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Gluten intolerance May Cause Food Allergy Inflammation

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Many people with a gluten intolerance or allergies are baffled when they adopt a gluten-free lifestyle and still experience symptoms of food allergies –  symptoms that may have initially gone away when gluten was eliminated from their diet.

Sometimes people attribute upset stomachs, headaches, or other symptoms to accidentally consuming small amounts of gluten. Perhaps they had food allergy tests done previously and gave up anything they were allergic to or discovered that gluten was the only substance that their body could not tolerate.

The possibility of developing a new allergy to something their body previously tolerated does not occur to them. What many people do not realize is that a gluten intolerance can actually lead to new food allergies later in life.

Leaky gut syndrome

Eating gluten before people realize they are allergic can lead to a condition called leaky gut syndrome. The intestinal wall has several important jobs, including keeping undesirable food particles out of the bloodstream and identifying whether an approaching molecule is a friend or foe. Immune system cells along the intestines distinguish beneficial molecules like food particles or bacteria from unwanted bacteria or molecules that irritate the immune system. An unhealthy gut wall allows molecules that should not cross into the bloodstream to leak through. Intestines in a poor state of health may also be unable to tolerate substances like food proteins that it previously recognized as beneficial molecules. A compromised gut may identify food particles as an unwelcome invader and initiate an immune response, thus causing an allergic reaction that had not occurred when the intestines were healthy.

So what does this have to do with gluten?

People whose bodies cannot tolerate gluten experience an inflammatory response when they consume the protein. Chronic stress causes a breakdown in the lining of the intestines, leading to holes in the walls of the intestine that let substances leak through that should be kept out. Antibiotics can contribute to leaky gut syndrome by killing off the helpful bacteria in the gut, thereby allowing bad bacteria to grow in place of the good stuff.

Read More: Natural News

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