How Wheat Causes Bloating And Gas
Grains like wheat, barley and rye contain two problematic substances for anyone experiencing gastrointestinal issues like bloating, abdominal pain, intestinal cramps, diarrhea, constipation and excessive gas.
The first are fructans. These indigestible carbohydrates are completely malabsorbed in your digestive tract. Instead they are passed on to your colon where they promote bacterial growth and gas production.
Wheat products contribute the vast majority of fructans in most peoples diets. Rye and barley are also high in fructans, but these grains arent usually eaten as often as wheat.
The second substance found in wheat, barley and rye that can cause digestive problems is a combination of proteins collectively known as gluten.
While gluten doesnt directly feed intestinal bacteria in the same way as fructans and other indigestible carbohydrates, it can cause gastrointestinal distress for different and more damaging reasons.
How Is Gluten Intolerance Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider carefully reviews your symptoms and medical history. If they suspect you have a gluten intolerance, these are the next steps to confirm the diagnosis:
- Step 1: You eat a diet containing gluten for about six weeks. During this time, your healthcare provider performs blood tests and skin tests to rule out a wheat allergy or celiac disease. There isnt a gluten intolerance test.
- Step 2: If you dont have a wheat allergy or celiac disease, your healthcare provider will ask you to exclude gluten from your diet for at least six weeks. Keep a thorough record of your symptoms during this time, noting which symptoms improve.
- Step 3: If your symptoms do improve while youre on a gluten-free diet, you gradually reintroduce gluten back into your diet. If symptoms return, you likely have a gluten intolerance.
How Is It Diagnosed
It is essential to ensure first that a more severe condition, such as celiac disease or a wheat allergy, is not present if gluten intolerance is suspected.
Taking a blood sample, which is then analyzed to detect the presence of antibodies that could indicate celiac disease or a wheat allergy, can often do this. In some cases, other tests may also be necessary.
Once a doctor has ruled out a more serious condition, it can still be difficult for them to confirm whether gluten intolerance is present, as there are no tests for this.
The most common method people use to determine if gluten intolerance is present is to reduce or remove gluten from a diet and monitor changes in symptoms.
It can help for a person to keep a food diary to record what foods they are consuming and what symptoms they are having.
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Sorry Your Gluten Sensitivity Is Actually A Fructan Intolerance
Home » FODMAP Diet » Sorry, Your Gluten Sensitivity Is Actually A Fructan Intolerance
Millions of people voluntarily avoid gluten, a protein found in wheat-based foods like bread, cereal and pasta.
Those with a wheat allergy, celiac disease and certain other autoimmune conditions get very sick if they eat it.
However, an extra 12% of people report digestive symptoms after eating gluten-containing foods despite not having a wheat allergy or celiac disease.
But new research from Norway suggests its not gluten that causes issues for these people its a FODMAP called fructan.
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How Is Gas And Heart Palpitations Related
It is common to get gas after eating, but there are some people that experience heart palpitations too. This can be concerning, but most often benign depending on the cause of the heart palpitations. Gas is normally caused by taking in air when you eat gas causing foods, carbonated sodas, or eating too fast. On the other hand, heart palpitations may or may not be associated with eating and should be checked by your doctor if you have never experienced this before.
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Is It Possible To Suddenly Become Gluten
You might be wondering how it could be gluten sensitivity all of a sudden, especially if youve never had it. The thing is, gluten sensitivity can occur at any time in your life. It can appear whether youre in your 20s or 50s. Even babies can become victims of gluten intolerance! Limiting gluten-containing foods can make the symptoms go.
What Causes Gluten Intolerance
The exact causes of gluten intolerance arent well understood. Some research shows that people may not be sensitive to gluten, but to a certain carbohydrate found in many foods. Their bodies dont absorb the carbohydrate as they should. It stays in their guts and ferments, causing sickness.
Other research suggests that wheat might affect the lining of some peoples digestive tracts. This lining usually keeps bacteria from leaking out of your intestines. But in people with a gluten intolerance, the lining may not work as it should, allowing bacteria into their blood or liver and causing inflammation.
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The 9 Top Food Allergies
Wheat is listed by the FDA as one of the top nine most common allergen foods amongst Americans. This list of major food allergens includes milk, eggs, shellfish, soybeans, fish, nuts, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, and wheat. According to the FDA, 90% of food allergens are actually caused by these eight foods in particular.
The real challenge comes with the fact that so much of what we consume on a daily basis includes one of these eight foods. For many people who are allergic to any of these ingredients, even the smallest amount can trigger an intense and damaging reaction in the body. When foods are not properly or fully labeled, people with gluten allergies or intolerance can find themselves suffering. For example, an entirely vegetarian salad might contain traces of wheat in the dressing. To be able to avoid some of these allergens might be a challenge when restaurants or food labels donât specifically state those allergens on their labels, considering the minuscule quantities they might include.â
Diagnosis is not straightforward
While avoiding some of these allergens can be difficult, getting diagnosed might be an even bigger challenge. For many people with gluten intolerance or allergies, the symptoms can be vastly different, and not even related to digestion as one might expect.
However, gluten intolerances might induce symptoms that are more sporadic, like headaches, bloating, irritable bowels, and stomach aches.
Is Nonceliac Gluten Sensitivity Real
I suspect that a common reason for self-diagnosing gluten sensitivity is the placebo effect. The placebo effect is much greater for subjective symptoms than is appreciated. It is seen in 20% to 40% individuals. That is, of patients who report an improvement in symptoms by eliminating gluten, 20% to 40% are NOT improved. They THINK they are improved. It also is possible that some of the placebo response is real and due to psychological reasons. For some patients, the placebo effect is enough, and they don’t mind the dietary restrictions of a gluten-free diet. I don’t see those patients in my practice.
Of the patients that I do see who report that their symptoms have improved on a gluten-free diet, almost all have had their symptoms return or continue with reduced severity despite continuing the diet. There are two potential explanations for recurrent or continuing problems either the placebo effect is wearing off or something other than gluten sensitivity is going on in addition to gluten sensitivity. What else might be occurring?
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How Do You Test For Gluten Intolerance
Your doctor might recommend trying a gluten-free diet to see if you do have a gluten intolerance. Keep in mind that other conditions, such as celiac disease and wheat allergies, can cause similar symptoms. If eliminating gluten from your diet eases your symptoms, this usually indicates gluten intolerance. Your doctor can test for wheat allergies or celiac disease if needed.
What Are The Symptoms Associated With Gluten Sensitivity
Patients with gluten sensitivity may exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms after consuming gluten, as well as some non-GI symptoms. Generally, the symptoms follow the ingestion of gluten within a few hours or days.
GI symptoms may include:
- Bloating and gas The abdomen feels swollen and tender after ingesting gluten.
- Diarrhea or Constipation While some people will develop diarrhea after eating gluten, a small percentage will get backed up instead.
- Abdominal pain Pain and cramps are the most common symptom of gluten sensitivity, affecting over 80 percent of those with the disorder.
- Nausea This can occur on its own, with other GI symptoms, or with migraines brought on by gluten.
Non-GI symptoms may include:
Since so many foods contain gluten, it is very difficult to eliminate symptoms without a concerted effort to remove gluten from the diet.
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What To Do After An Accidental Gluten Flair
There are things you can do to shorten the duration of inflammation from gluten exposure both before and after. So if youve accidentally been exposed to gluten, dont worry.
Theres an enzyme you can take before your restaurant meal that will help minimize the damage. Its called GlutenEase. You can take it before the meal, just in case you get exposed, and afterwards if you have a reaction.
Other things that minimize the effects of gluten exposure is drinking bone broth, taking probiotics, l-glutamine, deglycerized licorice, drinking and peppermint tea, putting 1 tablespoon of collagen in your morning tea and getting lots of sleep and rest. Baths with epsom salt and essential oils also helps your body relax and detox.
How Is Gluten Intolerance Treated
Theres no cure for gluten intolerance. But most people find relief from symptoms by following a gluten-free diet. You should work with your healthcare provider and a dietitian to plan your diet.
You can also ask your healthcare provider about adding probiotics to your diet. Probiotics help increase the good bacteria in your gut. They may reduce symptoms of bloating, gas or constipation.
Some research suggests that taking certain enzymes may help you digest gluten. But experts are still investigating this treatment. Talk to your healthcare provider before taking any enzymes.
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The Signs And Symptoms Of Gluten Sensitivity
Chances are, you know someone on a gluten-free diet. Or maybe you know someone who can’t eat gluten, a protein combination found in cereal grains like wheat, rye and barley.
There are a few reasons for this recent interest in going gluten-free: About 1 percent of the United States population has celiac disease. When these people eat foods with gluten, it triggers an autoimmune response that damages the small intestine and can lead to long-term problems, like lymphoma and other autoimmune diseases like thyroid dysfunction, osteoporosis or osteopenia. But as much as 6 percent of the population may have a non-celiac gluten sensitivity . These people tend to feel better when they avoid gluten, even though they test negative for celiac disease.
Wondering if your child could be sensitive to gluten or benefit from a gluten-free diet? We asked Ritu Verma, MBChB, a pediatric gastroenterologist, Lustgarten Endowed Chair for Clinical Care of GI Motility Disorders, and director of CHOPs Center for Celiac Disease, for help in recognizing the signs of a gluten sensitivity. She also offers advice for what you should do if you think your child has a gluten sensitivity.
Summary: The Pros And Cons Of A Gluten
As with anything else, there are pros and cons to this diet you should also talk to your doctor before you try it. He may find that its completely unnecessary for you, in which case you should find a new health trend to follow. If however you feel that your symptoms are too much to ignore, you want to understand all of the pros and cons to this decision and way of life. Here are just a few to help you in evaluating if this is necessary, how beneficial it can be, how difficult it can be, and if it is truly necessary for you to follow.
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Does Gluten Cause Leaky Gut Syndrome
A gastrointestinal condition called leaky gut is gaining worldwide attention, particularly in the natural health community.
Some medical professionals deny that leaky gut exists, while others claim it is the root of nearly every health condition.
Leaky gut remains somewhat of a medical mystery. Scientists are still trying to determine exactly what it is and what causes it.
Some people think that gluten causes leaky gut, but the role of gluten in the condition is complicated.
This article examines the research about gluten and leaky gut syndrome.
Gluten Intolerance Foods To Avoid
Glutens are basically proteins that allow wheat and other such cereals to absorb water and remain elastic.
It is because of the gluten that the dough gets such an amazing texture and it is possible for it to rise.
Wheat, rye, and barley are active sources of gluten and are often found in:
- Bread
- Canned foods
- Spices
With that being said, someone might question how one can cut on gluten by using gluten substitutes.
Thus, well have our next section dealing with prominent gluten substitutes.
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Really Evaluate If Its The Right Diet Or Just A Cool Trend
In the big picture are you just being an unintentional jerk by following the latest hipster trend? Are you trying to be cool?
This is the time for a bit of hard truth and that means that you have to see where you fall on this spectrum. Dont be that person that follows the latest diet trend just to be cool or to drop a few pounds neither will work and they are not valid reasons, bro! Its important to understand what gluten intolerance is, what the trend is founded on, what it all means to your diet and health, and therefore decide if its right for you and if you are doing it for the right reasons in the big picture.
The biggest problem with a gluten-free diet is that its not necessarily right for everyone. Though its essential if you have Celiac disease, this is not the case for the vast majority of people who use it. Though it may not necessarily hurt you to follow, it may also be very unnecessary in the end. You want to work at understanding what this trend is all about, how it works, if it affects you personally, what your reasons are for following it, and if you are really just being a trendy snob? Yeah nobody really wants to admit that, but lets get it all out in the open here and now. Nobody wants to be that guy following the health trend just to fit in so lets take a look.
