Gluten intolerance Health Dictionary

This is divided into food aversion, where a person simply avoids a food they dislike; food intolerance, where taking the food causes symptoms; and food allergy, where the symptoms are due to an immunological reaction. Some cases of food intolerance are due to idiosyncrasy – that is, a genetic defect in the patient, such as alactasia, where the intestine lacks the enzyme that digests milk sugar, with the result that individuals so affected develop diarrhoea when they drink milk. Intolerance to speci?c foods, as distinct from allergy, is probably quite common and may be an important factor in the aetiology of the IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS).

For the diagnosis of true food allergy, it is necessary to demonstrate that there is a reproducible intolerance to a speci?c food; also, that there is evidence of an abnormal immunological reaction to it. Occasionally the allergic response may not be to the food itself but to food contaminants such as penicillin, or to food additives such as tartrazine. There may also be reactions to foods which have pharmacological effects, such as ca?eine in strong co?ee or histamine in fermented cheese, or such reactions may be due to the irritant e?ect on the intestinal mucosa (especially if it is already diseased) by, say, highly spiced curries.

Testing blood and skin for food allergy is beloved of some alternative practitioners but, in practice, the results of tests do not necessarily agree with what happens when the food is taken. Therefore, a careful history is as useful as any test in making a diagnosis.... food intolerance

The constituent of wheat-?our which forms an adhesive substance on addition of water, and allows the ‘raising’ of bread. It can be separated from the starch of ?our, and being of a protein nature is used to make bread for those diabetics who are debarred from starchy and sugary foods.

It is also responsible for certain forms of what is now known as the MALABSORPTION SYNDROME. In patients with this condition, an essential part of treatment is a gluten-free diet. (See also COELIAC DISEASE.)... gluten

is due to lack in the INTESTINE of the ENZYME known as LACTASE which is responsible for the digestion of lactose, the sugar in milk. The result is that drinking milk or eating milk-containing products is followed by nausea, a sensation of bloating, or distension, in the gut, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. (Similar disturbances after taking milk may also occur in those who do not lack lactase but have an allergy to milk protein). Treatment is by means of a low-lactose diet avoiding fresh or powdered milk and milk puddings. Many can tolerate fermented milk products, as well as the small amounts of milk used in baking and added to margarine and sausages. However, infamts may have to be fed exclusively on a lactose-free formula as even breast milk may produce symptoms.... lactose intolerance

An adverse reaction of a patient to a drug or treatment. (See ADVERSE REACTIONS TO DRUGS.)... intolerance

Some people cannot absorb the protein gluten present in wheat, barley, rye and oats, and hundreds of foods made from them. Nutritional deficiencies may result in coeliac disease, schizophrenia, allergies and irritable bowel syndrome.

Foods containing gluten include: many breakfast cereals, shredded wheat, wheat germ flakes, white and wholemeal bread, cakes, puddings, biscuits, porridge, rye and wheat crispbreads, crumbled fish and meat, semolina, baked beans, macaroni, baby foods, soups in packets and tins, chocolate, cocoa, spaghetti, muesli, custard, sausages, batter, beer, instant coffee, bedtime drinks and all kinds of pasta.

Natural gluten-free foods include maize, peas, millet, Soya, lima beans, rice. Brown rice is the basic cereal food: cornflakes, puffed rice, rice cereals. Millet flakes, sago, tapioca. These may be prepared in skimmed milk. Gluten-free flours and bread. The potato comes into its own in the gluten-free kitchen, especially for thickening soups and casseroles.

One school of medical thought associates certain nerve dyscrasies with nutritional deficiencies, the gluten-free diet being advised for cases of multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, poliomyelitis, syringomyelia, motor neurone disease.

Book. Gluten-Free cooking Recipes for Coeliacs and Others, by Rita Greer. ... diet - gluten-free

See coeliac disease.... gluten enteropathy

lowered threshold or heightened sensitivity to the normal pharmacological action and dosage of a drug. It is unpredictable but there is some evidence of familial history.... drug intolerance

Adult coeliac disease, coeliac sprue, non-tropical sprue, idiopathic steatorrhoea. Allergy to gluten which disturbs the small intestine by preventing the body from absorbing food nutrients. A child’s condition may worsen when put on solid cereals containing wheat, barley, rye or oats. “Allergic to pasta” disease. A change in the mucous membrane of the intestines with enzyme deficiency.

Symptoms: diarrhoea, abdominal swelling and pain, irritability, inability to gain weight, neuritis, ulcers on tongue and mouth, low blood pressure, debility, lactase-deficiency. Breast-feeding stops coeliac disease.

Alternatives. Tea. Mix, equal parts: Raspberry leaves, Agrimony, Lemon Balm. 2 teaspoons to each cup boiling water; infuse 15 minutes. 1 cup freely.

Tablets/capsules. Goldenseal, Slippery Elm. Calamus. Fenugreek seeds, Papaya. Wild Yam.

Powders, Liquid Extracts, Tinctures. Formula. Equal parts: Sarsaparilla, Wild Yam, Stone root. Dose. Powders: 500mg (two 00 capsules or one-third teaspoon). Liquid Extracts: 30-60 drops. Tinctures: 1-2 teaspoons. In water, banana mash or honey, thrice daily.

Papaya (papain) digests wheat gluten and assists recovery. Half-1g with meals.

Aloe Vera juice. Promotes improved bowel motility, increases stool specific gravity, and reduces indication of protein putrefaction, flatulence and bloating after meals. (J. Bland PhD. JAM June 1985, p.11)

Topical. Warm hip baths of Lemon Balm, Chamomile, etc. (Alfred Vogel)

Diet. Gluten-free. Rice. Unpasteurised yoghurt. Buttermilk. Sweet acidophilus milk. Raw carrot juice. Bananas mashed with a little Slippery Elm or dried milk powder, carob bean powder and Soya milk. Supplementation. Vitamins A, B-complex, B6, B12, Folic acid, C, D, E, K (Alfalfa tea). Calcium, Iron and Magnesium orotates. ... gluten-sensitive disease