Let's begin with what gluten sensitivity is not. It's not celiac disease and it's not wheat allergy.
Celiac disease is a sudden onset allergic reaction to the ingestion of gluten, which is found most commonly in the grains wheat, rye and barley. Celiac disease can lead to serious malnutrition.
Wheat allergy is a histamine reaction to wheat that operates much the same as hay fever or peanut allergy. The body's reaction is severe and happens immediately after eating wheat products.
Gluten sensitivity symptoms develop more slowly and subtly over time, making it harder to diagnose. The body reacts to the proteins glutenin and gliadin found in wheat, rye and barley. And some of the symptoms are not the sort we'd expect from food intolerance.
If you are suffering from gluten sensitivity you may experience a number of different symptoms that seem unrelated to each other. Outside of the digestive issues you might expect, a vast array of things can go wrong if you're unwittingly continuing to eat gluten.
You may have problems with your menstrual cycle, and if you're trying to conceive it may not be happening. Your teeth may be deteriorating. You may experience seizures.
Perhaps you're experiencing nerve damage or respiratory problems. Maybe you have acne or a skin disorder called rosacea. You may suffer from night blindness.
You may have one or more autoimmune disorder like Hashimoto's disease, Sjögren's syndrome or lupus erythematosus. Maybe you're losing your hair. You may have eczema or psoriasis, swelling and inflammation.
Eating gluten for some may trigger migraines. You may have joint and bone pain, osteoporosis and muscle cramps. Gluten ataxia is a neurological abnormality involving clumsy and jerky movement which may respond well to a gluten-free diet.
You may be deficient in a number of vitamins and minerals, weakened from iron-deficiency anemia, bruising easily or developing canker sores. You may suffer from lactose intolerance or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Focusing your thoughts may be increasingly difficult.
Perhaps most surprising to many people, behavioral and mood disorders, as well as neurological disorders, may be worsened or caused by gluten sensitivity. People with autism may experience a lessening of symptoms when they avoid gluten. ADHD, bipolar disorder, clinical depression and schizophrenia may respond to living gluten-free.
Resources:
Gluten and the Brain
http://www.nutramed.com/celiac/celiacbrain.htm
Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
http://gluten-intolerance-symptoms.com
Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
http://gluten.lovetoknow.com/Non_Celiac_Gluten_Sensitivity
How Gluten Affects Behavior
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-gluten-affects-behavior.html
Symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/symptoms-of-gluten-sensitivity-and...
Gluten Intolerance Symptoms - How Do You Know If Gluten Is Making You Sick?
http://glutenfreenetwork.com/faqs/symptoms-treatments/gluten-intolerance...
Monday, October 25, 2010
Is your favourite food making you ill? By Roger Davis Deutsch
YOU may probably have heard of lactose intolerance, a sensitivity to lactose in milk and other dairy products that affects as many as 75 per cent of adults around the world.
But lactose intolerance is just one of the many types of food intolerance.
Food intolerance occurs when your digestive system is irritated by something in the food you consume or when you are unable to properly digest or break it down.
A person's sensitivity to certain types of food can have a wide ranging effect on one's health that may include memory problems, mood swings, migraines, weight problems, narcolepsy, eczema, acne, aching legs, breathing difficulties, restlessness, ear aches and heartburn.
Is it food allergy?
Food intolerance is not to be confused with food allergy, which can be triggered by even a small amount of the offending food.
Food allergy creates an instant and obvious response, while reactions from food sensitivity or food intolerance are usually delayed or hidden, with the symptoms not as recognisable.
Those with food allergies generally need to avoid the culprit food.
Food intolerance on the other hand is usually related to regular consumption and sufferers may not show symptoms unless they consume a large portion of the foods or eat them frequently.
For example, a person who is lactose intolerant may be able to take milk with coffee or a single glass of milk, but reacts if he or she downs several glasses of milk at once.
It is also not the same as food poisoning, which normally happens when one consumes spoiled or tainted food and always affects others eating the same thing.
What can cause food intolerance?
Our fast-paced convenient lifestyles often mean that we eat the same type of food groups repeatedly.
We also always eat with such speed that our stomachs do not have the time to properly digest food. At the same time, some people lack the necessary enzymes to break foods down.
Some show signs following consumption of food that have chemicals produced naturally such as caffeine, salicylates and histamine in foods like chocolate and cheese.
Additives that give food longer shelf life can also cause food intolerance. Any type of food can be a culprit as it varies from one person to the next.
It is also normal to be intolerant to several different foods at the same time.
Diagnosis
It is not easy to diagnose as the signs are often unclear.
Usually, sufferers complain of feeling fatigued and bloated, symptoms that often appear with problems concerning the bowel, skin, joints or headaches.
They may have one or many of the following symptoms:
Nausea
Stomach pain
Headaches
Irritability or nervousness
Gas or bloating
Cramps
Vomiting
Heartburn
Diarrhoea
Common ailments
According to the book, Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat, by Rudy Rivera and Roger Davis Deutsch, food intolerance can take its toll on a person's long-term well-being.
These include weight problems, skin conditions, fatigue, breathing difficulties and migraine.
Fatigue
People normally experience fatigue after they have spent a great deal of energy.
If the tiredness is not brought on by any kind of exertions, is unrelieved by rest and is frequently worse in the morning, many health practitioners believe it is probably associated in some way with food and or chemical sensitivities.
Evidence suggests food intolerance as a cause of fatigue and even may be an early indicator of it.
Skin conditions
Many suffer from skin conditions such as eczema, urticaria, angioedema and severe acne but in many cases, these skin conditions can be prevented through elimination of reactive foods.
Weight issues
Many overweight individuals are likely to suffer from food sensitivities as the very nature of being overweight suggests a negative response to food.
Food intolerance may result not only in overeating, but also in malnutrition, by interfering with the metabolism of fat for energy.
By eliminating reactive foods, they may be able to resume a normal weight loss programme related to calorie intake and exercise.
Breathing problems
Doctors generally believe that airway problems such as asthma, hay fever and sinusitis are caused exclusively by inhalant allergies.
However, allergic airway diseases may also be due to food intolerance.
A theory suggests that in a person with food intolerance, the food allergen combined with an airborne allergy puts additional stress on the body and it collapses under the pressure.
Migraines
Many turn to drug treatments for fast relief of migraines although some have discovered eliminating or reducing it through treatment of food intolerance.
It is however not clear how by removing food and chemical intolerances, migraines can be alleviated.
Identifying food intolerances
If you suspect that you might be suffering from food sensitivity, talk to your healthcare provider.
They should be able to establish a plan to help control symptoms.
To identify the offending foods, the process may involve one of the following methods:
Keeping a food diary: A sufferer goes through a trial and error period to determine which food or foods cause reactions.
Sufferers may be asked to keep a record of the food consumed on a daily basis and note down when symptoms appear. Common factors are then singled out.
The Elimination Diet: This involves completely eliminating any suspect foods from the diet until one is symptom-free.
Then one begins to reintroduce the foods, one at a time, until one pins down the problem items.
The Alcat Test: This is one of the easier and most reliable methods, as it is done via a simple blood test, to identify food sensitivities as well as sensitivities to mould and common chemicals.
It can pinpoint trigger foods which are usually easily found foods such as oranges, wheat, seafood, nuts, celery, milk or eggs, amongst others.
The Alcat Test measures the final common pathway of all pathogenic mechanism, whether immune, non-immune or toxic.
It is also the only test that correlates with clinical symptoms by double blind food challenges.
Treatment and prevention
Treatment for food intolerance is based on avoiding or reducing your intake of problem foods and treating symptoms when they arise.
Once you have identified the food that you are intolerant to, be vigilant about the food you consume and try to keep family, friends and associates informed about your sensitivities.
Prevention is always better than cure.
If you face certain persistent ailments despite maintaining a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, think about the possibility that you may be suffering from food sensitivities.
Talk to your healthcare professional.
The writer is the CEO of Alcat Worldwide and author of 'Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat'.
But lactose intolerance is just one of the many types of food intolerance.
Food intolerance occurs when your digestive system is irritated by something in the food you consume or when you are unable to properly digest or break it down.
A person's sensitivity to certain types of food can have a wide ranging effect on one's health that may include memory problems, mood swings, migraines, weight problems, narcolepsy, eczema, acne, aching legs, breathing difficulties, restlessness, ear aches and heartburn.
Is it food allergy?
Food intolerance is not to be confused with food allergy, which can be triggered by even a small amount of the offending food.
Food allergy creates an instant and obvious response, while reactions from food sensitivity or food intolerance are usually delayed or hidden, with the symptoms not as recognisable.
Those with food allergies generally need to avoid the culprit food.
Food intolerance on the other hand is usually related to regular consumption and sufferers may not show symptoms unless they consume a large portion of the foods or eat them frequently.
For example, a person who is lactose intolerant may be able to take milk with coffee or a single glass of milk, but reacts if he or she downs several glasses of milk at once.
It is also not the same as food poisoning, which normally happens when one consumes spoiled or tainted food and always affects others eating the same thing.
What can cause food intolerance?
Our fast-paced convenient lifestyles often mean that we eat the same type of food groups repeatedly.
We also always eat with such speed that our stomachs do not have the time to properly digest food. At the same time, some people lack the necessary enzymes to break foods down.
Some show signs following consumption of food that have chemicals produced naturally such as caffeine, salicylates and histamine in foods like chocolate and cheese.
Additives that give food longer shelf life can also cause food intolerance. Any type of food can be a culprit as it varies from one person to the next.
It is also normal to be intolerant to several different foods at the same time.
Diagnosis
It is not easy to diagnose as the signs are often unclear.
Usually, sufferers complain of feeling fatigued and bloated, symptoms that often appear with problems concerning the bowel, skin, joints or headaches.
They may have one or many of the following symptoms:
Nausea
Stomach pain
Headaches
Irritability or nervousness
Gas or bloating
Cramps
Vomiting
Heartburn
Diarrhoea
Common ailments
According to the book, Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat, by Rudy Rivera and Roger Davis Deutsch, food intolerance can take its toll on a person's long-term well-being.
These include weight problems, skin conditions, fatigue, breathing difficulties and migraine.
Fatigue
People normally experience fatigue after they have spent a great deal of energy.
If the tiredness is not brought on by any kind of exertions, is unrelieved by rest and is frequently worse in the morning, many health practitioners believe it is probably associated in some way with food and or chemical sensitivities.
Evidence suggests food intolerance as a cause of fatigue and even may be an early indicator of it.
Skin conditions
Many suffer from skin conditions such as eczema, urticaria, angioedema and severe acne but in many cases, these skin conditions can be prevented through elimination of reactive foods.
Weight issues
Many overweight individuals are likely to suffer from food sensitivities as the very nature of being overweight suggests a negative response to food.
Food intolerance may result not only in overeating, but also in malnutrition, by interfering with the metabolism of fat for energy.
By eliminating reactive foods, they may be able to resume a normal weight loss programme related to calorie intake and exercise.
Breathing problems
Doctors generally believe that airway problems such as asthma, hay fever and sinusitis are caused exclusively by inhalant allergies.
However, allergic airway diseases may also be due to food intolerance.
A theory suggests that in a person with food intolerance, the food allergen combined with an airborne allergy puts additional stress on the body and it collapses under the pressure.
Migraines
Many turn to drug treatments for fast relief of migraines although some have discovered eliminating or reducing it through treatment of food intolerance.
It is however not clear how by removing food and chemical intolerances, migraines can be alleviated.
Identifying food intolerances
If you suspect that you might be suffering from food sensitivity, talk to your healthcare provider.
They should be able to establish a plan to help control symptoms.
To identify the offending foods, the process may involve one of the following methods:
Keeping a food diary: A sufferer goes through a trial and error period to determine which food or foods cause reactions.
Sufferers may be asked to keep a record of the food consumed on a daily basis and note down when symptoms appear. Common factors are then singled out.
The Elimination Diet: This involves completely eliminating any suspect foods from the diet until one is symptom-free.
Then one begins to reintroduce the foods, one at a time, until one pins down the problem items.
The Alcat Test: This is one of the easier and most reliable methods, as it is done via a simple blood test, to identify food sensitivities as well as sensitivities to mould and common chemicals.
It can pinpoint trigger foods which are usually easily found foods such as oranges, wheat, seafood, nuts, celery, milk or eggs, amongst others.
The Alcat Test measures the final common pathway of all pathogenic mechanism, whether immune, non-immune or toxic.
It is also the only test that correlates with clinical symptoms by double blind food challenges.
Treatment and prevention
Treatment for food intolerance is based on avoiding or reducing your intake of problem foods and treating symptoms when they arise.
Once you have identified the food that you are intolerant to, be vigilant about the food you consume and try to keep family, friends and associates informed about your sensitivities.
Prevention is always better than cure.
If you face certain persistent ailments despite maintaining a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, think about the possibility that you may be suffering from food sensitivities.
Talk to your healthcare professional.
The writer is the CEO of Alcat Worldwide and author of 'Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat'.
Food allergies more likely in kids born in winter By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay
The chances of a child developing food allergies may be increased if that child is conceived in the early spring, a preliminary study by Finnish researchers suggests.
Studies have already shown that children born in autumn or winter are more likely to have eczema, wheezing and asthma than children born in spring or summer, the researchers noted.
ALLERGIC? Socializing can be tricky
AWAY FROM HOME: Colleges change for students with food allergies
There may be several reasons for this new finding, said lead researcher Dr. Kaisa Pyrhonen, of the Institute of Health Sciences at the University of Oulu, including concentration of pollen in spring, exposure to sunlight, which is related to synthesis of vitamin D, and viral infections.
"These are possible explanations, but our study design did not allow any assessment of the causal role of the above factors," Pyrhonen said.
Pyrhonen said the study findings are preliminary and families should not plan pregnancies around specific times. "Because our study was an observational study, we cannot give any recommendations to families," Pyrhonen said.
The report is published in the Oct. 20 online edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
For the study, Pyrhonen's team collected data on 5,920 Finnish children born between 2001 and 2006. From birth to four years, 961 of these children were tested for food allergies.
Up to age of 4, the odds of having a food allergy varied according to season of birth, ranging from 5% for children born in June and July to 9.5% for those born in October and November, the researchers found.
In fact, 11% of children whose 11th week of development occurred during April or May had food allergies, compared with 6% of children who reached that stage of development in December or January, Pyrhonen's group found.
In terms of specific allergies, a child whose first three months of fetal development ended in April or May was three times more likely to be allergic to milk and eggs compared with those who reached that stage in November or December, the researchers said.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Erick Forno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said there could be a variety of reasons for this finding.
"But what is important is that we are understanding more that there are environmental factors that at some point during pregnancy play an important role in developing the immune system that predisposes the kid to have either food allergies or environmental allergies or asthma or eczema or something of that sort," he said.
Forno cautioned that this was an observational study (a type of study in which people are observed or certain outcomes are measured and no effort is made to affect the outcome — for instance, no treatment is given). "So there may be other things that these researchers didn't measure that are also associated. What they are looking at is the common consequence. So we can't say it's a causal association," he said.
Parents need to realize that things outside the uterus are very important in the developing fetus, Forno said, adding, "We are only beginning to understand what goes on."
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Allergy experts say it's important for people who have reactions to certain foods to sort out why with the help of their health care provider, because different food-related problems may require different management techniques and treatments.
Food allergy:
An immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food. Even a tiny amount of the allergy-causing food can trigger symptoms such as digestive problems, hives or swollen airways. In some people, a food allergy can cause severe symptoms or even life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Food intolerance:
Much more common than food allergy. Because a food intolerance can cause some of the same symptoms as a food allergy, people often confuse the two. Food intolerance generally doesn't involve the immune system. It can be caused by the absence of an enzyme needed to fully digest a food. A common example is lactose intolerance. Irritable bowel syndrome and sensitivity to certain additives also fall under the umbrella of food intolerance.
Celiac disease:
An immune system reaction that causes inflammation in the small intestines when a person eats any food containing gluten, a type of protein found in wheat.
Sources: Mayo Clinic; Robert Wood, Johns Hopkins
Studies have already shown that children born in autumn or winter are more likely to have eczema, wheezing and asthma than children born in spring or summer, the researchers noted.
ALLERGIC? Socializing can be tricky
AWAY FROM HOME: Colleges change for students with food allergies
There may be several reasons for this new finding, said lead researcher Dr. Kaisa Pyrhonen, of the Institute of Health Sciences at the University of Oulu, including concentration of pollen in spring, exposure to sunlight, which is related to synthesis of vitamin D, and viral infections.
"These are possible explanations, but our study design did not allow any assessment of the causal role of the above factors," Pyrhonen said.
Pyrhonen said the study findings are preliminary and families should not plan pregnancies around specific times. "Because our study was an observational study, we cannot give any recommendations to families," Pyrhonen said.
The report is published in the Oct. 20 online edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
For the study, Pyrhonen's team collected data on 5,920 Finnish children born between 2001 and 2006. From birth to four years, 961 of these children were tested for food allergies.
Up to age of 4, the odds of having a food allergy varied according to season of birth, ranging from 5% for children born in June and July to 9.5% for those born in October and November, the researchers found.
In fact, 11% of children whose 11th week of development occurred during April or May had food allergies, compared with 6% of children who reached that stage of development in December or January, Pyrhonen's group found.
In terms of specific allergies, a child whose first three months of fetal development ended in April or May was three times more likely to be allergic to milk and eggs compared with those who reached that stage in November or December, the researchers said.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Erick Forno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said there could be a variety of reasons for this finding.
"But what is important is that we are understanding more that there are environmental factors that at some point during pregnancy play an important role in developing the immune system that predisposes the kid to have either food allergies or environmental allergies or asthma or eczema or something of that sort," he said.
Forno cautioned that this was an observational study (a type of study in which people are observed or certain outcomes are measured and no effort is made to affect the outcome — for instance, no treatment is given). "So there may be other things that these researchers didn't measure that are also associated. What they are looking at is the common consequence. So we can't say it's a causal association," he said.
Parents need to realize that things outside the uterus are very important in the developing fetus, Forno said, adding, "We are only beginning to understand what goes on."
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Allergy experts say it's important for people who have reactions to certain foods to sort out why with the help of their health care provider, because different food-related problems may require different management techniques and treatments.
Food allergy:
An immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food. Even a tiny amount of the allergy-causing food can trigger symptoms such as digestive problems, hives or swollen airways. In some people, a food allergy can cause severe symptoms or even life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Food intolerance:
Much more common than food allergy. Because a food intolerance can cause some of the same symptoms as a food allergy, people often confuse the two. Food intolerance generally doesn't involve the immune system. It can be caused by the absence of an enzyme needed to fully digest a food. A common example is lactose intolerance. Irritable bowel syndrome and sensitivity to certain additives also fall under the umbrella of food intolerance.
Celiac disease:
An immune system reaction that causes inflammation in the small intestines when a person eats any food containing gluten, a type of protein found in wheat.
Sources: Mayo Clinic; Robert Wood, Johns Hopkins
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