Gluten Sensitivity Intolerance Self Test
Diagnosing Gluten Sensitivity & Celiac Disease
The proper tools must be used to accurately diagnose gluten sensitivity. This is where a lot of people and doctors get confused. Traditionally lab testing is only designed to diagnose celiac disease. Remember that celiac disease is only one medical condition caused by gluten. Many people have other diseases caused by gluten. If you doctor uses a test to diagnosed celiac disease on you and it comes back negative, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have gluten sensitivity. The intestinal biopsy and serum blood tests are examples of inaccurate medical tests for gluten sensitivity. Genetic testing offers the greatest degree of accuracy and when combined with a patient’s history and examination a diagnosis can be made early and accurately. Gluten Free Society offers genetic testing and educational services about gluten.
Gluten Free Diet is Not a Trend
Because going on a gluten free takes a great deal of education and commitment, it is recommended that proper testing be performed to identify whether the diet is right for you. Remember going gluten free is not a trendy diet; it is a permanent lifestyle that should be taken very seriously as even small amounts of gluten exposure can cause problems. To accurately diagnose gluten sensitivity, the right lab test must be used.
Genetic testing is the gold standard for diagnosing gluten sensitivity. Unfortunately, many doctors still use antiquated and inaccurate tests. Examples of these include
- Anti-gliadin antibodies – this is a blood test that measures for antibodies to one of the types of gluten found in wheat. It is not very comprehensive and often times gives false negative results.
- Anti-tissue transglutaminase – this test is only specific for celiac disease and also has a tendency to come back falsely negative.
- Intestinal Biopsy – this test is also only specific for celiac disease and comes back with a lot of false negatives.
Genetic testing is available here<<<
Am I Gluten Intolerant?
Some people feel so much better after going gluten free, that they forgo any testing and just stick to the diet. Some people need a black and white answer – Am I gluten sensitive or not? Without a solid answer, they have trouble justifying the diet and usually cheat on a frequent basis. The problem with cheating is that gluten can cause damage to the body in very small amounts (20 ppm). The best way to get this black and white answer is to have genetic testing performed. If you cannot afford to have genetic testing performed, the following is a quick self test that you can use to help determine whether or not you are gluten sensitive.
Take The Quiz…
Gluten Sensitivity Self Test:
Check the symptoms you are experiencing.
Select any symptoms you are experiencing from the list and click on the “Submit” button to learn if you might be suffering from Gluten Sensitivity.
Gluten Free Warrior Commentary
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thanks for the article
“Zein is a class of prolamine protein found in maize.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zein
which has also been found to have ‘significantly enhanced membrane-binding’ properties… http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10590021
“Maize is used as an alternative to wheat to elaborate foodstuffs for celiac patients in a gluten-free diet. However, some maize prolamins (zeins) contain amino acid sequences that resemble the wheat gluten immunodominant peptides and their integrity after gastrointestinal proteolysis is unknown. In this study, the celiac IgA-immunoreactivity to zeins from raw or nixtamalized grains, before and after peptic/tryptic digestion was evaluated and their possible immunogenicity was investigated by in silico methods. IgA from some celiac patients with HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 haplotypes recognized two alpha-zeins even after peptic/tryptic proteolysis. However, digestion affected zeins after denaturation, reduction, and alkylation, used for identification of prolamins as alpha-zein A20 and A30 by MS/MS sequencing. An in silico analysis indicated that other zeins contain similar sequences, or sequences that may bind even better to the HLA-DQ2/DQ8 molecules compared to the already identified ones. Results concur to indicate that relative abundance of these zeins, along with factors affecting their resistance to proteolysis, may be of paramount clinical relevance, and the use of maize in the formulation and preparation of gluten-free foods must be reevaluated in some cases of celiac disease.” – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22298027
“Common dietary staples such as cereal grains and legumes contain glycoproteins called lectins which have potent antinutritional properties (Table 1) which influence the structure and function of both enterocytes and lymphocytes (Liener, 1986; Pusztai, 1993). Wheat-germ agglutinin derived from dietary wheat products is heat stable and resistant to digestive proteolytic breakdown in both rats (Pusztai et al. 1993a) and human subjects (Brady et al. 1978) and has been recovered intact and biologically active in human faeces (Brady et al. 1978). Wheat-germ agglutinin and lectins in general bind surface glycans on gut brush-border epithelial cells causing damage to the base of the villi which includes disarrangement of the cytoskeleton, increased endocytosis and shortening of the microvilli (Liener, 1986; Sjolander et al. 1986; Pusztai, 1993). The structural changes induced by wheat-germ agglutinin on intestinal epithelial cells elicit functional changes including increased permeability (Sjolander et al. 1984) which may facilitate the passage of undegraded dietary antigens into systemic circulation (Pusztai, 1993).”
“Legume and cereal lectins alter the microflora of the gut (Liener, 1986; Banwell et al. 1988; Pusztai et al. 1993b), causing both inflammation (Wilson et al. 1980; Liener, 1986; Pusztai et al. 1993b) and increased intestinal permeability (Greer et al. 1985)”
“Maize, like wheat, can alter intestinal epithelial structure and function (Mehta et al. 1972). The biological activities of cereal lectins are similar because they are closely related to one another both structurally and immunologically (Peumans & Cammue, 1986).”
pdf @ http://www.foreignpolicybulletinmonitor.com/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=880100&fulltextType=RV&fileId=S0007114500000271
Great information, Thanks for sharing!
Dr. O