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Why Gluten Allergy Symptoms Can Be So Confusing

InfoZen11 | Oct 11, 2009 |

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As awareness for Celiac disease and gluten intolerance increases, so does the confusion. Is Celiac disease a wheat allergy? If someone is gluten intolerant, does this automatically mean they have Celiac Disease?

Unfortunately, these questions don't have clear cut answers. I will try to distinguish for you the three main problems people have with consuming wheat-based foods and the terms surrounding each of these conditions.

What is a Wheat Allergy?

A wheat allergy is based on an excessive histamine response. It is does not, in fact, imply either a gluten intolerance or the presence of Celiac disease. Many people who eat some wheat bread then break out in hives assume they have gluten intolerance. This isn't always the case.

A wheat allergy can be like a typical hay fever in that it involves cells in your body called mast cells and basophils and how they react to Immunoglobulin E. As I will describe later, this is entirely different than what happens when you eat gluten and you have Celiac disease.

What Is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity?

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (or NCGS for short) encompasses a mysterious condition suffered by those who test negative for both a wheat allergy and Celiac disease but still can't handle foods with gluten. The only sure way to identify this condition is through a gluten-free diet.

Unfortunately, many people don't appreciate that this phenomenon exists. If they take a blood test for Celiac disease and it comes back negative, they assume they can go on eating gluten. Perhaps they can, but if you had an initial concern related to your consumption of gluten you should still try a gluten elimination diet, regardless of the results of your Celiac disease blood test.

What Is Celiac Disease?

Technically, if you have Celiac disease you have strong antibodies which react to the proteins gliadin and glutenin (proteins in gluten). These antibodies, which develop in response to gluten in your system, then attack intestinal enomysium.

I know, it all reads like technical gibberish. The important part to understand is that these antibodies essentially attack and reduce the functioning of the walls of your intestine. Specifically, they wear down and eventually destroy the villi along your intestinal walls.

Celiac disease is a systemic condition which wears your body down over time. Unlike a wheat allergy or non-celiac gluten intolerance, Celiac disease often doesn't present an obvious reaction to your consuming food containing gluten.

Instead, your body responds with serious long term consequences. You can, for example, eat plenty of healthy foods in a well-balanced diet, but if you have Celiac disease you'll still become severely malnourished because your body can't properly digest the nutrients you've consumed. Other theoretical long term consequences include cancer.

The only real treatment for Celiac disease is to completely eliminate gluten, and all foods containing gluten, from your diet.

I hope this helps you understand why the common term gluten allergy symptoms can be so confusing. The term encompasses three distinct health phenomenons that are often bunched together.