Is Gluten Sensitivity Destroying Your Health?
Author: Emily Taggart
Author: Emily Taggart
Gluten sensitivity has been around for many, many years, and it's recently been in the news very much of late because it seems as though so many more people are becoming sensitive to gluten as was thought to be true previously.
However, gluten sensitivity is a very real condition that can have health consequences ranging from merely unpleasant to actually life-threatening.
Gluten sensitivity, also called "gluten intolerance," happens because you are allergic or sensitive to gluten, a grain protein. Gluten is found in grains like rye, barley and wheat. Therefore, gluten sensitivity requires that you avoid anything with gluten in it (meaning anything made with wheat, barley or rye) so as to avoid the symptoms related to gluten intolerance.
What are the symptoms of gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance?
Most often, gluten intolerance symptoms are those related to the "gut." That is, you're going to have digestive difficulties when you ingest wheat, barley or rye; removing these products from your diet will alleviate your symptoms.
Digestive symptoms of gluten sensitivity include bloating, gas and diarrhea. However, what is less well known is that gluten sensitivity, because it causes inflammation that can affect the entire body, can also cause or exacerbate depression, anxiety, headaches, and aching joints. So, if you have digestive problems AND you experience joint aches, anxiety, depression, etc., try eliminating barley, wheat and rye from your diet; it may just take care of all of these problems in one fell swoop. Other autoimmune disorders, like chronic fatigue syndrome, have also been shown to improve by removing gluten-rich foods from the diet.
Alternatively, of course, you may be diagnosed with gluten sensitivity by your doctor, in which case he will prescribe a special diet free of gluten. Once you have eaten a diet that's free of gluten for several days, you should see symptoms began to abate.
Getting used to a gluten-free diet
If you've been diagnosed with gluten sensitivity (or you simply want to try a gluten-free diet to see if your symptoms will abate on their own), you're going to have to avoid all products made with wheat, rye or barley. That's harder than it sounds, because not only are you avoiding almost all commercially made breads and cereals, but you also have to learn to read labels very carefully to make sure that flour, for example, hasn't been included as a thickener in soups, and so on.
In addition, it can be difficult to simply get used to a diet where you can't reach for a slice of bread to have with your bowl of soup for lunch. Many people have also reported, for example, that they have withdrawal symptoms when they must get rid of all gluten-rich products from their diets. So, for example, if you embark on a gluten-free diet to try to take care of the headaches and digestive difficulties you've been having, you may actually experience MORE headaches and digestive difficulties for the first few days after you eliminate gluten; that's because your body is getting rid of these allergenic substances, so just hang tight for a few days while your body readjusts to a "no gluten" world.
Finding substitutes for gluten-rich products
The market has responded admirably, with so many more people being diagnosed with gluten sensitivity; because of that, you have a readily available choice of cookies, breads, and other traditionally flour-based goods that are nonetheless gluten-free and therefore perfectly fine for you to have. They'll be a little bit more expensive than their gluten-based counterparts, but they're well worth the price you'll pay for feeling better, having more energy, and having a number of health problems get better or even simply disappear.About the Author:
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