Many patients find themselves in the position of having removed gluten from their diet but still suffering health problems. These patients have made the Herculean effort to remove gluten entirely from their diet and while improved, their health is still not where they would have hoped.
What’s the problem?
In my clinical experience I find that patient’s who are either Celiac or gluten intolerant are highly susceptible to intestinal infections. The damage which gluten causes to the lining of the small intestine also damages the integrity of the immune system within the intestines. Considering that it is estimated that every 10 minutes our intestines are exposed to a pathogenic (able to cause infection) organism, it is critical to good health that our immune systems are strong enough to destroy these organisms. Gluten intolerant individuals don’t have a strong immune system and thereby tend to contract infections.
You might think that if you had an intestinal infection you would have a fever, severe diarrhea or abdominal pain. While this can occur, more often these infections are less extreme in their presentation. But they are not silent. A patient with an intestinal infection will not enjoy optimal health and, unfortunately, will not get the full benefit of removing the offending gluten from their diet. When infection is not present, the removal of gluten results in the healing of the intestines and the improved health and well being of the patient. In the presence of infection that healing does not take place because the infectious organism continues to irritate the lining of the intestine and the patient does not improve markedly.
Most doctors who diagnose celiac disease or gluten intolerance only focus on the change of diet that is necessary. They don’t go the next step and rule out any hidden infection. Many times patients have been diagnosed with an infection and stated that they felt they had had an infection but were told that because they didn’t have a fever or acute diarrhea it was not possible.
If you have been avoiding gluten but haven’t seen all the benefits to your health which you had hoped, consider getting evaluated for hidden infection.