Gluten Allergy Symptoms

What is a gluten allergy?

A gluten allergy is a type of wheat allergy.  Gluten describes types of seed storage proteins found in wheat.  If a person has a reaction to either of the gluten proteins “prolamins” or “glutelins” they are considered to have a gluten allergy symptoms.  That’s as much detail as we’ll get into here regarding the mechanism of a gluten allergy.  For more of the science on gluten allergies check out wikipedia.

What are common symptoms of a gluten allergy?

Some common symptoms experienced by people who have gluten allergies, gluten intolerance, or gluten sensitivity are:

Eczema (atopic dermatitis)

From Wikipedia:
“The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes that are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding.”

Hives

From Wikipedia:
“…a kind of skin rash notable for pale red, raised, itchy bumps.”

Asthma

From Wikipedia:
“…the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.”

“Hay fever” (allergic rhinitis)

From Wikipedia:
“…sneezing, itchy and watery eyes, swelling and inflammation of the nasal passages, and an increase in mucus production.”

Angioedema

From Wikipedia:
“Tissue swelling due to fluid leakage from blood vessels[...]The skin of the face, normally around the mouth, and the mucosa of the mouth and/or throat, as well as the tongue, swell up over the period of minutes to several hours.”

Abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting

Self-explanatory.

Treatment for Gluten Allergy Symptoms

If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms and you believe you may have a gluten allergy you can obviously see your physician for testing.  However, the simplest, cheapest test would just be to eliminate gluten containing foods from your diet for a period of a few weeks to see if the symptoms improve.  What do you have to lose?