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  • Kelly Carter
    Kelly Carter

    By Kelly Carter •

    Fiber and Celiac Disease

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    The big take away for me on this is that we should eat more fiber. The gluten-free diet is notoriously low in fiber. Some good sources of fiber are beans, greens, coconut, corn, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and brown rice. 

    Fiber and Celiac Disease - Dragon's tongue beans. Image: CC BY-ND 2.0--TinyTall
    Caption: Dragon's tongue beans. Image: CC BY-ND 2.0--TinyTall

    Celiac.com 02/21/2020 - It seems fiber is important, especially for those suffering from celiac disease. Who knew? A study published in the March 2018 issue of Clinical Gastroenterology determined that increased fiber intake helped with ongoing celiac symptoms among sero-negative patients, and those with healed small intestine mucosa.

    The study looked at 47 confirmed celiac disease patients, of which 22 were not suffering from ongoing celiac symptoms, while 25 had ongoing symptoms. Both groups had healed intestinal mucosa and negative blood tests for celiac disease. They also tested a whole bunch of other technical biomarkers such as "CD3 + and γδ + intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), CD25 + and FOXP3 + regulatory T cells, and CD117 + mast cells, and the expression of tight junction proteins claudin-3 and occludin, heat shock protein 60, interleukin 15, and Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 were evaluated in duodenal biopsies." I have no idea what these are or why they are important, but they looked at them. My guess is that they are related to the autoimmune and/or inflammatory processes.

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     The asymptomatic patients ate more fiber and had a larger number of CD3 intraephithelial lymphocytes (IELs). According to the study, "There may be a correlation between the number of CD3 IELs and intestinal inflammation."

    The big take away for me on this is that we should eat more fiber. The gluten-free diet is notoriously low in fiber. Some good sources of fiber are beans, greens, coconut, corn, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and brown rice. 

    Beans can cause unfortunate gas and bloating which can be mistaken for celiac symptoms. Soaking beans overnight before cooking and using the Beano enzymes are good ways to counteract this. I find I can eat beans one day, but struggle if I try to eat them two days in a row. Leafy greens, again two days in a row throws my body into a fit. Maybe alternating days of beans and greens might help!

    Also, there is no shame in a gluten-free fiber supplement. I find psyllium husk fiber supplements to be exceptionally hard on my system. I use flax seeds when I need to. Here is a great article on how to choose a good fiber supplement for yourself.

    Anyway, if you are experiencing ongoing celiac symptoms, try a fiber supplement for a few weeks. Many people will tell you to eliminate diary, all grains, or a low FODMAP diet. This might be simpler and easier to implement than any of those and might provide relief. I would say this is worth a try!


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    Guest Claudette

    Guest Claudette

    Posted

    I noticed in the article that the Bean O enzyme was suggested for gas. Has Bean O removed wheat from their product or is this just referring to the enzyme that Bean O uses? I haven't read the ingredients on Bean O in years.

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    Scott Adams

    Beano is gluten-free: Open Original Shared Link

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    Awol cast iron stomach

    In addition to foods listed above in your article. I find using chia seeds flax seeds, and psyllium husk in baking are also helpful for those who tolerate them. I also incorporate chia into water for drinking, smoothies, jams, and chia puddings as well . They are versatile seeds.

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    SheriWetherell

    Most Americans in general need more fiber in their diet. In addition to some of the excellent suggestions above, I like to add a high fiber hemp protein to my smoothies. I use one by Nutiva that's 12 grams of fiber, which for women gets you to almost half of your daily fiber requirement. Hemp hearts are also high in fiber. For those who get gassy from beans, try soaking them overnight. Doing so helps to reduce the anti-nutrients, such as phytates and lectins, which are harmful to our sensitive guts. I soak all raw nuts as well for the same reason. One word of caution though when increasing your fiber intake is to drink lots of water so your digestive system doesn't block up! 64 ounces a day is my goal. 

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    Ennis-TX
    13 hours ago, SheriWetherell said:

    Most Americans in general need more fiber in their diet. In addition to some of the excellent suggestions above, I like to add a high fiber hemp protein to my smoothies. I use one by Nutiva that's 12 grams of fiber, which for women gets you to almost half of your daily fiber requirement. Hemp hearts are also high in fiber. For those who get gassy from beans, try soaking them overnight. Doing so helps to reduce the anti-nutrients, such as phytates and lectins, which are harmful to our sensitive guts. I soak all raw nuts as well for the same reason. One word of caution though when increasing your fiber intake is to drink lots of water so your digestive system doesn't block up! 64 ounces a day is my goal. 

    Do batch test your containers of Hemp protein, hemp is often grown in rotation with wheat and farmers use some of the same equipment for harvesting and transport. This means that contaminated batches are very common. I got glutened by Hemp several years ago, I got a positive test on nima. and even had it tested and came back at 18ppm gluten. While below the 20ppm legal requirements it still caused me some less severe reactions. I moved to Just Hemp and even then half the containers got postive on the Nima. THE only help I have never had issues with was MyGerbs whole seeds and even then I always sorted them on butcher paper checking for errant grains (never found any) just to be sure.

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    Guest Julie

    Guest Julie

    Posted

    Beano is NOT gluten free unless they have changed their ingredients

     

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    Scott Adams

    Beano is gluten-free: Open Original Shared Link

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    Guest Tamara

    Guest Tamara

    Posted

    Any suggestions for those of us that celiac has left also lectin intolerant?  I am also allergic to latex which limits many other high fiber foods...

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    Guest Nicole Marie

    Guest Nicole Marie

    Posted

    So I have noticed since following a nutritionists advice of eating beans daily, that my ongoing celiac symptoms went away finally after years of ongoing persistent symptoms. And nothing light it was pretty intense. Even with an elimination diet I could hardly add in other foods without suffering. The more beans I incorporated the less my symptoms became! I’m at a point that I can now eat all gluten-free foods without issue! Which is a huge milestone as for years I was down to just a handful of foods. I had to start low and slow with the beans. As with anything you introduce you have to incrementally increase your intake to build tolerance. I started with 1 tbsp of beans each meal and worked up a tbsp until I worked up to one cup over the course of a couple weeks. It took about 3 months before I saw dramatic results. I followed The Bean Protocol and it really helped me. It then had me wondering if eating a diet high in legumes and fiber could help prevent the onset of celiac disease and then came upon this post. Really has me wondering about beans and celiac in the prevention and maybe even remission. 

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  • About Me

    Kelly Carter

    I was diagnosed with Celiac in 2012 and have been gluten free ever since.  I live in Atlanta with my husband and two medium sized children.  I run a blog at FatCeliac.net that covers real life issues with celiac disease, upcoming drug trials, and try to be a reliable source of information for the celiac community.

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