- Main symptoms of intolerance
- What causes gluten intolerance
- How treatment should be done
- Diet for gluten intolerance
Intolerance to non-celiac gluten is the inability or difficulty in digesting gluten, which is a protein present in wheat, rye and barley. In these people, gluten damages the walls of the small intestine, causing diarrhea, abdominal pain and swelling, in addition to hindering the absorption of nutrients.
In celiac disease, there is also an intolerance to gluten, but there is a reaction of the immune system causing a more severe condition, with inflammation, severe pain and frequent diarrhea. See more symptoms and how celiac disease is treated.
Gluten intolerance is permanent and, therefore, has no cure, being necessary to completely remove the gluten from the food for the symptoms to disappear. Find out more about what gluten is and where it is.
Main symptoms of intolerance
Symptoms that may indicate a possible gluten intolerance can be seen already in childhood, when cereals are introduced into the baby's diet. The most common symptoms include:
- Frequent diarrhea, 3 to 4 times a day, with large volume of feces; Persistent vomiting; Irritability; Loss of appetite; Thinning without apparent cause; Abdominal pain; Swollen abdomen; Paleness; Iron deficiency anemia; Decreased muscle mass.
In some cases, there may not even be any of these symptoms and gluten intolerance will only be discovered after the manifestation of other manifestations resulting from the disease, such as short stature, refractory anemia, joint pain, chronic constipation, osteoporosis or even sterility.
Check out more about each symptom that may indicate intolerance and take the test online to find out what the risk is.
What causes gluten intolerance
The causes of intolerance are not fully known, however, it is possible that gluten intolerance may have a genetic origin or happen due to altered intestinal permeability. In addition, it is also possible for intolerance to happen due to these two factors together.
In addition to the symptoms, it is possible to diagnose intolerance through tests such as:
- Stool test - known as the Van der Kammer test Urine test - called D-xylose testSerological test - blood test Antigliadin, endomysium and transglutaminases; intestinal biopsy.
These tests can help in the diagnosis of gluten intolerance, as well as a gluten-free diet for a set time to assess whether the symptoms disappear or not.
How treatment should be done
Treatment for gluten intolerance basically consists of excluding gluten from food for life. Gluten can be substituted in many situations by corn, maize flour, cornmeal, corn starch, potatoes, potato starch, manioc, manioc flour or starch, for example.
When removing gluten from the diet, symptoms can disappear in a few days or weeks.
Diet for gluten intolerance
The gluten intolerance diet consists of removing from the diet all foods containing gluten, such as those prepared with wheat flour, such as cakes, breads and cookies, replacing them with others, such as cornmeal cake, for example.
Anyone suffering from gluten intolerance should therefore exclude the following foods from their diet:
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Bread, pasta, biscuit, cake, beer, pizza, snacks and any food that contains gluten.
It is important that the person follows the diet correctly to avoid the complications that the disease can bring and, therefore, it is important to check if the food contains gluten and, if it has, do not consume it. This information is present on most food product labels.
See more tips for a gluten-free diet.
Also check out other gluten foods you should avoid and which ones you can eat:
In addition, Tapioca has no gluten and is a great option to replace bread in the diet. See what recipes you can prepare in Tapioca can replace bread in the diet.
