Gluten Intolerance
By Justinne Lou Go, RND
SINCE I’ve been talking about food intolerance in my recent articles, let’s look at one of the most trending intolerances — gluten. Gluten sensitivity has been a hot topic in the past decade and like many new “diets,” a large portion of the public easily follow suit especially when they hear of celebrities going on a particular diet. That is usually how fad diets come about, but the modern diets we see trending these days are not necessarily just fad diets. Fad diets could be medically prescribed diets that are taken out of context because of exploitation by the industry and misrepresentation by the media.
The gluten-free diet, among several others, is an example of a medically appropriate diet that gained a fad diet label because of its misuse. It is recommended for people with proven gluten sensitivity as properly evaluated by a medical doctor or nutritionist-dietitian.
Celiac Disease is probably the only gluten sensitivity you know about, which subjects a person to go on a gluten-free diet, but there are actually several forms of gluten sensitivity—wheat allergy and the more recently coined non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). Celiac Disease is a genetic, autoimmune disease triggered by gluten and is known to only affect 1% of the population across the globe. However, more recent studies are showing that gluten sensitivity is a growing condition even in Asia and non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a more common form, affecting at least 50% of the population of varying ages and ethnicity. The cause or origin of NCGS is still undetermined at the moment but IgG intolerance testing can help identify this condition, together with the gluten challenge in the diet. Celiac Disease and NCGS share common symptoms such as recurring abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea/constipation, tingling/numbness in hands and feet, chronic fatigue, joint pain, unexplained infertility and low bone density (osteopenia or osteoporosis).
For a person to be diagnosed with NCGS, the medical professional must rule out wheat allergy and Celiac Disease through diagnostic tests, which may include a biopsy and endoscopy. However, if you’re pretty sure you don’t have Celiac Disease (since it doesn’t run in your family) and your doctor says so, but feel that you may have some form of food intolerance including gluten, a food intolerance test might be a better (non-invasive) method to determine specific foods you’re sensitive to. From there, you can do the specific elimination diet, which excludes the triggers from your diet for three months and test your tolerance by reintroducing gluten and observing the symptoms.
So, back to the gluten-free diet, one has to obviously avoid gluten. Studies have shown that the gluten-free diet benefits people suffering from gluten sensitivity and even autoimmune disorders (e.g. Hashimoto’s hypothyroiditis) by significantly reducing the symptoms. Gluten is found not only in wheat, but also in rye and barley. That means, one cannot have the usual pasta, bread, cakes and baked goods made with wheat flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free but may be contaminated with gluten from the growing and processing, so one must have certified gluten-free oats when on the gluten-free diet, to be safe. Economical starchy carb alternatives would be camote (sweet potato), corn, corn grits (mais), and rice. And of course, remember to choose whole foods and eat balanced meals to maintain a healthy nutritional status.
What’s important to note about the gluten-free diet, as with all medically prescribed diets, is that you must do it for the right reasons. If you are or have been on the gluten-free diet for the purpose of losing weight, then I’m sorry, that’s not part of the list to make you eligible for this diet.
In summary, being on a gluten-free diet with the right reason and motive is definitely not OA or inarte to look sosyal or just to be “in” with the trend. But, doing the diet right is important to maintain a good nutritional status, as always, with the help of a Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian.
