You may have seen gluten-free products in the grocery store and wondered who they were for or how many people needed them. It may amaze you to know that it’s estimated that 1 in 7 people in the USA need, and are regularly buying, gluten free products.

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What is gluten and why does it cause so many problems?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats. It is the stretchy, gluey part of the grain that is so useful for bakers – it holds the dough together – but is so detrimental to people who are gluten intolerant.

Gluten intolerance is a very broad term which includes all kinds of sensitivity to gluten. A small proportion of gluten intolerant people will test positive to the Celiac Disease test (also written as Coeliac Disease, Coeliac Sprue Disease or CD), and so are called Celiacs. Approximately 1 in 133 people in the US have CD and the numbers are rising.

But most gluten sensitive people return negative or inconclusive results with the Celiac Test. The term for these people is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive (NCGS) and may be as high as 15% of all people, which is equivalent to 1 in 7 of the US population. Unfortunately for NCGS folks the only type of gluten sensitivity recognized by Western trained physicians is the most severe type, Celiac Disease. Many NCGS people struggle, unnecessarily with debilitating health problems.

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Symptoms of gluten intolerance include:

• Headaches
• Mouth ulcers (canker sores)
• Behavioral changes (particularly in children)
• Weight loss or weight gain
• Abdominal swelling
• Diarrhea
• Bloating
• Skin problems such as dermatitis and eczema

The problem protein in gluten is called gliadin in wheat, secalin in rye, hordein in barley, and avenin in oats. The protein attacks the lining of the small intestine (the part called the Jejunum) and causes damage to the tiny villi (little fingerlike projections on the gut wall), which absorb nutrients. If the body cannot absorb enough vitamins and minerals, malnutrition and autoimmune disorders can arise. If the condition is not diagnosed and treated, other symptoms will develop, including vomiting, abdominal pain, loss of fat and muscle, and swelling of the legs and feet and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive people may display many of the same symptoms as Celiacs but to a lesser degree.

How is gluten intolerance detected?

Many people’s first attempt to diagnose gluten intolerance is through the Celiac Test, which consists of blood tests and a biopsy of the Jejunum (the Celiac Test was developed in the 1940s). Most Gluten intolerant people return a ‘negative’ or inconclusive test, which isn’t surprising as sufferers of Celiac Disease are such a small proportion of the whole spectrum of gluten intolerance. There is a myth that if you don’t have Celiac Disease, there’s nothing to worry about. This is far from the truth.

So what’s the next step?

The most common way to detect a food intolerance, or sensitivity, is to go on an elimination diet. Over a set amount of time, certain foodstuffs are removed from the diet and the effects are observed and journaled. The help and advice of a trained nutritionist is advised, as the initial stages of an elimination diet can seem difficult to manage. You will also need help interpreting your results and reactions.

Fortunately for most NCGS people there’s no structural damage to the intestine and health problems begin to disappear a few weeks after starting a gluten free food program. However if left unchecked, NCGS can lead to full blown Celiac Disease.

Celiac disease (CD) is a genetically linked (not inherited), environmentally triggered, chronic disease; that means that you may have an inherited disposition to develop CD, but it may only develop as a result of what you eat or what you are exposed to. Once diagnosed Celiacs must follow a lifetime gluten free diet and should try not to deviate from it at any time to avoid serious illness.

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I am Gluten intolerant and I absolutely hate it. I still do not know why I have become so poorly so soon. It seems like only yesterday that I could eat anything I liked. It is a real struggle being so dependent upon other peoples advice on this subject. There is more and more information out there now about this problem but I feel it is still not enough. I went to my doctor the other day and when I told him about all the problems I have been having he did not seem to want to know. It is very frustrating at times. i know I have not been officially diagnosed and my test results were inconclusive.this is quite common and there are many thousands of people whom have not been diagnosed but they have all the symptoms of Gluten Intolerance. I have discovered that the best thing to do is to listen to your own body, it knows what works and what does not work. My body has been getting rid of everything and anything to do with wheat and gluten. This has been going on for a number of years but it is only this last 11 months that I have started see a benefit to cutting out this food substance.

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I have been finding out information by trial and error as I have come to realise that my body is rejecting certain substances with alarming speed and frequency. I have really abused my body in my early life. I would eat and eat and eat without any regard to my health at all. In fact I could eat a whole loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter in a day, every day! I do not do this now but what I am saying is that if one abuses ones body as I did then all that punishment will come back to haunt you in later life. It is all the pies and pastry and bread that I consumed as a young man that has now given me ‘overload’ now. I just wish that more information was around and that some clearer tests could be done.

I have to say that I have found a lot of information on the internet but I still believe one should listen to your own body and go off what it is telling you. My body gets bloated up and I get stomach cramps followed by running to the toilet six or seven times a day. I know I do not have these problems when I cut out gluten products so I know that, despite my doctors negative results, I am gluten intolerant.

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