If you experience gluten sensitivity, you know how challenging it can be to avoid flare-ups brought on by consuming foods with gluten. But you might not be aware of the ways that gluten sensitivity can affect your autoimmune health, and what to do if you encounter difficulties.
At Integrative Medica in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dr. Jake Schmutz and his team specialize in diagnosing and treating autoimmune conditions. Here, we explore the connections between gluten sensitivity and autoimmune conditions.
Gluten insensitivity or gluten intolerance is a condition in which you experience digestive distress after eating foods that contain gluten. Gluten is a protein that naturally occurs in foods like wheat, rye, barley, and other grains.
You might think it’s easy to avoid gluten issues by steering clear of these grains. However, you can find gluten in a vast array of foods and food products, including drinks, cereal, pasta, soups, packaged foods, and more.
Anyone can develop gluten sensitivity, and some people are born with it. Researchers haven’t determined the exact cause of the condition, but there could be a genetic component.
It also appears that symptoms can develop when wheat negatively affects the lining of the digestive tract, causing the lining to deteriorate and allowing inflammatory bacteria to enter the liver or bloodstream.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that causes a strong immune reaction when you consume gluten. Your system launches an attack against the gluten, creating significant inflammation in your digestive system.
This inflammation often damages the interior of your small intestine. That prevents your small intestine from absorbing nutrients properly, which can leave you with nutritional deficiencies.
Celiac disease can cause or contribute to many issues, including:
The best way to avoid these symptoms and outcomes is to avoid consuming any food that contains gluten. Treatments for specific symptoms and complications are available.
When people who don’t have celiac disease experience problems with gluten, it’s called non-celiac gluten insensitivity (NCGS).
Recent research suggests that the immune response in people who don’t have celiac disease when exposed to gluten is different from what happens when people with celiac disease encounter gluten. Specifically, the antibodies produced in response to gluten differ.
This finding could help practitioners accurately diagnose both conditions and lead to new and better treatment options.
While gluten sensitivity isn’t the same as celiac disease, both are linked to autoimmune problems, and you can improve both by eliminating gluten from your diet.
If you experience digestive distress, an accurate diagnosis is the first step to finding the right treatment. Get started today by booking a visit with Dr. Schmutz and the team at Integrative Medica. Call our office or schedule your appointment online today.
