Gluten is a group of proteins found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten not only helps shape food like glue, it also gives the dough elasticity, helping it to expand and giving bread a tough texture. But for people with celiac disease or gluten allergies, eating gluten can trigger an immune response in the body that can damage the intestines. Doctors estimate that about 1% of people have celiac disease and 15% are allergic to gluten. Even people without celiac disease may show some degree of intestinal or immune response to gluten. Celiac disease is also often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome due to similar symptoms. Although there is currently no medical test for gluten intolerance. But you can try the following steps to determine if you are gluten intolerant and take the first step toward a healthier life.

Recognize Immediate Symptoms

Observe your mental state after eating gluten-containing foods. After a heavy meal, you may occasionally feel slightly sluggish as your body digests the food.

• People with gluten intolerance spend more energy dealing with the reactions in their digestive tract, so they often feel tired after eating.
• This fatigue is different from the lethargy that occasionally occurs after a meal, and people with gluten intolerance may feel exhausted after eating.

Observe your mental and emotional state after consuming wheat products. Many people with gluten intolerance report experiencing irritability after eating wheat products.

• Irritability may be related to fatigue, or it may be caused by general exhaustion. This feeling is somewhat similar to the fatigue caused by a cold.
• Some people with gluten intolerance report experiencing confusion immediately after eating. In other words, they have difficulty concentrating and thinking properly.

Watch out for headaches after meals. Headaches are not specific; sometimes they feel like migraines, and sometimes they feel like tension pain or cluster headaches. Although gluten intolerance does not cause a specific headache, many people experience headaches within half an hour or even an hour after eating.

Observe the changes in your hands and feet. People with gluten intolerance often experience joint pain and occasionally numbness or tingling in their extremities.

Watch out for indigestion. Although people with gluten sensitivity experience more non-gastrointestinal symptoms than those with celiac disease, they still experience gastrointestinal distress. They may experience bloating, abdominal pain, burping, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, or foul-smelling stools after meals.

• Some people may also experience anemia, fatigue, weight loss, osteoporosis, mouth ulcers, rashes, or tingling in their hands and feet.

Assess Long-Term Symptoms

Record weight changes. Gluten sensitivity is often accompanied by weight loss and malnutrition. But over time, gluten intolerance can also cause unexplained weight gain.

• Some children may also develop dental problems due to malnutrition caused by gluten intolerance.

Observe long-term mental changes. Depression, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, irritability, mood swings, or changes in behavior may be caused by gluten intolerance. Write down all the details of your psychiatric symptoms, including their severity and frequency of occurrence.

Keep careful records of any rashes on your body, including eczema. Some people with gluten intolerance may develop a burning, itchy rash in patches on their elbows, knees, or back. These rashes may eventually scab over and heal.

• If you find yourself with a rash like this, take a photo of it and send it to your health care provider, who should be able to help you distinguish whether it’s caused by a gluten intolerance.

Document women’s health issues. Women with gluten sensitivity or intolerance may experience menstrual irregularities, premenstrual syndrome, severe menstrual cramps, miscarriages, or infertility problems. For couples who have difficulty conceiving or have unexplained infertility, some doctors will conduct routine gluten sensitivity tests.

Receive Diagnosis and Treatment

Go to the hospital to get tested for gluten allergy. Gluten allergy and celiac disease are two of the most severe forms of gluten intolerance. Symptoms of gluten allergy include itching, swelling, and inflammation around or in the mouth; an itchy rash or hives; nasal congestion and itchy eyes; dental problems (especially in young children); cramps, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea; wheezing and difficulty breathing and anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a very serious allergic reaction that may cause low blood pressure and swelling of the face, tongue, and airways.

• Gluten allergy is most common in children, and symptoms usually disappear after the age of five, but of course, there are exceptions. A skin test or blood test can confirm gluten allergy.
• Anaphylaxis is a serious and potentially fatal condition. Once an attack occurs, call an ambulance immediately.

If you suspect you have celiac disease, seek medical attention promptly. Celiac disease is an immune response that gradually destroys the nutrient-absorbing villi in the small intestine. Your body won’t be able to absorb nutrients well. The intestines may become damaged, allowing contents to flow into the abdominal cavity. Celiac disease can be diagnosed with blood tests and a biopsy of intestinal tissue.

• If the test results show that you have neither a gluten allergy nor celiac disease, but you still suspect that gluten affects you, gluten intolerance or sensitivity may be the underlying cause. However, no test can confirm or rule out gluten sensitivity. Currently, we can only tell based on your symptoms.

Ask your doctor to check for complications of gluten intolerance. Although there is no test to diagnose gluten intolerance, you can check yourself for common conditions caused by gluten intolerance.

• Serum iron is low.
• Steatorrhea.
• Dental health problems due to poor nutrition.
• Calcium malabsorption.
• Developmental delays in children.

Avoid foods containing gluten for 2 to 4 weeks. Watch out for hidden sources of gluten, such as salad dressings, condiments, soups, sauces and even cosmetics. Some vitamins or nutritional supplements may also contain gluten. Remember to check the ingredient lists of all foods and cosmetics.

Keep a journal of your symptoms during your gluten-free period. Use a journal to record all changes during your diet and review your previous symptoms. See if these symptoms improve or disappear while eliminating gluten.

After the controlled diet is over, reintroduce gluten. Pay attention to how you feel after reintroducing gluten. If symptoms that disappear return after eating gluten and you feel worse than before eating gluten, you may have a gluten intolerance.

• If you are diagnosed with gluten intolerance after eating gluten again, you may need to start eating gluten-free again.

If you’re pretty sure you’re gluten intolerant, stick to gluten-free meals. To deal with the problems caused by gluten intolerance, you don’t just deal with the symptoms, but address the underlying causes.

• Eliminate gluten-containing foods such as wheat, barley, and rye, and use arrowroot, peanut flour, quinoa, rice flour, flour, and other similar but gluten-free alternatives.
• Although gluten sensitivity eventually gets better over time, for most people, gluten intolerance is a permanent problem.

Find out which foods contain gluten. In order to avoid eating gluten, you have to figure out which foods contain the protein gluten. Gluten is particularly common in many Western foods, such as:

• Bread, cookies, muffins, cakes and other baked goods.
• Pasta and pizza.
• Many fried foods with bread crumbs added.
• Beer.
• Cereals.
• Some soups and processed meats.
• Potato chips and French fries.
• Certain sauces and dairy products.
• Cosmetics such as lipstick may also contain gluten, and gluten is also a filler in pharmaceuticals.

Determine What Foods You Can Eat When you have a gluten intolerance or sensitivity, figuring out what foods you can eat is a process of trial and error. Keep a food journal and record every meal, snack, and even drink you eat. Once any discomfort occurs after a meal, record it in the diary immediately.

• Gluten-free starch sources include potatoes, rice, corn, soybeans, flax, and buckwheat. Although buckwheat has the word wheat in its name, it is not wheat. Buckwheat can be used to make pancakes, porridge, baked goods, and pasta, such as Japanese soba noodles.
• Read the food label carefully to make sure it’s not made from any gluten-containing ingredients, such as some tortilla chips that may contain wheat flour.

Tips

• Just because it’s labeled gluten-free, doesn’t mean the product is right for you. Likewise, cutting out gluten doesn’t necessarily lead to weight loss.
• Unspecified ingredients such as “natural flavors” are also a common source of hidden gluten in processed foods.
• Watch out for invisible gluten like malt and starch. Malt is a barley product, and starches other than cornstarch may contain gluten.
• Symptoms of gluten intolerance may be exacerbated by pregnancy, childbirth, illness, infection, stress, and surgery.
• Sometimes the product ingredients list will indicate other foods processed on the production line. Watch out for foods containing gluten such as wheat.