Gluten - What Is The Deal?

This month is Celiac Awareness Month, so I thought I'd touch on a topic we hear a lot about today: gluten. Now, I'm sure you know someone who has either made the choice to remove gluten from their diet, or has been told by their doctor that they need to. We had to remove gluten from our daughter's diet at the age of 2, but her symptoms were not typical. I'd like to share with you our journey and some additional information if you may find yourself in the same situation.

Is it gluten free? Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related cereal species, including barley and rye. Gluten is found in bread, pasta, baked goods and many processed foods. In short, gluten is almost everywhere.

You may be wondering what is the difference between Celiac and Non-Celiac Disease Gluten Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS). According to the National Foundation of Celiac Awareness, "Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the veins of the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from the food. "NCGS, which is our daughter, classifies" those who cannot tolerate gluten and have symptoms similar to celiac disease, but do not yet have the same antibodies and intestinal damage as seen in celiac disease. "There is still a lot of research to be done when it comes to NCGS, but one of the hard reasons to find out is that it does not produce autoimmune reactions such as Celiac Disease, nor does it trigger allergic reactions. -It's crazy.

Let's talk about symptoms. Some common symptoms include diarrhea, bloating, cramps, stomach aches and constipation. Symptoms of behavior can include "foggy mind," depression and behaviors such as ADHD. Other symptoms include anemia, joint pain, osteoporosis, and leg ulcers. The first symptom our children convey is that they cannot drink milk without diarrhea. This is odd because he handled milk-based formulas well as a baby, but when we switched to whole milk, diarrhea started. The doctor thought she was lactose intolerant, so we switched to lactose-free milk. Diarrhea continues, so this is not a lactose problem. He now drinks almond milk and tolerates well.

In addition to diarrhea, her stomach is always bloated. He'll have a severe diarrhea and indescribable lettuce. The nest will appear after it has eaten or when it has cooled. Then one day I saw something strange in his teeth. At age 2, he had a cavity. Keep in mind that our kids drink juice once a month at most. They rarely have gummy snacks and do not take gummy vitamins. They'll eat candy occasionally, but not much. Not to mention, we brush their teeth hard. I'm jumping! Listen, NCGS / Celiac Disease can cause tooth enamel damage. Who knows?

My daughter's pediatrician always pointed fingers at gluten, but the Celiac Panel blood test came back negative. We then took her to a pediatric allergy who underwent several allergy tests, but they returned negative. This is good news, but we still need answers. The pediatrician then sent us to a pediatric GI doctor, who told us that everything looked fine. Again this is great news, but we're going to have a year of nests and other symptoms, and we still need answers!

We decided to take our daughter to a Functional Medicine Doctor. He ran several blood tests through Cyrex Laboratories. Cyrex is a state-of-the-art laboratory that offers four-profile (array) testing. Testing for NCGS was used to produce many false negatives, but Cyrex has helped improve test accuracy. Our daughter's decision came back with a gluten problem. The beauty of this test is also to determine if a person has a problem with reactive cross foods. Reactive cross foods are foods with the same protein structure as gluten, causing your body to react to them as if they were gluten. Coffee, casein and cow's milk are some of the reactive foods that our daughters should avoid.

If you've ever wondered if gluten is a problem for you, check out this article on the symptoms of Non-Celiac Gluten Disorders. This article not only provides a list of symptoms, but guides you through which tests you should consider getting. This is a very interesting fact that our doctors say, and this article argues that gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease are genetic. In addition, researchers are beginning to look for links between auto-immune disorders and NCGS / Celiac Disease. If you have a family history of thyroid disorders, diabetes, multiple sclerosis or other autoimmune disorders, you can take a quick saliva test. Although not as comprehensive as blood tests, saliva tests can still provide valuable information. This test is available to the public and you can make a decision for your doctor for further diagnosis and treatment. You can buy the Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity Test here. With the help of your doctor, you can undergo a simple blood test to confirm or reject Celiac Disease. If the test confirms that you do not have the disease, you may need to consider these alternative options.

The good news for us is that our daughter is no longer suffering, as we do not follow the original medical advice and "just keep giving Benadryl" to treat the symptoms. We choose to keep digging until we find answers that explain the symptoms of her symptoms. NCGS and Celiac disease are not routinely detected because of non-specific symptoms. Symptoms found can be found in many other ailments. It can be a frustrating journey, but if you have symptoms and can't find an answer, it's definitely worth the push forward until you get it. If NCGS is not treated, it can develop into Celiac Disease, so it's best to think about it and get it right!

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