What are the 10 most common symptoms of gluten intolerance?

Gluten intolerance is a fairly common condition in our country. In fact, some studies show that it affects around 15% of the US population. It is characterized by an inability to handle foods containing gluten.

So what exactly is gluten? Gluten is a composite of the two proteins gliadin and glutenin. The word gluten is derived from the Latin word meaning “glue”. Gluten is a mixture of starch, gliadin and glutenin and is found in grass-related grains such as wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats. Most breads, pastas, crackers and cookies contain gluten since they are usually made with wheat flour.

Gluten intolerance is classified as an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system attacks the tissues of its own body. When a gluten-sensitive person eats, say, a plate of spaghetti, cells in the small intestine mistakenly interpret the molecules in the grain as a foreign invader. There is then an interaction resulting in programmed cell death and an immune response, which results in the typical symptoms of gluten intolerance. It is important to identify gluten intolerance and act accordingly because over time, when a gluten intolerant person continues to ingest gluten, damage to the small intestine occurs. In its most severe form, gluten sensitivity can manifest as celiac disease, which can be not only uncomfortable for a person, but also dangerous.

A food sensitivity to gluten can lead to a variety of symptoms that, unfortunately, are often misdiagnosed, as the symptoms are also common to other diseases and disorders. Gluten sensitivity or intolerance is usually not the first suspect and people often go years and years without a proper diagnosis. As expected, the first symptoms of gluten intolerance are mainly gastrointestinal symptoms, although other outward symptoms also present themselves. The good news is that it can be easily treated by simply eliminating gluten from your diet.

Symptoms of gluten sensitivity or intolerance:

1. Digestive Symptoms – Digestive symptoms are the most common. This includes abdominal pain, bloating, cramping, constipation or diarrhea, constipation and diarrhea (alternating), weight loss or weight gain.

2. Inflammation – Inflammation is an immune response to gluten.

3. Lactose Intolerance, Dairy Sensitivity, or Other Food Sensitivities – This is a secondary condition that results from damage to the small intestine (leaky gut) from the main problem of gluten sensitivity.

4. Malnutrition and/or anemia – Since the small intestine can be damaged in gluten intolerance and food can be excreted quickly as waste, the body often has difficulty absorbing nutrients, which which leads to the development of this symptom. Specifically, low iron levels are common.

5. Chronic fatigue, exhaustion and dizziness.

6. Body and joint pain.

7. Frequent infections – The small intestine accounts for 70% of the immune system and since gluten sensitivity causes damage to the small intestine, infection is a common symptom of gluten sensitivity.

8. Steatorrhea – This is the presence of excess fat in the feces. This can lead to other embarrassing and painful complications, such as anal leakage or incontinence. Fat is present in the stool due to poor digestion.

9. Headaches.

10. Depression, irritability and mood swings.

As stated above, treating gluten intolerance is easy. Simply eliminate foods containing gluten. This means that cereals containing gluten such as those found in bread, cereals and pasta should be completely eliminated, as well as beverages such as beer, as these involve the fermentation of cereals containing gluten. gluten.

If you experience any or all of the symptoms above, you may want to get tested for gluten intolerance. The answer could be life changing.