Wheat Versus Barley

[Terri-Anne]

Hi All,

I am just wondering whether you experience the same type and intensity of reaction from ingesting barley (as in barley malt) as you do from ingesting wheat, from various sources, including microscopic contamination?

Also, if I wanted to "gluten-load" my son using barley or rye, what product would you suggest I use and what quantity would he need to ingest? ie I've read that one single slice of white bread a day for 2 months is enough to "gluten-load" using wheat. This would be absolutely out of the question for my son, as invisible particles of wheat on a spoon used to stir "wheat-pasta" has caused my son to experience a reaction in the past, so I am certain an entire slice of bread would cause him unbearable agony, IF I could even force him to choke it down.

My son seems to only react to wheat, but I can't help but wonder whether he should be avoiding other sources of gluten as well. If I did find a way to gluten load him using barley, or rye, would he definitely show some sort of reaction, IF he was Celiac, as opposed to merely allergic to the wheat, or would I have to convince the doctor to do another blood test?

[tarnalberry]

If I were to gluten load, I'd use pure grains. Bulgar wheat, rye berries, and barley - all cooked as a side dish like rice is. Then there's no worries about what else (like eggs or yeast or dairy) is in the item.

Honestly, the reaction is not necessarily linearly related to damage - it can go either way. He may reaction symptomatically strongly, but not have oodles of damage. The guideline you read is there to make sure that damage is picked up on a biopsy if you ingest that much for a long enough time (and even that varies by individual).

[Terri-Anne]

Thanks for your reply Tiffany,

I never thought of cooking the barley straight as a side dish, like rice. Good idea.

At least I have an idea where to start, if I decided to try to gluten load him. Do you think that would be sufficient?

[tarnalberry]

A single dish? Oh definitely not. At the very very very least, six weeks of gluten exposure - yes, the equivalent of a slice of bread a day for a kid - is what I've heard. More reliable numbers I've seen are three months. It takes time for enough damage to occur to be confident a decent lab will pick it up.