What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac Disease is a newer disorder, but it’s one that is very real and affects many people across the globe. This is an autoimmune disorder that tends to be genetic in where people that eat gluten can get sick, it actually leads to damage to the small intestine. If] this is something you've never heard of before, you might be surprised to know that 1 in every 100 people has this disease and over 2.5 million people in the US alone are said to have it but be undiagnosed. These are the people, the ones that don't know they even have it, that are the ones that are at higher risks for complications because essentially they don't know they have it and don't try to eat foods that are NOT glutinous. Below we will be talking about this disease, what it is, how it attacks your body, foods that are included in the list that you should not be eating if you have this disease and more. Villi and How It Functions When a person has something like celiac disease, and they eat a glutinous item, usually found in bread items, their body ends up mounting to an immune response that attacks the small intestine. It sounds insane that your body would actually attack itself, but this is what happens! The attacks on your body lead to injuries and damages to the villi. These are small fingerlike projections that are in the lining of the small intestine and their number 1 job is to promotion nutrient absorption. These villi get injured nutrients to the body are not and cannot be properly absorbed into the body. Usually when a person has this disease it’s because of some genetic reason; their mother, father or even their grandparents have had this disease. Symptoms Checklist If you would like to see if you possibly have this disease, there is an official checklist of symptoms that will allow you to see if you do have it or not. This is the checklist, it’s a multiple choice questionnaire https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/symptomssigns/checklist/ and once you fill it out you can then take it to your GI doctor in Queens to talk with them about the results of the test and understand if you have celiac disease or not. List of Foods with Gluten The list for this is incredibly long, but here is a rolling list of what is included in the things you should NOT be eating if you have this disease. Alternatively, if you are eating these things and get sick, you could have the disease and not even know it.
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Wheat starch
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Wheat bran
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Wheat germ
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Couscous
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Cracked wheat
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Durum
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Einkorn
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Emmer
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Farina
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Faro
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Fu (common in Asian foods)
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Gliadin
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Graham flour
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Kamut
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Matzo
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Semolina
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Spelt
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Barley
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Bulgur
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Oats (oats themselves don't contain gluten but are often processed in plants that produce gluten-containing grains and may be contaminated)
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Rye
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Seitan
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Triticale and Mir (a cross between wheat and rye)
Gluten can also show up as an actual ingredient in things like burgers, chicken soup and brother, salad dressings, and soy sauce. So this is definitely something to be aware of. Almost everything these days has gluten in it unless it says its gluten free.
Long Term Health Effects Left untreated this is a disease that can cause some pretty serious and pretty hefty health problems such as diabetes, MS, anemia, miscarriages and infertility, migraines, headaches, certain types of cancers, epilepsy and more. It’s definitely nothing to shake your finger it because this IS a real thing, it can make you really sick and it can lead to bigger problems. If you or someone you know has any inclination that they might have this disease, please see a GI doctor in Queens about it, it’s better to get checked and mark it off the list than to live with it not only is it incredibly uncomfortable, but considering it can lead to major health issues, that alone should be enough for you to get check out and know, yes you have it here are the steps you need to take to make it better or no, you don't have it, but here are some other things to consider - such as GERD.