If A Person W/o celiac disease Goes gluten-free, What Happens?

[SuperBeck]

Just wondering: If someone WITHOUT Celiac or gluten intolerance goes gluten-free, will anything happen to them? e.g, will their bowel movements change alike a person who does have celiac disease?

I don't have a formal DX, but I've gone gluten-free and the first few days thankfully my diarrhea stopped, but now it seems dairy effects me. I never had a problem with dairy before, is this normal? In fact, when I had dairy before, it seemed to slow down my D.

TIA (so glad we are all so close we can jump in the forum and start talking POOP! LOL)

>|< SuperBeck

[tarnalberry]

If a person truely does not have celiac disease, and truely does not have any form of gluten intolerance (and I'm treating those two things separately here), and does not have any wheat allergy, then there should be no change going gluten free, because the body is not having any problem with gluten or wheat. If you're seeing D go away when you stop eating gluten, your body is telling you that it does have a problem with gluten, because D is not the normal, healthy state. That's not to say you necessarily have celiac disease, but something isn't normal with you and gluten.

Dairy is often constipating, and if it's not working against the laxative effect of gluten in you, you may simply be noticing it more now.

[nikki-uk]

Well,I suppose that describes me-I went gluten free to support my husband,and it just made things easier at mealtimes.

Suprisingly,I found that my skin condition of eczema got alot better.

Not so good,-I discovered I get some weird symptoms if I try and sneak some gluten in.

Palpitations,sweats,funny tingling in my mouth,eczema returns with a vengeance!

Perhaps gluten never did agree with me,but I didn't realise it

[Ursa Major]

SuperBeck, when you were still on gluten, you didn't realize that you can't tolerate dairy, because it didn't cause a reaction as bad as the gluten. Now that the gluten has cleared out of your body, your body has realized that it doesn't like dairy either. Which is actually fairly common for celiac disease.

It isn't possible to get a negative reaction to cutting out grains, it just appears that way, because many times people go through actual withdrawal when eliminating grains. They can cause you to be addicted, because they cause a reaction in your brain similar to the effects of morphine.

[SuperBeck]

Now that the gluten has cleared out of your body, your body has realized that it doesn't like dairy either. Which is actually fairly common for celiac disease.

Thanks everyone! Makes sense.

Ursula, Are these people eventually able to have dairy once intestines have healed? Is dairy sensitivity the same as gluten, meaning a little may as well be a lot? I mean, can I still have milk in my tea (I'm a Brit!) if I give up all other milk sources?

One other thing, why is a person with celiac disease effected by a crumb of gluten? Is a crumb interpreted as a germ to our bodies? (e.g. you can't catch a bigger cold by being in contact with more of the same germ.)??? I'm just trying to get a grasp on how to explain why I cannot have even a trace of dietary gluten to my DH. (You were very helpful in the other thread, BTW,t hanks.)

>|< SuperBeck

[penguin]

Milk and milk products are fine for Celiacs, provided they are neither lactose (milk sugar) intolerant or casein (milk protein) intolerant. Many, if not most, celiacs are lactose intolerant temporarily. Since the villi are damaged, lactase (the enzyme that digests lactose) cannot be produced by the tips of the villi in the small intestine. When a person is gluten-free for a time and the villi have healed, most celiacs are able to tolerate dairy again.

Others are casein intolerant, which is the milk protein and is somewhat similar to gluten in structure. Casein is reported to cause damage much in the way that gluten does in celiacs.

A crumb affects celiacs because the body thinks the gluten is poision and sends the immune system into attack mode, thereby attacking the gluten and the villi. So it is kind of like catching the same amount of cold no matter how much of the virus you come in contact with.

[SuperBeck]

Others are casein intolerant, which is the milk protein and is somewhat similar to gluten in structure. Casein is reported to cause damage much in the way that gluten does in celiacs.

Thanks Chelsea. Wow! How does one determine if they are casein intolerant? Is there a test (blood or challenge)?

Love your Latin btw ... made me chuckle!

>|< SuperBeck

[penguin]

Thanks Chelsea. Wow! How does one determine if they are casein intolerant? Is there a test (blood or challenge)?

Love your Latin btw ... made me chuckle!

>|< SuperBeck

I don't know if you're a Brit living in the states or not, but there is a lab here called enterolab that has a casein intolerance stool test. I don't know if they can do it internationally or not.

Otherwise, you can do a challenge. Cut out all dairy and hidden dairy sources for a few weeks, and then take a couple of lactaids and drink a glass of milk. If you react, you're probably casein intolerant.

I haven't done either of these, but others will jump in. All I've done is glean from others what the procedure is

[SuperBeck]

I don't know if you're a Brit living in the states or not, but there is a lab here called enterolab that has a casein intolerance stool test. I don't know if they can do it internationally or not.

Otherwise, you can do a challenge. Cut out all dairy and hidden dairy sources for a few weeks, and then take a couple of lactaids and drink a glass of milk. If you react, you're probably casein intolerant.

I'm an Export ... Brit in America, and lovin' it baby! LOL!

Interesting idea. What reaction would a person with casein intolerance have ... big-time D????? For now, I'm going to avoid milk, yoghurt, and cheese for a few days, and then add a bit of milk to my tea and see how I do. So are you saying that casein would actually damage villi the same way gluten does?

[Nancym]

I'm an Export ... Brit in America, and lovin' it baby! LOL!

Interesting idea. What reaction would a person with casein intolerance have ... big-time D????? For now, I'm going to avoid milk, yoghurt, and cheese for a few days, and then add a bit of milk to my tea and see how I do. So are you saying that casein would actually damage villi the same way gluten does?

Welcome to the US.

I get big time gas with dairy and either constipation or the other way. I had the Enterolab test which pointed out my casein sensitivity, which I had no idea I had. But sure 'nuff, my body felt better once I cut out the milk products. Now I try to eat a Paleo diet (look that up on the web) and it makes me feel much better.

I think people like me are eating so many things that disagree with them it is hard to narrow it down and really, when you test it out, you find there's just a bunch of stuff that isn't resting easily down there.

Some people's food intolerances show themselves as neurological symptoms, even psychological ones like depression. So it really is hard to say that any given food intolerance has any specific symptoms.

But one of the symptoms for me of any intolerance is lots of stinky gas. I still have a little gas, but it is much, much less and it doesn't smell bad.

[Felidae]

Dairy is often constipating, and if it's not working against the laxative effect of gluten in you, you may simply be noticing it more now.

I just wanted to add that dairy of any kind gives me diarrhea.

[Chako]

So are you saying that casein would actually damage villi the same way gluten does?

If I have a handle on this celiac thing now I would say no to that, correct? Only the gluten would cause the damage to the villi. Casein would cause irritation only. Just me trying to work it out but it is a good question.

Also, as we are trying to prepare to get a whole family over to a gluten free trial this question had cropped up in my mind so thanks for asking it!

[Ursa Major]

I just want to point out that soy can actually destroy the villi in much the same way as gluten in susceptible individuals. I don't think dairy does, though.

[Guest nini]

you've gotten some great answers. If you are noticing an improvement in bm's after going gluten-free, then you obviously have an issue with it despite a medical dx. Many gluten intolerant individuals (especially Celiac) are intolerant to dairy until the villi heal.

My personal opinion is that gluten is toxic for EVERYONE and that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg so to speak with Celiac. I have come to believe (based on numerous articles that I have read and after talking to several Celiac experts) that no one should be consuming gluten and that it is at the very least partially responsible for the epidemics of cancer, obesity, and depression in this country. I think it's related to addiction somehow... affecting the opioid receptors in the brain and even causing so called "addictive personalities" that become more easily addicted to cigarettes, drugs and alcohol... It's also been linked to the increase in Autism and ADD, and ADHD and so on...

I do not believe that wheat is a healthy grain for anyone and don't try to convince me that it is! LOL!

[gfp]

SuperBeck, when you were still on gluten, you didn't realize that you can't tolerate dairy, because it didn't cause a reaction as bad as the gluten. Now that the gluten has cleared out of your body, your body has realized that it doesn't like dairy either. Which is actually fairly common for celiac disease.

It isn't possible to get a negative reaction to cutting out grains, it just appears that way, because many times people go through actual withdrawal when eliminating grains. They can cause you to be addicted, because they cause a reaction in your brain similar to the effects of morphine.

Well it all depends on what you call a negative reaction, I rather think heroine addicts have a different take:D

However Ursula correct (i'm just being pedantic over this) and the lack of exorphins from gluten can conceivably give someone withdrawal and that is really the correct term as she says. However like most here I think that gluten is not good for anyone and noone is going to have a overall negative reaction, you might have temporary discomfort from withdrawal but its a question of is that negative or positive....