Different Reactions To Different Foods With Gluten

[wsieving]

I posted this in another forum and never seemed to get any kind of response, so I will post it here in hopes that I can get an answer.

I am wondering if the concentration of gluten is higher in some foods, thus causing a stronger reaction, than in others. Our biggest clue to start looking in the direction of celiac disease was that our DD just cannot tolerate pasta at all. Other foods seem to bother her, but mildly compared to what pastas do to her. Is it because pasta contains more gluten than other things?

[ksymonds84]

I posted this in another forum and never seemed to get any kind of response, so I will post it here in hopes that I can get an answer.

I am wondering if the concentration of gluten is higher in some foods, thus causing a stronger reaction, than in others. Our biggest clue to start looking in the direction of celiac disease was that our DD just cannot tolerate pasta at all. Other foods seem to bother her, but mildly compared to what pastas do to her. Is it because pasta contains more gluten than other things?

Pasta would be pretty much all gluten, but understand that with celiac it doesn't matter. ANY amount of gluten will cause a reaction if you are celiac. Sometimes you may not have outward symptoms but if you are celiac your intestines are getting damaged all the same. Hope that helps. I would definately have her tested for celiac but keep in mind that sometimes children will get a false negative so if that happens, try the diet and see if that helps. If you start the diet before testing you will probably get a false negative. Welcome, this is a great site to learn about celiac.

[MarsupialMama]

We have just started the gluten-free journey as of about 3 months ago because of my daughter. We put her on the diet before we tested for anything because she was losing weight so fast that I didn't want to wait another day before starting something that might help - and I didn't want to damage her intestines for one more hour. Right now my two daughters (almost 2 and almost 4 y/o) and I have been gluten free for about 3 months. We have all experienced positive results. (My husband still eats wheat bread). I have had digestive issues and other health problems my whole life and I can say for sure that the things that caused me the most indigestion were gluten steaks and whole wheat bread and pasta. Oatmeal was another terrible one, but I guess that might just be my personal thing since the gluten content from cross-contamination is probably not that high.

Gluten steaks are things that I made to replace meat (we are vegetarian) which is 100% gluten. I always got sick after eating them. Bottom line: We are not "diagnosed" celiacs, but have found that in our experience, the more gluten it contained, the worse the bloating and indigestion was. With my daughter though, even a bite of something cross-contaminated will cause her to drop weight and get the dark circles under her eyes and the cranky attitude (and sometimes bloated belly). So I think it depends on the individual, their level of sensitivity, etc.

My friend's son (2 y/o) got a bite of oatmeal and puked immediately from it. When he got ahold of a whole box of oatmeal cookies (and ate 12 of them!) he didn't vomit. But the next few weeks had diarrhea faster than she could clean it up! Maybe the amount of gluten-containing food plays a part as well. If it is complete gluten overload, it seemed with him to by-pass the immediate reaction, but come back full-force after the inital "gluten shock."

Who knows!

[Amyleigh0007]

I also had stronger reactions to pasta, especially 100% whole wheat pasta. 100% whole wheat bread bothered me too. I would have to run to the bathroom within 30 minutes of eating. White breads and pastas did not bother me as much but I would still get ill after eating them. I do not have Celiac, but I do have gluten intolerance.

[ksymonds84]

Congratulations MarsupialMama on figuring out the gluten intolerance. I wouldn't worry about getting an official diagnoses when your dietary response is so amazing and your little girl is now thriving. As I said in a previous post, a lot of times children are false negative anyway because they haven't produced enough of the antibodies to show positive. Some celiacs can add back oatmeal after their intestines heal but it has to be premium oatmeal from a health food store gauranteed not to have cross contamination. This is what I was told from my local sprue association but I've only been gluten free for 8 months and still don't want to risk it yet. My brother in law was diagnosed 4 years ago and still can't tolerate oatmeal, so like you said, its probably and individual thing, but it does sound like your son loves oatmeal 12 cookies! To be a kid again lol!

[crunchy-mama]

I was wondering about this as a newbie. I have suspected gluten for a few years, but always have been confused that sometimes I have a strong reaction to something and sometimes not. I have also noticed the more whole grain something is, the more troublesome it seems.

[purple]

I remember reading somewhere that whole wheat bread has more gluten in it than regular white bread.

I also read that your body reacts the same way.

Think of it likes fleas on a dog...you try to kill them right away. Compared to fleas on the carpet...you smoke bomb the whole house. Both cause harm/trouble. The dogs can get worse, spreads to other animals/carpet.

All gluten causes harm. Some is worse. Eliminate it all to be safe. We don't know about what we can't see...that's the hard part.