Do you suffer from Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is a condition that surrounds your digestive system and is triggered by the consumption of gluten. Gluten is found in foods like pizza, bread, pasta, cookies, and foods generally based in wheat, barley or rye. When you have celiac diseaes and eat food that has gluten in it, your immune system reacts in your small intestine and causes damage to the small intestine - making it hard or impossible to absorb nutrients.
If you have celiac disease there will be a decreased absorption of nutrients and this will cause vitamin deficiencies that deprive your body of vital nourishment. This can lead to other illnesses and stunted growth in children. There is currently no cure for celiac disease. An individual can manage their celiac disease through a modified diet.
Signs and Symptoms of Celiac Disease
There are not visible or typical sign of celiacs. Most people have the following:
- Intermittent diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Bloating
Often times people may have no problems or gastrointestinal symptoms at all. Sometimes there may be mis-diagnosis as irritable bowel syndrome, or gastric ulcers.
Celiac disease may also be represented by other less obvious ways:
- Irritability or depression
- Anemia
- Stomach upset
- Joint pain
- Muscle cramps
- Skin rash
- Mouth sores
Foods to Avoid
There are many foods that you should avoid if you have Celiac Disease. Below are a list of foods and products that you should avoid:
- Barley
- Bran
- Bromated flour
- Bulgur
- Couscous
- Durum flour
- Enriched flour
- Farina
- Faro
- Graham Flour
- Matzo meal/flour
- Malt or malt flavoring (can be made from barley)
- Malt vinegar (made from barley)
- Orzo
- Panko
- Phosphated flour
- Plain flour
- Rye
- Seitan
- Self-rising flour
- Semolina
- Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
- Udon
- Wheat
- White flour
- Wheat-free products - this does not mean gluten-free so you still need to read the list of ingredients
- Medications - gluten containing fillers can be found in some prescription and over-the-counter medications. You can check the list of ingredients, ask the pharmacist or your doctor, and/or use the resource at the end for more information.
Cited References:
MayoClinic
MedicineNet on Gluten
FacetoFace Health Celiac Disease Support Group