What to Do if a Celiac Eats Gluten
Roughly 1 in every 133 Americans has celiac disease – that’s about 1% of the total population. It may not sound like a lot, but the shocking truth is that the incidence of celiac disease has increased by 4-fold over the past fifty years alone.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by gluten consumption that can reduce the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the food you eat. At this time autoimmune diseases cannot be cured. The only way to prevent further damage to the digestive tract is to avoid gluten entirely.
People who don’t have celiac disease or gluten intolerance don’t have to think too much about what they eat. They can pick up a product off the shelf and throw it into their cart without looking. For someone with celiac disease, however, grocery shopping can be a much bigger challenge. They also have to be incredibly careful when going out to eat because even gluten free foods that have been in contact with gluten-containing foods are cross-contaminated and can cause a problem.
Accidental gluten ingestion can trigger a severe reaction and some very unpleasant symptoms. So, what do you do if you accidentally consume gluten? Keep reading to find out.
What Happens When You Eat Gluten?
Gluten is a type of protein found in certain grains including wheat, barley, and rye. Though the media might have you believing otherwise, it is not inherently dangerous or bad for you.
Unless you have celiac disease.
If you have celiac disease, consuming gluten triggers an immune response that damages the lining of the intestines. Even the smallest particle of gluten can cause a serious reaction and intestinal damage that could take months to heal. The reaction begins almost immediately after consumption, but what exactly is going on in your body?
The real mechanism behind a celiac’s negative response to gluten is a protein called gliadin. There are four different types of gliadin, two of which are associated with celiac disease in particular – it is the specific amino acids found in gliadin that trigger the autoimmune reaction.
When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, the immune system recognizes gliadin as a foreign invader and begins producing antibodies to fight it. Unfortunately, healthy cells are damaged in the process – particularly the villi lining the small intestine. Villi are tiny fingerlike projections that increase the surface area through which nutrients can be absorbed from food passing through the small intestine. When they are damaged by autoimmune activity, their function becomes impaired.
It is this damage to the villi and the resulting malabsorption of nutrients that contributes to some of the long-term symptoms associated with undiagnosed celiac disease. These symptoms may include fatigue, bone or joint pain, anemia, peripheral neuropathy, and depression or anxiety.
