How Gluten Affects your Health

Surely you have heard about the intolerance to gluten as more and more people are diagnosed with this disease or without suffering from it they decide to consume gluten free foods. Where is gluten? In the protein of some cereals (wheat, barley, rye, spelled, oats). The symptoms suffered by people with celiac disease are:

• Diarrhea and vomiting

• Constipation, pain and abdominal swelling

• Growth retardation

• Loss of appetite and weight

• Irritable character

• Lesion in the mucosa of the small intestine

But the consumption of gluten not only affects the celiac, even if you do not suffer from the disease, the consumption in large quantities or continuously of foods with gluten ends up injuring your intestinal mucosa, destroying the villi of the intestine, which hinders the absorption of the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, also stimulates the appetite, increasing the intake up to 400 Kcal. a day. This affects people who are not celiac or suffer from any type of disorder, but in certain types of disorders has a very negative effect, such as eating disorders (bulimia, binge eating) consumption of gluten increases obsessions with food, in people with bipolar disorder they trigger episodes of very intense mania and in cases of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or autism it promotes bursts in behaviour and diminishes attentional capacity.

Gluten has also been associated with other diseases such as autoimmune thyroid, finding in several studies how the symptoms of hypothyroidism improve with a strict diet 100% gluten-free, it is not enough to be a few days without consuming, it must be eliminated completely from your diet to achieve benefits. Not only has an improvement in hypothyroidism been seen, but also in cases of schizophrenia, when it is eliminated from the diet the symptoms diminish. And in children it has a disastrous effect on their small intestine, suffering severe deterioration and chronic malnutrition.

Beware of “gluten-free” products because they add ingredients that can affect your health in other ways, usually added corn starch, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato flour to mimic the texture and taste of wheat and these foods raise the sugar levels even more than wheat, so pay attention to the labelling and read the ingredients.

If you are convinced that you want to eliminate gluten from your diet you should be prepared to suffer certain withdrawal symptoms for about a week:

• Nausea

• Headache

• Fatigue

• Low mood

But do not worry you will feel better later and much better than before. To cope better with the symptoms.of the first week take a lot of water, stay hydrated, consume sea salt, probiotics, magnesium, vitamin D, omega 3 fatty acids, iron and zinc.

And if you want to continue consuming gluten, you can do it but preferably from organic cereals since in some cases wheat intolerances are due to the cultivation of grain, wheat has undergone many changes in its production over the years. Spelt is one of the most recommended cereals if you do not want to be gluten free since it’s a grain that has not undergone many changes, opt for barley, rye, kamut or spelt.