Wheat Allergy Symptom Recognition
Wheat allergy is not a disease but a body reaction to gluten protein in food. In scientific terms it could be described as a response by the body producing Immunoglobulin (IgE) a protein designed to fight a very specific food substance that attacks the body — in this through a wheat allergy reaction. It circulates around the body though the blood system and can be detected by taking blood tests.
In some cases individuals will find they have “grown out” of the wheat allergy for example the body has started to manufacture its own enzyme capable of breaking down the wheat to make it digestible by the body.
Do not confuse wheat allergy with celiac disease a permanent life long reaction to gluten protein in substances such as wheat, barley etc.
Wheat Allergy Symptoms
Allergic reactions to wheat products may occur within a few minutes of consuming or inhaling wheat, up to a few hours. Some common symptoms include skin irritations, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting or respiratory irritation. See the article on wheat allergy symptoms in adults here for even more info on wheat allergy symptoms.
Wheat Allergy Effects On Overall Health
Wheat is known to be one of the two most important farming crops in the world competing with rice for top spot, However wheat is generally accepted as the most healthy farm crops relied on for so many countries as it’s main crop.
However because of our reliance on wheat we find that wheat allergy sufferers are under risk of missing out on so many vital nutrients offered by wheat in its natural, unrefined state including: vitamin B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fiber.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also points out that wheat products offer several other important benefits. Published studies show that:
- Women who eat whole grains typically weigh less than people who abstain from all wheat.
- Eating whole grains of wheat can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
- Whole wheat grains help prevent gallstones a very major and painful medical problem often leading to a number of operations. (i have had three gallstone related operations so far and waiting for another as I write
- Whole grains of wheat substantially lower risk of firstly developing and of helping to reduce the severity of Type 2 diabetes
- Because of the fiber content in wheat, it also has a mildly laxative effect which helps to keep you regular in bowel movements.
The American Heart Foundation Journal in a featured article clearly established that post-menopausal women with hypertension (for example high blood pressure levels) or high levels of cholesterol or any other symptoms or indications of cardiovascular or coronary heart disease who were reguarly eating eating whole grains products such as wheat cereals no less than 6 times every week experienced much slower rate growth of atherosclerosis as well as and much less growth in their stenosis.
For clarification Atherosclerosis is the hardening and/or narrowing of arteries whilst stenosis relates only to narrowing of carotid arteries. This is obviously die to less buildup of cholesterol blocking the blood flow.
Wheat Allergy Diagnosis
If you are thinking you have a wheat allergy problem before choosing stop or even to drastically reduce wheat comsumption, you will need to get yourself an accurate diagnosis through your doctor.
The two most common methods of making a accurate diagnosis involves wheat allergy tests done alongside the normal analysis of family and medical history would be:-
1 A Cap Rast (also simply known as a Rast test. (RadioAllergoSorbenT) This is simply a small blood sample being sent for testing. If your body has produced antibodies to fight the damage being caused to the small intestines due to the wheat allergy then the test will indentify them and prove positive.
2. The cheaper, quicker and easiest way of wheat allergy testing involves making a small prick of the top layer of the skin and covering it with a small sample of the wheat germ. Some doctors prefer to spread the wheat germ oil over the skin and then prick through it into the top layer of skin thus pushing the wheat allergen into the skin. If the area becomes itchy then goes red and swollen it suggests the person is allergic to the wheat substance. The test only takes around 15 minutes to get a result.
However the most effective test refferered to Eliminatio Provocation Testing. In contrast to the Skin Prick Test (which takes taking only 15 minutes) this EPT will need to done over two to three weeks. The patient will then be required to totally eliminate all suspected food allergy substances. Only after all allergy symptoms have gone totally will the foods be added back into diet one at a time and waiting to see if symptoms reappear.
Wheat Allergy Treatment
Because wheat is a staple food product in just about every diet around the globe, it can be extremely difficult to avoid completely. More importantly, finding other sources for the nutrients provided by wheat can be challenging as well, especially in certain parts of the country (and the world) where health food stores are unheard of and Internet access is scarce. In these situations, simply do your best to avoid products containing wheat by arming yourself with information, meaning knowing which products contain wheat and knowing all of the possible alternatives.
For those seeking professional help, treatment is typically supervised by a dietician, which can help to ensure that the individual will follow a diet rich with B vitamins, calcium, zinc, etc. Special Wheat allergy diet sheets are available on this website which will help reduce the emergence of the symptoms.
Recognizing Wheat Allergy Problems
One of the best ways of educating yourself locally is to examine every label of the food products you buy. For example a label that says any of the following ingredients:-
- soy sauce,
- hydrolyzed vegetable protein
- natural flavouring
could all contain hidden sources of wheat as their starting ingredient. This is not going to help your wheat allergy treatment.
Other more obvious sources of wheat include:
- bread crumbs,
- cereal extract,
- cracker meal,
- vital gluten,
- whole wheat flour,
- enriched flour,
- high-protein flour
and of course anything that starts with “wheat” such as wheat germ, malt and starch
Avoiding wheat allergy
There are a number of alternatives to wheat available that you could look out for when shopping which will not affect your wheat allergy problem. For example
- buckwheat (this product is NOT related to wheat),
- bean flour,
- nut meal
It would be wrong of me not to mention quinoa at this point. Although most readers will never have heard of quinoa it is considered to be a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids.
Most experts in food technology would consider quinoa to the healthiest food available worldwide as it is also rich with magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorous and B2. Whilst grown and harvested as a grain it is considered that it is much more related to the spinach family —although looking at it one would never think it!