Understanding and Dealing With Gluten Allergies

Gluten allergy is caused by the body having difficulty digesting a protein found in grains. Grains such as wheat, oats and rye contain gluten and may cause chronic symptoms to develop in a person. Actually, gluten allergy is not truly and allergy but an intolerance in the digestive tract. This intolerance is thought to cause chronic health problems such as joint pain or arthritis type pain, anemia, digestive tract abnormalities, malnutrition and malabsorption disorders and many other difficulties. This intolerance will also have an impact on diseases such as diabetes which the patient may have.

It is imperative that a person who suspects they have a gluten allergy or intolerance see a physician for testing and diagnosis. There are several tests a doctor may perform including doing some dietary eliminations to test for the intolerance. Once the person has been diagnosed with gluten allergy and eliminated glutens from their diet they will begin to feel much healthier and have relief from all the symptoms.

Dietary Changes For Gluten Allergies

When a person has been diagnosed by a physician with a gluten allergy they should next consult a registered dietician for professional dietary advice. A registered dietician can prescribe a written diet for the patient and lists of foods which will need to be avoided. There are many people who claim to be nutritionists but the registered dietician has the schooling and licensing to back up their claims.

For the person with allergies it is important to get the best advice from true professionals. The registered dietician will spend time with the patient learning the patient’s likes and dislikes and offering helpful suggestions for dietary substitutes. The patient can always follow up with the dietician if questions come up later regarding changes to the diet.

The person with a gluten allergy may want to do some shopping in a natural food store or a health food store. There are many products which have come on the market in the past few years which claim to be gluten free. These products may help in making dietary changes. The person will have to vigilant to read labels on the various products. Sometimes the label on the front of the product may be misleading but the nutritional information on food products is carefully monitored and can usually be trusted. Of course, common sense dictates that if there is a food which seems to bother a person with gluten allergy this food should be avoided.