celiac disease symptoms occur as a result of the proteins gliadin and glutenin in gluten. And gluten allergy symptoms may occur as a result of either consuming wheat or consuming any food containing even a trace of a gluten-containing grain.
Understanding these things helps you to better identify and isolate the foods containing gluten and to better adapt an effective and healthful gluten free diet. These are all important steps towards treating your gluten intolerance and developing a more healthy and happy life for you and your loved ones.
So read on to develop a clear, accurate and comprehensive understanding for what exactly gluten is.
Read What Is Gluten?
As celiac disease symptoms occur as a result of consuming gluten, people often perceive celiac disease symptoms as signs of a digestive disorder. But they occur primarily as the result of an autoimmune disease, and often the most insidious and serious celiac disease symptoms aren’t as tangible and immediate as various intestinal discomforts. Celiac disease may also manifest itself very differently in different people, so it can be difficult to isolate any quick checklist of celiac symptoms and expect patients to accurately identify their own celiac disease symptoms.
Before you can properly understand or eliminate celiac disease symptoms, you need to understand what gluten is.
Please note that a gluten-free diet is not a fad diet or a way to lose weight. I can’t believe I’m seeing some people treat it as such. A gluten-free lifestyle is a necessary prescription for people suffering from gluten intolerance or manifesting gluten allergy symptoms.
Celiac disease is commonly referred to as having gluten intolerance. Gluten is mostly found in grains such as barley, rye, spelt and especially wheat products. Celiac disease has the most direct impact on your small intestine, however over time your entire body can be affected. Your immune system has a reaction to the gluten in the small intestine that causes severe damage. This damage keeps your small intestine from absorbing nutrients that your body needs, and thus manifests the many celiac disease symptoms.
Read Celiac Disease Symptoms
As you start to research symptoms of gluten allergy in adults, you will soon discover there are two primary difficulties of both identifying and defining gluten allergy symptoms in adults.
One issue is the confused meaning of the term gluten allergy symptoms, but the other issue is the complicated nature of all the related conditions including non-celiac gluten sensitivity and adult onset celiac disease. While symptoms in adults can be different from gluten allergy symptoms in children, the list of symptoms can be lengthy.
Sometimes the symptoms considered to be the most common symptoms of celiac disease in adults may not be present. Instead sometimes non-digestive symptoms occur, which confuses people because they may not associate these other symptoms, like joint pain, with gluten intolerance. The list of symptoms can be long and diverse, so connecting the dots to determine there may be a gluten sensitivity of some sort at play isn’t always easy.
Understanding the terminology and the symptoms can help you watch for certain things. If you suspect your symptoms are related to consuming gluten it is best to talk to your doctor about specific tests so you can get a proper diagnosis.
Read Gluten Allergy Symptoms In Adults
While the claim that constipation caused by celiac disease can lead to depression may be a little bold there may be some truth to this. One of the celiac disease symptoms for some people is constipation. Depression is another possible consequence of facing any sort of gluten intolerance, whether it is celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
The connection between the two issues may not be entirely clear yet, but the constipation caused by celiac disease is often accompanied by a malabsorption of nutrients, which can cause a deficiency in certain nutrients. Nutritional deficiencies have been linked to depression, so there may be a connection in this area.
In addition constipation can be very uncomfortable and on top of all the other symptoms the person may be experiencing it can lead to a discouraging feeling that can turn to depression. This can be especially true when combined with the thought of having to follow a life long gluten elimination diet to treat the problem. Many people initially feel overwhelmed by the thought of living gluten-free and this can cause anxiety and stress, which can also lead to depression.
Read Celiac Disease Constipation Leads to Celiac Depression?
The more I learn about gluten intolerance and the more I hear about the experiences others have had with this condition, the more it makes me question things like celiac depression. After all celiac disease can create such a significant change in the biology of the body and the way it absorbs nutrients it’s only natural to question the full effects of these changes.
It makes sense that if the body is absorbing less nutrients from food because of damage done by celiac disease that it could impact brain functioning in some way. The other issue that may connect celiac disease and depression is the strict lifestyle that is necessary to properly treat this condition. Many people feel anxious or depressed about having to adapt to and continually live such a restrictive lifestyle. Food is important to us and many of us eat foods that traditionally contain gluten as comfort food.
There have been studies on the relationship between gluten intolerance and depression. Some studies look at people with celiac disease who aren’t following a gluten-free diet and some look at people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance who are following a gluten-free diet. As you can read the results are mixed so they aren’t really conclusive, but there seems to be at least some connection between depression and celiac disease, whether it is physical or psychological.
Read Celiac Depression
A number of people have pointed out the following celiac video report from CNN.
Note: If you’re already pretty sure you or your loved one suffers from gluten intolerance, I strongly recommend: Complete Gluten Free Survival Kit
While I really appreciate the mainstream news media covering the serious issue of gluten intolerance symptoms, I want to note that some may find this report a little alarmist while others might find it vague.
And video is a good format for those who won’t read too much. If you have any friends or relatives who have yet to take the time to read about celiac disease, link them here to watch the video and get a nice summary on the matter. Of course, as usual, they remain vague about what is gluten.
I’m just glad to see celiac disease covered on CNN and celiac disease symptoms discussed in the media in general.
Read CNN Covers Celiac Disease
While the only medically accepted treatment for celiac disease and celiac disease symptoms is following a strict gluten-free diet, new research suggests there are a variety of origins of this condition. Because of this it is important to consider additional or supplemental ways to help treat this condition.
The two areas I want to focus on are vitamin D deficiency and intestinal flora.
Exposure to gluten is more widespread and pervasive than you realize. Read my essay on What Is Gluten to learn more about gluten including where it is found and how to avoid it.
Read Does Early Vitamin D Deficiency and Intestinal Flora Cause Celiac Disease?
