Lingering, troubling health problems often stem from gluten. Gluten reactions can include digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea; peripheral neuropathy (numbness or tingling in the extremities); mental and emotional imbalances; or autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and psoriasis. But your misery doesn’t have to remain a mystery: If a gluten-free diet improves your health or a lab test is positive, you can declare gluten the source of your difficulties.

Gluten Revolution

As the gluten-free revolution has picked up momentum, more people are discovering that gluten sensitivity, including celiac disease (an autoimmune disease caused by reaction to gluten), lurks behind their problematic health symptoms. But how do you know for sure if you suffer from negative reactions to gluten? One possible way to test whether your health complaints are in fact due to gluten is to remove all gluten-containing foods from your diet and monitor the progress of your symptoms. If they clear up, you may have your answer. If your health doesn’t improve after a gluten-free period, your symptoms may nonetheless still stem from gluten reaction, but as part of a more complex picture of your health. Continue reading →