Are you experiencing digestion problems right after eating cereals, like, wheat or barley or oats or rye? How often are you experiencing these symptoms? If yes, then read this article to know whether these issues are triggering gluten intolerance symptoms or something else.
What is Gluten?
Gluten – a sticky, stringy protein found in cereals such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc. Gluten is often used in the preparations of bread and pizza dough. It forms a matrix that holds the carbon dioxide bubbles formed during the fermentation of yeast.
This process makes the bread and pizza chewable. Gluten also serves as a thickener in dozens of products, ranging from salad dressing to the preparations of soy sauce. Moreover, a fair amount of gluten is contained even in the beer.
Reasons behind Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
‘Gluten’ is a relatively new addition to the list of human diets. Since the evolution of the human species, people have eaten mainly animal protein with the addition of fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, veggie seeds, etc. Before the Neolithic period – around 9500 BC – And the transition to agriculture, people did not use carbohydrates and gluten in the form of grains.
As our teeth can break the meat and plants and not to process the flour, our digestive system is not yet fully adjusted to the proper handling of complex carbohydrates (which also applies to lactose – milk). Therefore, the human digestive system is still unable to break down the gluten molecules and their constituent amino acids thoroughly.
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Is Gluten Harmful?
Though the human digestive system is not fully adaptive to digest gluten, most people around the world are leading healthy lives after consuming gluten food regularly. Even if, the body cannot fully recycle gluten or lactose, it causes no harm to the majority of people. Once ‘Gluten sensitivity’ was considered a rare digestive disease that affects one in every ten thousand people around the world.
However, at present, the prevalence of gluten sensitivity among people is increasing rapidly. Because the pattern and volume of applying gluten products in industrially produced foods have been widely increased. If one ignores gluten intolerance symptoms continuously, it may damage one’s ‘villis’ – a tiny structure that absorbs nutrients from digested food – of the intestine tract. However, every one in seven Americans is suffering from gluten sensitivity.
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How to Understand Gluten Intolerance
Gluten Intolerance, as well as the consequences of celiac disease, is not easy to distinguish at an early stage. Very often, gluten-intolerant people experience a great number of symptoms.
However, medical tests do not always give accurate results and fail to detect ‘celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Traditional blood test for ‘gluten intolerance’ only checks the availability of Gliadin, which is one of the six polypeptides composition of wheat. However, there are 5 polypeptides:
- Agglutinin
- Gleomorfin
- Glutenin
- Gliadin and
- Omega prodynorphin.
Any of them or a combination of two or more may cause ‘gluten intolerance’. However, these symptoms can be linked to some other health problems. Even those who suffer from gluten sensitivity or celiac disease have reported various symptoms. Therefore, defining the symptoms is quite difficult.
Common Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
Here are some of the most common symptoms that may help you to suspect the presence of gluten intolerance in your intestines. Sometimes the symptoms of gluten sensitivity appear right away after eating and do not last long. However, in other cases, the symptoms of gluten intolerance can last for weeks or occur chronically.
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The most common symptoms of gluten intolerance are:
- Problems in the digestive tract, stomach, and intestines that create digestive problems include flatulence, nausea, abdominal cramps, constipation, diarrhea, etc.
- A headache and/or a migraine.
- Fibromyalgia – not a disease, a syndrome. These symptoms come with pain in the muscles and tissues.
- Emotional problems, including frequent irritability and sudden mood swings.
- Neurological problems, including dizziness, balance problems, peripheral neuropathy, etc. affect the nerves outside the central nervous system. These issues are recognized by symptoms, like pain, weakness, numbness of the limbs, etc.
- Fatigue is another symptom of gluten sensitivity. It may be chronic or temporary after taking meals with gluten food. Chronic fatigue syndrome, such as fibromyalgia is a syndrome rather than the disease itself. However, if you have fibromyalgia, then it means that your doctor can not specify the real cause of your fatigue.
Therefore, you may think that these symptoms are also common in many other diseases. However, the diagnosis of gluten intolerance based on symptoms is quite difficult.
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How to Diagnose Gluten Sensitivity
First, list the symptoms that you are going through both occasional and chronic. Do not make assumptions, such as “My back pain – the result of sitting on the couch for too long.” Do not try to find explanations for these symptoms immediately.
Then eat a diet with gluten-free foods for a continuous 60 days. If you feel that you do not stand up, it could mean that you have a celiac dependency. We are often dependent on the products to which we are allergic. This gluten-free diet can include quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat, rice, etc. The packaged product may contain gluten. Carefully read the label. You can exclude from your diet processed foods and sauces.
After 60 days, review your records and determine how many symptoms are remaining. If they have almost disappeared, you can continue to eat that way. If you are not sure, go back to the old-style food and see, if the symptoms return. After 6 months of a gluten-free diet, you can gradually return to some of the products that you have stopped.
How to Diagnose Celiac Disease
Each case of gluten intolerance symptoms does not lead to celiac disease. Celiac disease can be diagnosed through blood tests as well as an intestinal biopsy. The best practical healing for celiac disease is to follow a gluten-free diet strictly.
99% of the individuals experiencing gluten sensitivity do not have celiac disease. Interestingly, many gluten-sensitive people feel better after taking a gluten-free diet.
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