Wheat Intolerance

Suffering from any kind of food intolerance can play a significant role in the kind of food you consume on a daily basis. Suffering from an intolerance that is triggered by one of the most common elements of most recipes all over the world can be even more frustrating. Wheat intolerance is one such food intolerance and given the fact that a lot of people were not tuned in to its existence a few years ago means that the individuals that did suffer from it faced significant complications whenever choosing to eat at restaurants. However, thanks to a lot of awareness being created over the issue of wheat intolerance over the last few years means that most public eateries and restaurants are catering towards these complications. When speaking about wheat intolerance, it is important to point out the fact that wheat intolerance is not the same as a wheat allergy.

The primary difference between the two is the fact that the wheat allergy is an autoimmune response by the body while wheat intolerance is primarily a chemical reaction. Recent studies have shown that wheat intolerance is much more common than a wheat food allergy. Identifying wheat intolerance symptoms is a very important part of being able to correctly identify and diagnose a certain condition. Some of the more prominent wheat intolerance symptoms include nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, malaise and a headache. The symptoms of wheat sensitivity are also known to have become more prominent when the individual takes some kind of medication or even puts his body through a significant amount of exercise.

Wheat intolerance primarily stems from the body’s inability to normally absorb a substance known as gluten. Because of the fact that the symptoms may take a significant amount of time, even upto hours after consumption of the food before the symptoms develop, that make it substantially harder to successfully diagnose. Some individuals are known to have suffered the development of the symptoms even upto a few days later. As with almost any other kind of intolerance, abstaining from the type of food causing the reaction is the best way of preventing the ill effects of the condition. However, some people are known to have successfully built up a intolerance against the food by careful dietary management and slowly increasing the intake of the food substance over a period of time.

Although abstaining from wheat is touted as being the best way to beat wheat intolerance, one must be aware of the fact that consuming a diet free of any gluten content can cause health problems and maybe even weight gain. However, patients that have been properly diagnosed for wheat intolerance or Celiacs disease are required to follow a gluten free diet. Unlike with lactose intolerance, wheat intolerance will develop during the initial years of an individuals life and thus can be detected in babies. However, just like with lactose intolerance, the reactions could develop at a later stage in life – even as far ahead as adulthood. The most effective methods of diagnosis of wheat intolerance is performed with the help of a blood test and the awareness of this has only started to become more widespread in the last few years. The primary focus of the blood test is to check for the antibody level of substances known as AGA and Anti-tTG. One very important and often overlooked aspect of the intolerance is the role that it plays in medical abnormalities such as infertility, anemia and osteoporosis. In the event you suffer from any of these conditions and also suffer from wheat intolerance, it is highly recommended that you approach you physician to identify a clear link between the same.

Submitted on January 16, 2014