In addition to celiac disease, gluten or bread products can cause other problems.
Particularly in children, allergy to wheat is common, but it has different immunological basis and requires a different diet as well as presenting with different complications than celiac disease.
Nowadays, there is much talk also about gluten sensitivity, which is an inherent problem associated with the direct toxic effects of gluten in the intestines and the activation of natural immune mechanisms. Since we have begun to encounter celiac disease more frequently in everyday life, many people without the disease began to use gluten-free products and some noticed that after a diet without morning cereal, bread and pasta they feel much better. It is remarkable, however, that tests have not confirmed any wheat allergy or celiac disease in these individuals.
At first it seemed that avoiding gluten was just a fad, but today we know that gluten can indeed cause a wide range of problems which tend to be less pronounced than in celiac disease. Patients describe the discomfort, the feeling of bloating and heaviness in the abdomen, fatigue after meals, deconcentration of attention and ‘foggy’ mind, malaise, etc. These symptoms have not yet been explained in detail, nor are we able to predict the course of the disorder since there are no simple diagnostic tests yet. In search for the diagnosis, we mostly rely on trial diets and different gluten levels in diet, but of course, prior to that we first eliminate the possibility for celiac disease. According to preliminary estimates, up to 6% of people are supposedly suffering from this type of gluten intolerance. Our experience shows that, unlike celiac disease, this type of gluten intolerance eventually subsides, and dietary restrictions are usually not as strict either.
After all, we all know that exaggerated consumption of white bread, pasta and pastries triggers a variety of adverse metabolic changes which negatively affect our health. In this case, the only solution is to change the diet, and not so much to avoid gluten.