Part 2: Gluten Diagnosis or Not!

Continuing on from my last post (Part 1: What is Gluten Exactly?), we are going to jump straight into how to be diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, sensitivity or Celiac Disease….or not.

Part 2: Gluten Diagnosis or Not!

So I left you all with a wonderful thought last post – did you know that only 1% (yes, I did correctly type the measly number of only 1%) of people with celiac disease are properly diagnosed…..1 percent…

Yep, true stuff! The majority of people who can’t eat gluten will go for a test and the result will be negative BUT it should have been positive! They actually are sensitive to gluten or they have Celiac Disease, but the results will say no.

There are so many factors that cause this misdiagnosis:

• Testing the wrong markers/areas of the gluten sensitivity
• Not having any gluten present in your system at the time of testing, so it all looks ‘fine’

It is important to note however, that positive results are usually almost always dependable. Negative results are not. No single test has been universally accepted as the standard for diagnosing celiac disease. (AAFP)

Thankfully, things are looking up for the testing of gluten sensitivity in the medical world. Cyrex Labs (www.cryrexlabs.com) is starting to get high success rates since January 2011. They do their testing through salivary panels covering all areas of gluten. They also make available a test that can pinpoint the very areas of your body that are being most affected by gluten. To get your hands on these tests, you must go through a licensed medical care provider.

I have been asked many times if I am going to get tested for Celiac Disease, and honestly I personally don’t see the point.

If there is a high chance of the result being a misdiagnosis, why don’t I just skip all the drama and just cut gluten out of my diet anyway? After all, we know for a fact that gluten is bad for everyone. If there were more reliable tests available (Cyrex Labs is leading the way!) and through this I discovered that I didn’t have gluten intolerances, I would still cut it out of my diet.

As I said in Part 1 of this gluten series, most people have ‘Silent Celiac Disease’, which means they do not have any noticeable symptoms at all so they have absolutely no idea. Do you have any symptoms? This is pretty scary seeing as gluten can do so much damage to your body (as we covered in Part 1)!

My naturopath, my doctor and a health expert have all said that no one should eat gluten anyway. Even those who do not have any noticeable symptoms. I think immediately of my husband who eats mainly gluten-free with me, but will still have the odd hamburger or cake. He seems to handle gluten fine (unless he has ‘Silent Celiac Disease’!) but inside his body is working mighty hard to process it. Everyone’s body has to work extra hard to accommodate gluten.

Image Credit

From Nora’s book: Primal Body, Primal Mind: People often think that the symptoms to watch for when it comes to gluten issues are typically gastrointestinal, when gluten sensitivity can, in fact, profoundly impact your brain, nervous system, emotional states, endocrine functioning, neurotransmitters, immune system, bones, joints, skeletal system, and any possible aspect of your mental or physical physiological functioning.

So basically, no one should be eating gluten. Full stop.

The next post, Part 3, will be all about ‘Cross-Reactivity of Foods’. I have had first hand experience with this one! In this we will also look at the relationship between gluten and coffee.