What is Celiac Disease and Dietary Changes for Celiac Disease?

We all have been intrigued by the gluten-free labels on cookies, breads, and numerous other food products. The term gluten-free indicates that the product you are looking at is free of Gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. People can be either genetically prone to gluten intolerance or it can be triggered due to infant feeding practices, gastrointestinal infections, gut bacteria, intestinal changes after surgery, pregnancy and childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional distress. Also known as Celiac disease, it can be found in a major part of the population. 

Dt. Gagan Anand brings to you a highly informative blog on What is Celiac Disease and Dietary Changes for Celiac Disease. This blog will help you learn more about Celiac disease and how you can change your diet to manage its symptoms. Dt. Gagan Anand’s expertise has included highly informative insights and useful tips on managing your gluten intolerance with diet. 

What is Celiac Disease and How it Affects Your Body 

Celiac disease or gluten intolerance occurs when our body becomes unable to digest gluten, a protein present in wheat, barley, and rye. With the omnipresence of these grains in our diet it becomes difficult to avoid gluten and its irritating symptoms on our gut. In Celiac disease your gut or small intestine can get damaged and interfere with the absorption of nutrients. 

Celiac disease triggers your immune system and thereby damages your villi. These villi are tiny tubules present in your small intestine responsible for the proper absorption of food. This way eating food with gluten can disturb the gut of people with intolerance, leading to several effects. 

The list of symptoms commonly noticed during Gluten intolerance is briefed below: 

1. Headaches or migraines 
2. Gut issues such as cramps, bloating, gas, constipation and diarrhea
3. Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
4. Skin issues such as Itchy skin, hives, or rash
5. Nausea, fatigue, vomiting, or anxiety

Who Needs to Avoid Gluten

In today’s extra woke culture it is normal to fall into the trap of irrelevant fad diets. Many people who do not have gluten sensitivity may get interested in following a gluten-free diet to stay in trend. Another reason a gluten-free diet may be considered healthy is, that gluten is also associated with bread, cookies, desserts, and other snacks. However, this is highly misleading and causes unwanted paranoia among people. 

Though it is important to stay cautious of your health, indulging in every other fad diet could do more harm than good. Most people with Celiac disease and Gluten ataxia are required to follow a gluten-free diet to avoid any negative health effects. The other health conditions in which people may be prone to developing celiac disease are: 

• Down syndrome
• Turner syndrome
• type 1 diabetes
• Hashimoto’s
• autoimmune thyroid disease

List of Foods to Avoid in Celiac Disease 

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Therefore, most food items such as baked goods, baking mixes, breads, cereals, and pasta are also a source of gluten in Celiac disease. The other wide range of natural sources of gluten are briefed below: 

1. Wheat and types of wheat such as spelt, semolina, emmer, and durum.
2. A cross between wheat and rye, triticale
3. Barley, found in malt, malt extract, malt vinegar, and brewer’s yeast rye

Besides these grains, gluten can be easily found in ingredients and additives such as colorings, flavorings, starches, and thickeners. These ingredients are used in food items such as candy, condiments, hot dogs and sausages, ice cream, salad dressing, and soups which can easily cause gluten-insensitivity. 

Dietitian Recommended Dietary Changes for Celiac Disease

Opting for a gluten-free diet is the only sustainable treatment to manage the symptoms of celiac disease. Along the diet, you can also make a few dietary changes for celiac disease that can simplify your diet and help you adapt to a gluten-free lifestyle. Though you can find gluten-free bread, pasta, and other products, there are still a myriad of hidden sources of gluten that you should be aware of. Follow the below-mentioned dietary changes for celiac disease to adopt a gluten-free diet approach. 

1. Check all the labels carefully to look for hidden gluten sources such as spelt, kamut, wheat starch, wheat bran, emulsifiers, dextrin, mono- and di-glycerides, seasonings, and caramel colors. 

2. Avoid all the products and sources of gluten, including barley, rye, triticale (a cross between wheat and rye), farina, graham flour, semolina, and any other kind of flour.

3. Switch to nutritious replacements like potato, rice, soy, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, nut, or bean flour. You can also use sorghum, chickpea or Bengal gram, arrowroot, and corn flour to avoid taking gluten whatsoever. 

4. You can also try oats as recent studies suggest that oats can be eaten with gluten insensitivity if it is not contaminated with wheat. 

5. Stay cautious of all the corn and rice products as they can be easily contaminated with wheat gluten if processed in large factories with poor quality control practices. 

Wrapping Up!

Celiac disease or gluten intolerance is more common than we assume. However, you should not self-prescribe any gluten-free diet plan, and always consult your dietitian or any renowned nutritionist to get the best Celiac disease diet plan for you. If you are not intolerant to gluten or have any other health problem, you may not need to follow a diet plan for celiac disease. Always remember to consult your dietitian before switching to a dietitian and follow the dietary changes for celiac disease mentioned in this article.