Common Signs of Gluten Intolerance
By Sara Butler
Going gluten-free is all the rage right now, but the truth is unless you’re gluten intolerant there’s no reason for you to go without gluten. If you’re wondering what it means to be gluten intolerant or how you can discover if you fit into that category, here are a few things you want to be on the lookout for. If you suffer from a few of these then you may just be better off avoiding gluten!
Who Has Gluten Troubles?
If you have celiac disease then you can’t eat gluten, but it may surprise you that only about 1 percent of people have celiac disease. There has been some research that supports the idea that some people have gluten sensitivity, but that’s still only around 10 percent of people. Whether you’re gluten intolerant or have a sensitivity it can still cause symptoms you probably want to avoid.
Bloating
After eating, if you feel like you have a belly full of gas that makes you feel pretty miserable, then you may have an issue with gluten. Bloating is pretty common and can have many different explanations, but it is one of the signs of gluten intolerance and often one of the most common complaints.
Diarrhea, Smelly Feces, and Constipation
It’s the holy trinity of gluten intolerance and sensitivity – diarrhea, constipation and smelly poop. It’s normal to occasionally suffer from constipation or diarrhea, but if you suffer from it regularly, it means there’s something else going on that needs to be examined more in depth.
If you have celiac disease you will experience inflammation of the gut after ingesting gluten. This can cause damage to the lining of the intestines and can cause problems with absorbing nutrients, eventually leading to constipation or diarrhea.
Furthermore, if you have celiac disease then you might have pale and foul-smelling feces due to difficulty absorbing nutrients from the food you eat. These symptoms are serious so make sure you see your doctor if you experience these things regularly.
Abdominal Pain
As you may have guessed by now, when you’ve got all that stuff going on in your gut from eating gluten then you’re going to experience some pain and discomfort right along with it. Stomach pain can have a lot of causes, but people with gluten intolerance or sensitivity complain of this symptom frequently. Eighty-three percent of people with gluten intolerance have it, so if you experience frequently then it may be a sign you have an issue with gluten.
There’s no need to go gluten-free if you don’t have to, but if you experience symptoms such as these regularly then you should suspect there’s something going on that requires more investigation!