Are you Gluten Free?

Someone who tries to eat a gluten-free diet wants to avoid ingesting the proteins found in wheat. So, they’ll avoid foods with ingredients like durum, semolina, spelt, farro, rye and barley. That means they’ll be looking for gluten-free noodles, breads, crackers, cereal, sauces, tortillas, and beer. Basically anything that uses “wheat flour” in the mix is not good for someone who is intolerant regarding gluten.

Have you heard of Celiac Disease? Gluten is made of two proteins– gliadin and glutenin. Some people have negative reactions to gliadin. Imagine your insides being filled with glue– that’s kind of what happens when a person ingests food or drinks with gluten. When that gluten reaches a person’s digestive tract it gets exposed to the cells of the immune system. Those with Celiac Disease have immune systems that think they’re being invaded by something bad (the gliadin) so the immune system mounts an attack against the substance(s). To further complicate things, those with Celiac Disease also have to worry about their immune system attacking the intestinal wall itself. Therefore, Celiac Disease has been classified as an autoimmune disease.

Ultimately here’s the problem: if your immune system isn’t working properly and your intestinal wall is getting messed up in the process, you’re going to experience problems. Do you want “digestive issues?” How about anemia, fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, etc? If a person’s system can’t handle gluten well, bad things happen.

Interestingly, the majority of people with Celiac Disease don’t know they have it. That said, some people experiment with their diet, opting to try a gluten-free one for a couple weeks to see if they feel better. Some do and some don’t– it depends on the person and “what’s really going on.”

Even if you don’t have Celiac Disease you may be sensitive to gluten and therefore want to try a gluten-free diet. For those without Celiac Disease, the immune system isn’t attacking the body’s own tissues, but the person does experience annoyances like bloating, stomach pain, fatigue, diarrhea and pain in the joints. If a person isn’t willing to adjust their diet to go totally gluten-free, then perhaps trips to the chiropractor can help alleviate some of the pains associated with gluten intolerance, such as stomach pain and pain in the joints.