Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Gluten Allergy - What Is It?

By Dorothy Medlum

There is a rubbery like protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and low level oats called gluten. Gluten allows the bread to bind. You would notice this in baked breads and other baked goods.

Although these grains contain gluten, they also contain other proteins that cause other allergies as well.

The four primary proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley include: albumin, globulin, gliadin, and glutenin, better known as gluten. While the symptoms and severity of gluten allergy vary from one person to another, a person would generally experience hives, swelling, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, or asthma.

If the person is highly sensitive to gluten allergy, the symptoms could be life-threatening.

A diagnosis is quite easy, if the person has a reaction after eating wheat or wheat products. The challenge is that so many foods we eat contain wheat and it becomes increasingly difficult to determine which one gave the problem.

A trained allergist would need to do a skin prick test to better determine the gluten allergy problem. If the reaction is severe, the solution may involve elimination of the by products from the diet. If the gluten allergy is minor, the amount of wheat may be watched, allergy medication and shots taken to help the person with the gluten allergy.

If the person with the gluten allergy is a young child, chances are they will outgrow this allergy. In children, this allergy can be seen as abdominal distension growth, abnormal stools, irritability, poor muscle tone, and wasting of the muscle. If the adult has this gluten allergy they will have significant weight loss, abdominal cramps and bloating, and constipation.

An allergist will need to perform a blood test to confirm a diagnosis for both cases. Once accomplished, the only treatment is to eliminate gluten from the diet. Having done this, it becomes essential that nutrients and deficiencies be addressed with things like niacin, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, chromium, magnesium, folacin, molybdenum, and phosphorus; health care and diet are important as well. A person with a gluten allergy can enjoy a hearty choice without the irritating symptoms. When becoming aware of the gluten allergy, she learns how to choose the correct foods that will be beneficial for years afterward.

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