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Last Updated on Monday, 08 August 2022 15:02

Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance (and Celiac Disease)

Gluten intolerance symptoms are delayed reactions - explained here:

Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance:

• Chronic Fatigue: a common symptom - typically 'not enough energy to get out of bed'
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• Gastro-intestinal: bloating, nausea, diarrhea, irritable bowel
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• Stressed immune system: frequent infections - colds and 'flu, bacterial and thrush or yeast
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• Malabsorption: like low iron or anemia; low calcium or bone density loss
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• Headaches or Migraines: frequent - and for no particular reason
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• Skin issues including eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis.
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• Lack of motivation
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• Depression or 'feeling the blues'
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• Infertility or miscarriage in both men and women

Gluten intolerance is common - affecting up to 15% of people. A small fraction of these have Celiac Disease. The symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed as other conditions. They usually have a delayed onset - up to 2 or 3 days later - or even months later as with rheumatoid arthritis. This makes gluten intolerance extremely difficult to diagnose - unless you use a Journal.

How gluten causes damage

Identifying Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance (and Celiac disease)

There are actually dozens of symptoms caused by the 'inability to digest Gluten'. This inability to digest certain foods is the Definition of Food Intolerance.

> But gluten is a FOOD TOXIN . . .  so no wonder it causes damage in the body!

Gluten is a very large protein found in grass grains. In sensitive people Gluten actually damages the intestine - leading to disease. Different forms of Gluten are present in a number of grass grains including: Wheat, Rye, Barley, Triticale, Kamut, Spelt and Oats.

The main symptoms are categorised and listed here. Notice that these are exactly the ailments which fill up doctors' waiting rooms - but which doctors hardly ever ascribe to food toxins. All these conditions can be easily and effectively treated by moving to a low toxin diet.

Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance:

• • Gastro-intestinal: Stomach bloating & pain, Diarrhea and Flatulence and Constipation

• • General tiredness: Chronic fatigue, lethargy, unwell feeling

• • Neurological: Headaches, Memory loss

• • Behavioural disorders in children

• • Depression, feeling blue, anxiety

• • Immune conditions: Frequent infections like colds & 'flu, and bacterial infections, yeast infections, mouth ulcers

• • Inflammation and inflammatory disease: Stiff joints, arthritis, colitis, thyroiditis, Psoriasis and others.

• • Skin conditions: Eczema and Fungal Yeast infections, itching flaky skin, dandruff

• • Infertility:Difficulty conceiving, miscarriage

Temporary treatment: Some people choose to treat the symptoms of Gluten intolerance with medications like anti-histamines, pain relief or supplements. But this gives only a few hours relief - and it means you have to keep buying and taking medications your whole life - plus keep getting their side effects.

> But - remember - these are toxins! Why keep eating things which damage our bodies?

Permanent treatment: Choose the natural drug-free solution. We believe it's much better to go to the source of the problem - and simply remove it. That is - move to a low-toxin diet. 

Dermatitis Herpetiformis and other Associated Diseases

Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) is another form of Gluten intolerance and affects the skin by forming lesions that are watery and itchy blisters. DH only presents when the patient has inherited the gene. In this case they may or may not have the intestinal symptoms as described above.

Other diseases associated with Gluten intolerance are Auto-immune Inflammatory diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune thyroid disease, and cancers of the intestine. It is also a cause of Infertility, Miscarriage and other serious conditions.

In-depth Information About Gluten Intolerance

Why Does Gluten Cause These Symptoms?

These illnesses and medical conditions are caused by a protein in the grass grain - known as gluten - or more precisely - the protein breakdown fragments of gluten.

Gluten is a very big molecule - in fact it is one of the most complex proteins eaten by man. To be digested it needs to break down many times and many of us do not have the right biological equipment to achieve its full digestion. Our bodies were not 'designed' to digest grass grains like wheat.

• • The animals which have the perfect and ideal digestive systems for grass grains are birds
  • Yes, grazing animals like cows eat grass - but they have evolved four stomachs to do the job

Gluten is inappropriate for the human digestive system

Some digestion begins in the mouth where the wheat product is chewed and munched and mixed with enzymes in the saliva. This physically breaks up the food before it is swallowed and enters the stomach.

The actual protein breakdown begins in the stomach. In gluten sensitive people (those who are unable to digest gluten) the effects can first be felt in the duodenum - the very first part of the intestine, right after the stomach. You might feel a "bloating" sensation happening right after a meal - located right under the ribs and above your waist.

But - as many people know too well - there are other symptoms still to come. The first split-up of the huge gluten protein produces two smaller types of protein - known as peptides: gliadins and glutenins.

Unfortunately - for people who are gluten intolerant - this is where all the problems begin. Gliadins and glutenins behave in quite different ways - but when working together can have devastating effects on the human body.

While the gliadins work to perforate the intestine and create chaos (like inflammation and disrupted processes) - glutenins get a free ride into the bloodstream via the damaged intestine - and initiate other mischief.

Consequences include anxiety, schizophrenia, and respiratory congestion amongst others. 

How Gluten Damages the Intestine

Two Protein Breakdown Products of Gluten:

1). Gliadins

One breakdown product of gluten - gliadins - can have a very damaging effect on the intestine. In fact, because of this, gluten is regarded by some as "the protein with teeth" - because this gliadin actually tears holes in the intestinal wall tissue.

Now this may not sound too bad. Everything heals pretty quickly, right?

However the small intestine is where two vital functions take place - absorption and filtering.

• • ABSORPTION of food nutrients takes place in the small intestine. Food is converted into energy so we can live and breath and work. And we need the right mix of nutrients and water for every organ and system to operate properly. When absorption goes wrong - we miss out on nutrients and develop dehydration, mineral deficiencies or other conditions which can turn into chronic diseases like anaemia, colitis, arthritis or osteoporosis.

• • FILTERING (SCREENING) The small intestine also acts as a screening mechanism. It prevents unwanted things like bacteria, fungals and foreign proteins from entering our bloodstream. But when this filter gets holes in it - (with gluten damage you can actually see damaged tissue under a microscope) - all kinds of foreign particles  escape into the bloodstream and travel anywhere in the body: the joints, organs, skin and brain.

Of course the brilliant human body heals itself fairly quickly after one-off damage events. However - we usually eat grain-based foods several times a day: breakfast cereals, sandwiches, muffins, cookies, bowls of noodles and pasta. Therefore if you are gluten intolerant - your small intestine does not get the chance to heal. And years and years of such damage eventually leads to diagnosis of chronic disease.

 2). Glutenins

The other breakdown peptide of gluten is glutenin. This peptide is responsible for strengthening bread dough and allows loaves to remain raised and 'light' for eating. However gliutenins are also associated with addictive symptoms: cravings, binge eating and addictive behaviour.

• • Can you now see why your small intestine is such a vital part of your body - and why intestinal health is so central to good health?

References

Gluten intolerance and links to Gastrointestinal, Neurological and other disorders