THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO TELL if you are gluten intolerant: an elimination\/reintegration diet and blood tests. But first, let\u2019s talk about what gluten is and why it\u2019s a problem for so many people.<\/p>\n
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats. It is hidden in pizza, pasta, bread, wraps, rolls, and most processed foods. Clearly, gluten is a staple of the American diet.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately it\u2019s also linked to many diseases and conditions; a review paper in\u00a0The New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>\u00a0listed 55 \u201cdiseases\u201d that can be caused by eating gluten. These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric and neurological diseases, including anxiety,\u00a0depression<\/a>, schizophrenia, dementia,\u00a0migraines<\/a>, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). It has also been linked to autism.<\/p>\n Gluten sensitivity is actually an autoimmune disease that creates inflammation throughout the body, with wide-ranging effects across all organ systems including your brain, heart, joints, digestive tract, and more. It can be the single cause behind many different \u201cdiseases.\u201d To correct these diseases, you need to treat the cause\u2013which is often gluten sensitivity\u2013not just the symptoms.<\/p>\n To find out if you are one of the millions of people suffering from an unidentified gluten sensitivity, just follow this simple procedure.<\/p>\n The Elimination\/Reintegration Diet<\/strong><\/p>\n While testing can help identify gluten sensitivity, the only way you will know if this is really a problem for you is to eliminate all gluten for a short period of time (2 to 4 weeks) and see how you feel. Get rid of the following foods:<\/p>\n