This is a tricky question to answer and even doctors are pondering over it. Over the past decade, more and more people are showing symptoms of gluten intolerance, but when diagnosed, they’re NOT suffering from celiac disease.
So, gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are not the same things. You can be gluten intolerant and still not have celiac disease. Those who have celiac disease are born with it and it’s a lifelong condition that has no cure.
Symptoms will manifest when gluten is consumed and the best way to avoid triggering the adverse immune reaction in the body is to avoid gluten completely. With non-celiac gluten-sensitive people, the symptoms are the same… and the best remedy is to avoid gluten too.
Celiac disease is classified into a few different types. There are those who are said to have a classical celiac disease where they experience the most common abdominal issues from diarrhea to the other symptoms of malabsorption.
Some people are said to have potential celiac disease. What that means is that blood tests have shown they have celiac disease, but symptoms have not manifested. The disease is dormant and may surface when they get older.
Nonclassical celiac disease is classified by symptoms such as fatigue, abdominal cramps, and constipation. Despite these symptoms, malabsorption is not present.
As for gluten-sensitive people who don’t have celiac disease, they may be sensitive to other properties in the wheat and not the gluten. Since individuals vary, this is hard to diagnose.
Sometimes, it could be the carbohydrates in the wheat that are causing problems. So, while the person is not gluten sensitive, by eliminating the wheat, they’ve stopped the adverse reactions and wrongly believe that they’re gluten intolerant when it’s just wheat that they’re sensitive to.
Since gluten is also found in barley and rye, people who are wheat sensitive will be able to consume gluten that comes from these foods. It’s easy to misdiagnose the problem because gluten sensitivity is one of those issues that is not easy to spot. Even doctors have problems diagnosing it.
The best way to help yourself if you find that you’re displaying the same symptoms as someone with celiac disease will be to start a food journal. By writing down every single food you consume, you’ll be able to closely track when the symptoms are showing up and because of what foods you’re eating.
It’ll take time and effort to narrow it down, but with some trial and error you’ll discover what foods your body is not agreeing with. Then you can eliminate those and see if your situation improves.
So, instead of eliminating all foods containing gluten, you only have a small selection of foods to avoid. This will make it much easier. A gluten-free diet can be restrictive and a hassle to adopt.
If you’re not gluten intolerant, there’s no point in going gluten-free. It’s best to do your research and speak to your doctor regarding the problems you’re having. Your symptoms may be linked to another health problem instead of gluten sensitivity. So, it’s best to be sure.
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