Foods To Avoid With Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body reacts to the protein found in gluten in a unique way. With most food allergies, people experience a reaction immediately or within minutes of consuming the offending substance. For those with celiac disease, a reaction occurs up to 72 hours later and could be extreme or largely go unnoticed, which can confuse and delay an accurate diagnosis.

T cells attack the lining of the small intestine in response to gluten being passed through the digestive tract. Over time, villi in the small intestine are damaged beyond repair, severely inhibiting the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.

Symptoms

There are over 300 known symptoms of celiac disease. The more common symptoms are listed below.

  • Abdominal bloating and pain
  • ADHD
  • Anemia
  • Arthritis
  • Anxiety
  • Bone pain
  • Bedwetting
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Constipation
  • Delayed growth and puberty
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Eczema
  • Failure to thrive
  • Infertility
  • Irritability
  • Irregular menstrual periods
  • Joint pain
  • Malnutrition
  • Migraines
  • Miscarriages
  • Osteoporosis
  • Persistent canker sores
  • Rashes
  • Seizures
  • Tingling sensation or numbness in hands or feet
  • Unusually foul-smelling stool, blood or undigested foods in stool
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Vomiting

Diet Is the Only Known Treatment

The treatment for sufferers of celiac disease is to avoid gluten entirely, to eat a completely gluten-free diet. The FDA does not require food manufacturers to list gluten on their labels. Wheat is required to be clearly labeled, but gluten is not. The following foods contain gluten:

  • Wheat
  • Barley
  • Bulgur
  • Couscous
  • Durum
  • Einkorn
  • Emmer
  • Farina
  • Farro
  • Kamut
  • Malt
  • Mir
  • Oats (unless labeled gluten free oats- oats are often contaminated)
  • Rye
  • Seitan
  • Semolina
  • Spelt
  • Triticale

Gluten is commonly found in breads, bread crumbs, baked goods, beer, biscuits, brewer’s yeast, brown rice syrup (often made with barley enzymes), cereals, communion wafers, crepes, croutons, dextrin, flour tortillas, food coloring, food starch, French toast, granola, gravies, herbal teas, malt vinegar, marinades, sauces, pancakes, pastas, roux, salad dressing, soup, soy sauce, starch, stuffing, waffles, and wine. Any processed food made in a facility that also processes foods with gluten may be contaminated.

Other non-food items that may not be gluten free include:

  • Lipbalm, lipgloss, lipstick
  • Supplements
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Vitamin and mineral pills
  • Over the counter medications
  • Playdough (some kids will eat copious amounts of the stuff when playing with it)

This list is not meant to be comprehensive. Many processed foods contain gluten, and unless the package says certified gluten free, it probably isn’t. Many items that one might think are gluten free like corn flakes and rice cereal use malt or barley extract as a sweetener. Restaurants that do not offer gluten-free menus cannot guarantee that their food is gluten free. And sadly, many that do offer gluten-free choices contaminate the food while preparing it.

Conclusion

Celiac disease is a very serious condition that requires strict dietary changes in order to heal the gut and properly digest the nutrients in food. Celiac disease is now recognized as either a pre-curser or a companion disease to many other autoimmune diseases. We highly recommend that anyone with any autoimmune disease completely remove gluten from their diet and concentrate on healing the gut. Be sure to check out Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases.

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No More Gluten – How I Found Health After MS

Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together

Learning how to become healthy again after being diagnosed with a chronic, debilitating illness (of which the medical community says there is “no cure”) is like putting a puzzle together when you don’t have all of the pieces. I’ve actually learned a few things in the last 11 months since my MS diagnosis. I realized that I either have celiac disease (which is a disease that causes intestinal damage upon the consumption of gluten) or I, at the very least, have gluten intolerance. Either way, I avoid gluten.

The Baklava Incident

I went out to eat with some girlfriends. I did this every Friday, so I knew how to stick to my program at a restaurant. On that day, however, we got to talking about how well I was doing. I shared with them how I was able to get off of all of my medications simply by changing what I ate. I told them I was better – walking better, feeling better, and having more energy. I thought, “I’ve been good. I’ve stuck to my program so well I deserve some baklava.” It was delicious, but I couldn’t sleep that night because my stomach was turning in knots and my legs, which had been peaceful for three weeks, started to spasm again. I told myself, “Baklava doesn’t taste this good. Nothing does.”

Unwittingly Eating Couscous

I unknowingly ate gluten after eating only raw, mostly organic produce for two months. I made some couscous (which I didn’t know was wheat) and ate it for four days in a row for my evening meal. On day three, my MS symptoms started coming back. My right foot dropped and I was tripping, just like when my symptoms first started. I was also losing my balance and had a hard time walking up and down stairs. Once I realized the connection, I limited my diet to organic produce again and I used Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanse and his Blood Detox for a few days. My symptoms were gone within a week.

Gluten Intolerance

I’ve got my theories as to why there is a sudden rise in gluten intolerance lately, but they’re merely theories. What I do know is that right now, and possibly forever, I cannot eat gluten and be well. I can have certain wheat products like the Total Nutrition Formula, which has wheat grass, but wheat grass, if properly harvested, does not have gluten.

This is how gluten affected me. With other conditions, each person with gluten intolerance may experience different symptoms to different degrees. The most common gluten intolerance symptoms revolve around gastrointestinal issues such as bloating, constipation, gas, and diarrhea — these symptoms occur because the body is unable to digest and absorb gluten properly. Some individuals may also experience heartburn, acid reflux, nausea and vomiting. Gluten intolerance may also cause anemia, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, joint pain, headaches and irritability, mouth ulcers, a white coating on your tongue, an itchy skin rash, or open sores on the skin. Some individuals may experience gluten intolerance symptoms after consuming a small amount of gluten, while others may be able to eat small amounts of gluten without experiencing any major symptoms.

The most important thing I learned is that the safest way to eat is to limit myself to raw, fresh, organic produce. With anything else that I am going to eat, I need to be totally sure it does not contain gluten. I’ve learned that my digestive system will be damaged, and those MS symptoms will come back if I eat wheat or any other grain that contains gluten. And I’ve also learned that anyone with a damaged digestive system needs to stay away from gluten to heal. Check out Balance Your Ecosystem and Make Your Own Multi-Vitamin/Mineral. Check out the first source for my story about being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

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The Reasons Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease Are On the Rise

It seems that every few years we hear of another diet fad or food fad. In the last few years gluten is getting all of the attention. How can wheat or other common grains–fixtures of the American diet–be causing such problems?

What is gluten? Gluten is the protein found in wheat (including spelt, kamut, triticale , which are varieties of wheat), rye, and barley.

Why has gluten become a problem for so many?

There are several reasons gluten has become a problem for so many Americans.

First of all, bread or wheat forms the basis of the American diet. Toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, rolls or pasta for dinner–the majority of Americans eat wheat all day, every day.

The wheat we eat barely resembles the wheat our ancestors ate. Although it is not genetically modified (yet), it has been significantly altered by selection, through generations of hybrid alterations to increase yields and make it more disease resistant.

Our ancestors used to sprout grains before using them. We rarely take this step to make grains more digestible.

And last, but certainly not least, Candida overgrowth in the gut is epidemic due to the American diet and use of antibiotics.

What is the link between Candida and gluten intolerance?

Our gut is filled with bacteria. If properly balanced, the beneficial bacteria far exceeds the bad bacteria and yeast. The beneficial bacteria are crucial to our health. They help us digest our food. They create neurotransmitters and vitamins. It is said that 80% of our immune system is in the gut.

When we take antibiotics, we kill off beneficial bacteria along with bad bacteria. When the level of bacteria drops in our gut, Candida, the opportunist, overgrows. When we eat sugar and simple carbs that change into sugar (including alcohol), we feed the Candida its favorite food.

Candida begins as a single cell yeast but soon changes form, becoming a hyphae, stretching out long filaments that bore through tissues in the gut (and throughout all organs of the body). A healthy intestine is lined with cells that form a tightly knit defense to keep its contents contained. Nutrients are pulled from the food we eat through tiny vessels from the circulatory system and lymphatic system within the villi, little hair like projections. When Candida erodes the lining of the gut, undigested food particles and large proteins, like gluten, are leaked into the bloodstream and the lymphatic fluid. The immune system attacks these particles, perceiving them as foreign invaders. This is the root cause of many auto-immune diseases and allergies.

What are the symptoms of gluten intolerance?

Digestive disturbances such as gas, bloating, and diarrhea are the most basic symptoms of gluten intolerance experienced when gluten is consumed. Those with a severe sensitivity also experience rashes (which can be severe, itchy, weeping sores) along with mild to severe muscle and joint pain.

Gluten sensitivity includes a reaction to foods with minute amounts of gluten including foods processed in a shared facility. In other words, wheat , rye, or barley may not be an included ingredient, but if the equipment used to process a particular sauce or packaged food was used to process food with wheat, it can be contaminated and produce symptoms.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease with a genetic predisposition. There are up to 300 symptoms of this disease, but there are also individuals who are asymptomatic. The one thing they all have in common is the result of eating gluten–it attacks and destroys the villi in the intestine. When villi is destroyed, our capacity for absorbing nutrients from our food is diminished. Each time gluten is eaten even in small amounts, more damage ensues.

Can gluten intolerance be reversed?

If Candida is eradicated, if the gut is completely healed and is no longer permeable, and the immune system has healed, it is possible that many will again tolerate gluten. It is advisable, however, to get tested to be sure Celiac disease is not silently damaging the intestine.

In conclusion

Gluten intolerance is not a fad. It is a fact–an every growing reality caused by the American diet and lifestyle. If you have been diagnosed with any autoimmune disease or with gluten intolerance, leaky gut caused by Candida may well be the root cause. See How to Kill Candida and Balance Your Inner Ecosystem.

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