Tootin’? Maybe it’s Gluten…

Do you have a “sensitive stomach?”

Do you often develop abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea every time you eat a piece of bread or enjoy a bowl of cereal?  Do you gradually improve and end up blaming your symptoms on a “stomach bug?”

Have you heard a bunch of hype about bread allergies?

And think it might apply to you?

You might actually have celiac disease, otherwise known as gluten enteropathy.

Between 2 and 3 million Americans (nearly 1 percent!) have celiac disease but only a fraction have been formally diagnosed.

Celiac disease remains grossly under diagnosed because symptoms can be vague and mild, often varying between patients.

Only during the last decade have accurate blood tests become available to help doctors make the correct diagnosis.

The increasing number of patients diagnosed in the past several years has dramatically increased the media’s attention on this frequently misunderstood autoimmune disorder.

In fact, it seems everywhere you turn nowadays, people are talking about the evils of gluten.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac Disease is a chronic disorder caused by an inherited allergy to the gluten protein.

The gluten protein is prevalent in three primary grains: wheat, barley and rye.

All the other major grains including rice, corn, oats and quinoa are considered to be gluten free.

Despite being considered gluten free these other grains frequently become contaminated with gluten containing grains while in the fields, processing plants, and warehouses.  In addition, many foods, prescription drugs, and cosmetics can be contaminated with gluten containing fillers during their manufacturing process.

Though celiac disease is inherited, symptoms vary greatly from patient to patient.

Some affected individuals will show symptoms of their disease during childhood and fail to grow or thrive.  Others have only minimal problems until some unknown trigger activates their silent disease as young adults.

When a person with active celiac disease consumes at least 50 milligrams of gluten protein it invokes the body’s immune system to attack the small intestines.

The resulting attack and inflammatory process destroys the small intestine’s finger-like lining called villi (villous atrophy).  These villi serve to absorb essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins from digested food.

Without functional villi celiac, patients experience malnutrition, abdominal pain and bloating, and diarrhea from improperly digested food products.

The inability to absorb nutrients and vitamins can have profound health effects depending on the patient’s age.  Other associated medical problems include iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, joint pains, weight loss, fatigue, numbness in the extremities, and an itchy skin disorder called dermatitis herpetiformis.

The chronic small bowel inflammation also leads to an increased lifetime risk of small bowel cancers.

While blood tests have become useful in screening individuals for possible celiac disease, the definitive diagnosis of celiac disease still entails multiple biopsies of the damaged small intestinal lining by way of an upper endoscopy.

The only treatment for celiac disease is a life long gluten free diet.Within weeks of eliminating gluten products from the diet the damaged small intestinal lining begins repairing itself.   Many of the symptoms experienced during the active disease process can completely resolve as long as strict dietary avoidance is maintained.

Gluten free diets have recently become easier to follow because of the proliferation of gluten free food products and cook books.  Registered dieticians can be helpful educational resources as a patient learns more about food selection and meal preparation.  Patients need to be cautious about dining in restaurants and must remain vigilant of the potential for cross contamination with food  products containing trace amounts of gluten.

However, as the public becomes more and more aware of this prolific problem, great progress has been made in the past decade in the diagnosis and dietary management of celiac disease.  Individuals with celiac disease can now be diagnosed even prior to developing symptoms and can make the necessary lifestyle changes to avoid developing significant medical problems.

In Cool Springs, Franklin, TN, Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza has been booming with business for their Gluten-Free Pizza.

The pizza chain offers gourmet pizza of all kinds…INCLUDING GLUTEN-FREE!!

Formerly taboo to celiac sufferers, fresh, gourmet pizza can now be enjoyed by the glutenly-challenged.

And gone are the days where Gluten-free means taste-free!

Garlic Jim’s Gluten-free Pizza is nearly indistinguishable from the original delicious recipe that made it famous in the first place.

Advances in awareness of celiac’s disease, and more availability of authentic ingredients made right for the right reasons like Garlic Jim’s Pizza, will greatly improve the quality of life for those suffering from the disease…and those who aren’t even aware they have it.

by Penelope Jane Fox

www.garlicjims.com