GLUTEN SENSITIVITY

Gluten sensitivity is a condition with symptoms similar to those of celiac disease that improve when gluten is eliminated from the diet.

People with  gluten sensitivity can experience symptoms such as “foggy mind”, depression, ADHD-like behavior, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, headaches, bone or joint pain, and chronic fatigue when they have gluten in their diet, but other symptoms are also possible. While these are common symptoms of celiac disease, these individuals do not test positive for celiac disease or for a wheat allergy.

Individuals who have been diagnosed with gluten sensitivity do not experience the small intestine damage or develop the tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies found in celiac disease.

Since there is currently no blood test for gluten sensitivity, the only way to be diagnosed is to undergo the screening and diagnostic tests required to confirm celiac disease. A diagnosis of gluten sensitivity is confirmed when you are not diagnosed with celiac disease or wheat allergy, and your symptoms diminish after starting a gluten-free diet, followed by a return of symptoms when gluten is reintroduced into your diet.

There is no cure for gluten sensitivity, and the only treatment is to follow a gluten-free diet.

Comments:

Gluten is a protein found in wheat based foods. Foods that are processed on the same machinery as wheat can also be contaminated with wheat powder and therefore contain gluten. An example of a well known product are oats. (Look at the label to determine if the product is manufactured in wheat processing facilities).

At this moment there seems to be a small proportion of people who are gluten intolerant. Certainly, any one suffering celiac disease or wheat allergy should avoid wheat and wheat containing flours.

But it should be noted the message put out by gluten free food manufacturers is very loud and bold. It can seem like everyone has problems with wheat and gluten. However, there is also a great deal of evidence to suggest that the placebo effect can occur where people who are told that wheat is bad enough times can find themselves suffering. This would then be a psychological effect.

(I remember at one time being told if I ate 2 eggs a day the cholesterol that added would clog up my arteries. That all cholesterol was bad, that the cholesterol I ate would add onto the cholesterol my body naturally made. Not once did I question why cholesterol was essential to life. If it was such bad stuff then surely the body should not make any of it - as it turns out the body still makes it when you are fasting.). For many years, I felt bad about even having 2 eggs a week because it was going to kill me. Then further research came through to show that most cholesterol was made by the body and did not come from diet directly. (Even a cholesterol free diet that had too much glucose and fructose caused cholesterol to rise.) But no one ever apologised for putting out extreme research in the first place to cut egg consumption to 3 or 4 a week. This was probably more an anti-egg campaign than a factual one.

As with wheat there is conflicting research even from the same professors who once said it was evil and then saying at a later date some of the reports were overblown and some of the effects (for sensitivity) are likely to be placebo - adding it is not clear whether the sensitivity is psychological or physiological. Or both.

If you always had wheat and have not have a problem before, stopped for a month then restarted with no problems that would indicate that you are not allergic to wheat or have gluten intolerance. But if after reading a report you start to feel ill, this is most likely a psychological factor than a physiological one.

On the other hand if you ask a friend to prepare meals for you with or without wheat so that you can't possibly know and will say how you felt afterwards as fair test you can determine more clearly if it is placebo or not. Do this for a few weeks where the friend keeps note of when wheat is added and when it isn't. Discuss the results after all the meals have been had. If you have had problems with the wheat containing meals then it is highly likely you have a problem with wheat.

PS: I absolutely apologise if you have celiac disease or wheat allergy because the symptoms can be very unpleasant and last for many days in extreme cases. This article is aimed more at people who may or may not have a sensitivity to wheat or gluten.