Gluten, a protein found in grains, is in healthy people digested to amino acids. SOME people have celiac disease, where their gut reacts with inflammation towards gluten, slowly giving symptoms. The diagnosis is made by a simple blood test or a gut biopsy. If you are diagnosed with celiac disease, avoid gluten as the inflammation will stop your gut from absorbing vitamins and minerals from food.
Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
Some people get symptoms after eating gluten, said to have “non-celiac gluten sensitivity” (NCGS). This diagnosis is questioned as giving people with NCGS a “fake” gluten-free diet works just as well as giving them a “real” gluten free diet. (1) Other things might therefore be giving people with NCGS symptoms.
These are the classic signs:
- Diarrhea with bulky, foul-smelling, flotaing stools
- Abdominal pain
- Mood changes
- Poor appetite
- Short stature
- Abdominal distention
- Constipation
Get Tested for Gluten Intolerance
If you feel like gluten might be an issue for you, go see a doctor to see if you have celiac disease or alternative diagnoses like fructose intolerance, wheat allergy or small bowel bacterial overgrowth. Excluding gluten from your diet reduces quality of life and might just be completely unnecessary if gluten is not causing your symptoms! Avoid self-diagnosis, see a physician to exclude the most likely diagnoses before considering the gluten-free approach.
Sources:
1. 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.04.051
2. 10.1136/bmj.h4347.
3. 10.1038/ajg.2010.487
4. 10.3390/nu8020084
