About Gluten
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats. In the United States, oats are crop-rotated with wheat and due to contamination concerns, oats are not recommended unless they are certified gluten free through the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO). The gluten free diet is used in the treatment of celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, autism and gluten intolerance. A gluten free diet means not consuming products that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, and barley. A person with gluten intolerance should not eat most grain, pasta, cereal, oats (see note above) and many processed foods. Despite these restrictions, people with gluten intolerance can eat a well balanced diet with a variety of foods, including gluten free bread and gluten free pasta. Excellent substitutes for products that contain gluten are almond, potato, sweet white rice, soy, sorghum, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, or bean flour instead of wheat flour.
In the United States, gluten may not be listed on food labels. The US Department of Agriculture is formulating requirements for proper labeling of products with gluten. The requirements that define the term “gluten free” and identifying the criteria to enable the food industry to use the term is scheduled to be released by the Food and Drug Administration on August 2nd, 2008. The food industry’s use of the term is planned to be voluntary. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations, has set a standard of foods labeled gluten-free may not contain wheat, rye, oats or barley and the gluten level may not exceed 20 ppm (parts per million).
Probably the most common of reasons for a person to be on a gluten free diet is a diagnosis of celiac disease. According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the fingerlike villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to malnourishment. Symptoms of celiac disease vary greatly and can include one or more of the following:
- - Digestive problems
- - Infertility
- - Migraines
- - Schizophrenia
- - Depression
- - Fibromyalgia diagnosis
According to the National Institute of Health, an estimated 1 percent of all Americans suffer from celiac disease, though many have never been diagnosed and are not receiving treatment. This means that approximately 3 million Americans have celiac disease and are therefore intolerant to gluten. In order to show the magnitude of people affected by gluten intolerance, here are the National Institute of Health’s numbers for a few well known conditions:
- - Celiac disease affects approximately 3 million Americans
- - Epilepsy affects approximately 2.8 million Americans
- - Alzheimer's disease affects approximately 2 million Americans
- - Ulcerative colitis affects approximately 500,000 Americans
- - Crohn's disease affects approximately 500,000 Americans
- - Multiple sclerosis affects approximately 333,000 Americans
- - Cystic fibrosis affects approximately 30,000 Americans
To learn more about a gluten free diet in the treatment of celiac disease, please visit the Celiac Disease Foundation and the National Institute of Health’s Celiac Disease Awareness Campaign website.
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) or Duhring's Disease, is a skin disorder often associated with celiac disease. It is a chronic, extremely itchy rash and is associated with sensitivity of the intestine to gluten in the diet.
A gluten free & casein free diet eliminates intake of the naturally occurring proteins gluten and casein (a protein found in milk and cheese). Some advocacy groups recommend the diet as a treatment for autism and related disorders. The data from studies on the gluten free & casein free diet used in this type of treatment is inadequate to guide treatment recommendations, however, the numerous examples of positive results are encouraging. To learn more about a gluten free & casein free diet in the treatment of autism, please visit the Autism Research Institute.