Wheat May Trigger Immune Response in People Without Celiac Disease

Individuals with celiac disease typically avoid wheat and food products containing wheat, fearing its gluten content will trigger adverse symptoms associated with the disease like nausea, indigestion, constipation, headaches and more. But there's new evidence indicating that such symptoms may appear in people who consume wheat, even if they don't have celiac disease.

Researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center found that people with celiac disease can experience many of the same symptoms as people with celiac disease after consuming wheat. Affecting between 1-2% of the entire population, celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that's characterized by the immune system attacking gluten in the digestive system. 

Up until now, most doctors and medical experts have assumed that celiac disease is the ONLY gluten-related disease. This new study, however, suggests that non-celiac gluten or wheat sensitivity (NCWS) is very real.

For the study, researchers closely monitored 80 men and women who were reportedly suffering from NCWS, roughly half of whom had been diagnosed with celiac disease while the other half had not. Researchers discovered that patients with NCWS and not full-blown celiac disease experienced improvements in their immune system after cutting wheat from their diet.

"These results shift the paradigm in our recognition and understanding of non-celiac wheat sensitivity and will likely have important implications for diagnosis and treatment," said Dr. Umberto Volta, professor of internal medicine at the University of Bologna. "Considering the large number of people affected by the condition and its significant negative health impact on patients, this is an important area of research that deserves much more attention and funding."

Of course, this is just one study that was done on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. There's still much we don't know about the way in which gluten affects different individuals. But if you experience any adverse symptoms after consuming wheat, oat, barley or any other gluten, it's best to cut this substance out from your diet.

If you believe you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, talk with your doctor. There are several tests that can reveal underlying problems associated with gluten. And once you've identified the problem, you can make changes to your lifestyle to better avoid the complications associated with celiac disease or NCWS.

This study was published in the journal BMJ Gut.