DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS LINKED TO GLUTEN INTOLERANCE
Abdominal pain, difficult digestion... Gluten intolerance can make daily life very difficult. How do these plant substances cause such disorders? How to identify an intolerance and especially how to better live with it? Our answers.
What is gluten intolerance?
Gluten refers to protein fractions contained in certain cereals such as wheat, rye or barley. During digestion, it crosses the intestinal barrier and provokes a reaction in predisposed people 1 . The immune system, 70% of whose cells are housed in the intestine, produces antibodies that attack the villi present on the intestinal walls and necessary for the absorption of nutrients. Consequence: digestion is greatly disturbed and the body assimilates less well the lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals provided by food.
The causes of gluten intolerance are not yet fully identified. However, several studies have shown that people who suffer from this chronic autoimmune disease , also called celiac disease , have greater intestinal permeability than the rest of the population . This porosity increases the penetration of gluten into the wall of the intestine and therefore the immune reaction.
How does gluten intolerance manifest itself?
For many people with gluten intolerance, no signs are seen for sometimes many years. When manifestations eventually appear, they vary greatly from one subject to another, hence the difficulties in identifying the cause. Gluten intolerance mainly causes digestive problems , with chronic diarrhea or more rarely constipation, abdominal pain , bloating , flatulence. As the assimilation of nutrients is reduced, weight loss can occur, as well as more general signs: fatigue, anemia... These non-digestive disorders are especially present during intolerances discovered late.
If the signs of intolerance sometimes take years to appear, they sometimes appear very early, in babies, just a few weeks after the introduction of gluten into the diet.
How do you know if you are truly gluten intolerant?
The first clue is the recurrence of the manifestations . Do you feel discomfort every time you eat a food containing gluten? The track of an intolerance is probable. Only a doctor can make the diagnosis, by asking for a blood test to look for the presence of certain antibodies (tissue transglutaminase antibodies, IgA and IgG classes and anti-endomysium antibodies, IgA class) and to perform a typing to find out if you have genetic predispositions . A digestive endoscopy definitely confirms the diagnosis of gluten intolerance.
All these examinations are essential to distinguish an intolerance from an allergy. In the case of an allergy, skin and respiratory signs are added to digestive disorders. Since severe cases of gluten allergy can go as far as anaphylactic shock , it is essential to make an accurate diagnosis in order to adapt treatment.
How to adapt your lifestyle?
If you are intolerant to it, the first thing to do is to adopt a gluten-free diet. Admittedly, this is not always easy because it hides everywhere in prepared dishes, where it is used as a binder or thickener (in sauces or meatballs for example). The best reflex is to cook from fresh and raw products. Foods to avoid include wheat, oats, barley, spelled and rye. Replace with rice, corn, potatoes, soy, quinoa or buckwheat. A little tip for following a gluten-free diet: processed products that do not contain gluten are stamped with a logo representing an ear of wheat in a crossed out circle. You should also know that the presence of gluten must be systematically indicated in the list of ingredients (in most cases,
To these eviction measures, it is recommended to combine a healthy lifestyle, adequate physical activity and a diversified diet rich in fiber.
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