The Gluten Free Diet and Celiac Disease
The Gluten Free Diet and Celiac Disease.
Many people believe that following a gluten free diet can help a person lose existing weight. However for many others, following a gluten free diet is the only treatment available to help their bodies heal by themselves. Gluten intolerance is believed to affect 1 in 13 people worldwide, and the figure is only growing by the day. Simply put, gluten intolerance refers to the inability to digest a component called gluten that is found in cereals and many other food products. The presence of gluten is not merely confined to the kitchen. It is also found in certain brands of multi vitamins, medicines and even on the gum on your postage stamp. So how serious is gluten intolerance after all? For a few, whenever they consume gluten it may result in an allergy such as itching around the throat, rashes on the skin or even indigestion. On the other hand, there are people who suffer from an extreme form of gluten intolerance, which results is what we know as celiac disease.
Celiac disease affects both children and adults. However the symptoms for a child and adult arising from celiac disease differ. In our digestive system, we have small filaments called villi which are present in the small intestine. The villi play a very important role in absorbing nutrients from food, in their finger like filaments. In the digestive system of a person with celiac disease, the immune system attacks the villi every time gluten is consumed. This is the body’s way of reacting to a substance that it simply cannot tolerate or digest. Eventually, the villi become so damaged that they are unable to absorb any nutrients at all from food that is consumed. Nutrient deficiency is the prime symptom faced by both children and adults with celiac disease, to the extent that a person may be eating well and still has severe nutrient deficiency. The common symptoms faced by children are stunted growth, delay of maturity, excessive fatigue, severe indigestion or tummy upset and in some cases even constipation. The symptoms that adults usually have range from depression, nutrient deficiency, diarrhea, abdominal bloating, osteoporosis, infertility and even weight loss. People suffering from celiac disease may suffer from a few of these symptoms and not all of them.
The best treatment advised in such cases is to eliminate gluten completely from the diet and adopt a total gluten free diet. It is important to remember that gluten in even the smallest doses can trigger off other symptoms or allergic reactions. A diet that is totally gluten free gives the body time to heal itself and get back on the road to recovery. Most people claim that within a few weeks of starting this diet, whatever symptoms they had usually go away. Fortunately, many countries are now waking up to the fact that gluten intolerance affects a good number of the population and that is why such ingredients are clearly listed on food labels. There are many bakeries and specialized supermarkets which sell gluten free food items that are just as healthy and tasty as ordinary food items. Switching over to a gluten free lifestyle may take some getting used to, but there are plenty of good gluten free cookbooks and gluten free recipes to help you give your body the best.
Damien Coy, Editor at Gluennogo.com (Find out the fact and the truths at Glutennogo.com)
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