Abdominal pain, bone pain, constipation, fatigue vomiting, bad moods, weight loss, and cramps are all signs of an often misdiagnosed illness-celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance. Millions of people are living with celiac disease, but it is estimated that 1in every 133 individuals have this condition but only 1 in 5 people with the illness actually know they have it, which is understandable as the symptoms are very common and seem to be a pretty vague indicator since each one could have many other causes.
If you noticed any of the symptoms of the illness, such as digestive problems, you should consider getting tested. A simple blood test could rule out celiac or affirm it by finding out if your body’s immune system is producing auto-antibodies to attack normal cells in response to exposure to gluten. If you do have celiac it may be good to have an endoscopy, to determine if the antibodies have damaged your small intestine’s villi, which are small fingerlike extensions lining the wall of the intestine and which aid in food digestion. If damaged, the body would have problems absorbing nutrients so you may have to take extra special care to make sure the body is getting what it needs. If your doctor does not automatically schedule one for you might want to ask him or her about it to find out why.
If the autoantibodies for gluten are somewhat high but are not serious enough to cause poor nutrient absorption and other extreme issues you might not be considered to have full blown celiac but gluten intolerance, which means your body can’t digest gluten without causing too many other issues such as anemia and osteoporosis.
Either way it would be good to go gluten free (you should be able to find this on product labels) by avoiding all wheat products to clear up digestive issues with could improve in just a few weeks or could take up to a year, depending on your age and overall health.
Don’t worry, it isn’t as bad as it sounds. There are many gluten-free options to common things such as breads, and desserts. And at the time of writing this article I actually have some gluten free brownies from a mix I got and I almost ate the whole batch myself and I don’t even have gluten problems. So trust me, you can find good stuff.
Also, chew your food properly so large proteins can be processed into amino acids while in the stomach. If you don’t chew properly, some proteins that have not been processed properly in the stomach can get into the intestine and the immune system may start attacking it in response. Also, although scientists aren’t sure why stress can make the body sensitive to foods and increase food intolerance you can try relaxing activities such as exercise to help digestion and be sure you are getting a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and probiotics/“good bacteria.” If you can’t eat dairy you can find some probiotics in soy products(e.g., yogurt etc...)
Again, as with all health concerns, you should seek professional medical advice before doing anything.
Written by: Shaffer, Alyssa(N.D) “Unknot Your Insides” Natural Health Magazine
Originally from here
Posted on ShalomAdventure.com by: Verna Lee Small
Picture by: Pdeitiker
