Even as a nutrition major, I still get confused with different diseases revolving around nutrition, in particular, the ones that involve the current trend of a gluten-free diet. Because my brain is a little fuzzy with this topic, I decided to investigate and put my mind to work to get rid of the fog. I read an article called Gluten and the Gut, which tells of the differences between a wheat allergy, celiac disease, and gluten intolerance. Before you is my take on the information given from this article.
Wheat allergies are the most distinguishable between the three groups. This is because when someone has an allergy, there tend to be physical signs almost instantly after eating the food, such as inflammation, rash, and itchiness. This allergy is also easy to diagnose. With a simple skin test, people can know fairly quickly whether they have this allergy or something more severe. However, this allergy is rather uncommon, with less than .5% of the United States having a wheat allergy. More often, if a problem with wheat is involved, the disease is something greater and more complex than a wheat allergy.
A disease that is becoming more popular in the US is celiac disease, which has spread to about 9% of the country. This disease involves inflammation caused by gluten consumption. On the intestinal wall are villi, which allow for greater absorption of what we eat. For people with celiac disease, gluten destroys these villi, making it much harder to digest meals. Symptoms are much more intense in someone with celiac disease, such as abdominal pain, fatigue, and migraines. Unfortunately, the testing done to identify this disease is much more intense, as well. Initially, there are lab tests done, and if they come back positive for celiac, a biopsy must be done to confirm. Only with the biopsy can the doctor be certain it is, in fact, celiac disease. Luckily, once that is determined, treatment is simple- stop eating foods containing gluten. Although this diet may not seem simple, it will make symptoms stop occurring altogether. This will even give the body time to heal from all the damage, and eventually the small intestine will repair itself. However, if celiac disease is not the culprit for these symptoms, there is one option that is also becoming more prevalent.
Gluten intolerance is another issue that is even harder to diagnose. While the symptoms of this are fairly similar to celiac disease, there is no definite test that proves a person has an intolerance. If a patient is suspected to have gluten intolerance, usually blood tests are taken to rule out celiac disease. Once that is ruled out, other diseases should be ruled out such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. After all these diseases are off the table, the doctor will most likely consider gluten intolerance as the final option. And with this information, yet again, the only treatment is to stop eating foods containing gluten. Even still, gluten intolerance is a fairly new concept, meaning not much research has been done to identify if gluten in the wheat actually is the sole factor in this sensitivity. Because wheat is made up entirely of many different chemicals, there can be a myriad of factors causing the symptoms of gluten intolerance. Much more research on this alone needs to be done to really understand what the true culprit is and how it’s causing such painful symptoms.
After reading Gluten and the Gut, I feel more confident in my ability to distinguish between all three diseases, and hopefully you do, too! This article is a great source, full of so much information on the topic of wheat and gluten. If only all articles were this concise and straightforward, learning about such important topics would be so much easier.