Question: Can Avoiding Wheat Potentially Make You Intolerant?

[detox]

I have a question for all here whom are informed.

Since i do ALL the cooking in our household, there is no wheat ever, in any meal at any time. As a result, my wife rarely eats food with any gluten. She has had no issues with wheat in the past, lately though she seems to be feeling unwell after eating foods with a lot of wheat.

My question is: Can someone develop a wheat intolerance simply by not eating wheat regularly?

Can the human digestive system get used to not having gluten in its diet? I know that people who do not eat red meat will get a very sore stomach if they do eat it. Perhaps its the same in principal??

Sometimes she feels bloated, she has a canker sore right now, she has also been moody lately(including some anxiety), there have also been more then a normal amount of upset stomachs lately. I realize that sometimes these things happen (especially with women and their hormonal cycles) but it seems that there is a fairly high potential that they are connected to her wheat consumption lately.

I am wondering, is there something in our food system that is triggering this wheat allergy/intolerance?? in the last year i have found a few people who previously have had no issues with wheat, are now intolerant. Including a good friend from the past as well as several family members.

Thanks

Scott

[ravenwoodglass]

"My question is: Can someone develop a wheat intolerance simply by not eating wheat regularly?"

No, what has likely occured is that she was having a low level reaction before but her symptoms may have been sporatic or attributed to something else.

What she has done by eliminating it and then eating it again is a challenge. And her challenge is positive. Gluten intolerance is really very common but for many the symptoms will come and go and differ in intesity for a long time before the issues effect our lives enough to bring it to the attention of doctors and the person it is effecting. Many times folks think the reactions they are having before eliminating gluten are 'normal' or they attribute them to other things. Once gluten is eliminated the body stops the antibody reaction and when gluten is added back in the body reacts by a sudden increase in the antibody levels and the reactions become stronger and more obvious. The body is trying to protect us by this increase in symptoms and trying to make it clear that gluten for that person is not something that should be consumed.

[foodiegurl]

Good question, as I am curious too. being that I do all the cooking my daughter and husband rarely ever encounter it now, and I don't want them to develop problems, especially my 4-year old daughter!

[OptimisticMom42]

Interesting question! Although I agree with Ravenwoodglass in that you would not develop a reaction to something by removing it from your diet there is the question of wether you would lose your tolerance. People definetly build up a tolerance to alcohol and then lose that tolerance if abstinent for a period of time. We also develop a tolerance for the polutants in our environment but react to the polutants in environments we visit (Montazuma's revenge).

I read that in celiacs the inside of the small intestine can coat itself with a protective layer of mucus (sometimes causing a misdiagnosis of cystic fibrosis).

So, it seems very possible to me that a person who was asymtomatic could have unknowningly had a mucus buildup that went away while gluten free.

Thanks for the great question, I hope my answer helps!

[Michi8]

You wouldn't become sensitive/intolerant to something if you weren't already predisposed to it. If you have a tendency to allergies, the allergy may be kept at bay with constant exposure (animal dander for example), once the constant exposure ends, the next exposure could cause a reaction. This happened with my dog allergy...had a dog growing up, and never reacted until she was gone and I was exposed to another dog.

I am actually seeing a worsening of my birch pollen allergies. My theory is that I am only exposed to that allergen for one month (or so) in the spring. Each year is like a new exposure, and each year I suffer more than the year before.

Michelle

[YoloGx]

I agree--its likely she has undiagnosed celiac. I doubt its simply gluten intolerance since otherwise she wouldn't react the way she has. The canker sore is a big clue to having celiac by the way, as well as mood swings, bloating etc. And/or candida overgrowth--if the occasional wheat items have more sugar and carbs than she is used to eating.

Bea

[ang1e0251]

I agree with the other posters. My dad was a chain smoker. I never noticed a reaction to being around smoke at all. After he died, lung cancer, I now cough, get a sore throat and have allergy eyes around smoke. An evening of exposure can trigger a congestion for few days. I would say I built up a tolerance as a child, but no longer being exposed to it, didn't have that protection any more. THe tolerance was to something I would normally react to but had exposure since birth. I think had I not been around smokers, I always would have had a reaction.

On the other hand, I only eat certain foods seasonally. I go months without eating pumpkin, strawberries and watermelon. But when their season comes around, I don't have a reaction to them. So I think if your wife didn't have an intolerance to wheat she probably wouldn't react to it even if she hadn't been eating it for awhile.

[sharkmom]

I am so new to this so dont really know, but I have a friend that was following eating for your body type. His type was to eliminate wheat, so he avoided the obvious wheat products, so not totally gluten-free as he did eat spelt bread. He said following it he never felt better in his life. Then, go off track and back to eating wheat and said he went through some rough times and felt like crap for a while until his body got used to it again. Maybe, it's just a shock to her body and if she continued to eat more of it, her body would adjust and symptoms would disappear like my friend.

[YoloGx]

I am so new to this so dont really know, but I have a friend that was following eating for your body type. His type was to eliminate wheat, so he avoided the obvious wheat products, so not totally gluten-free as he did eat spelt bread. He said following it he never felt better in his life. Then, go off track and back to eating wheat and said he went through some rough times and felt like crap for a while until his body got used to it again. Maybe, it's just a shock to her body and if she continued to eat more of it, her body would adjust and symptoms would disappear like my friend.

No doubt--but its not a good sign to react like that at all my friend. I suggest he get tested for celiac. Many are undiagnosed with this condition. They may "adjust" back to eating gluten, but behind the scenes their body is rapidly deteriorating. Cancer, diabetes, depressions, fibromyalgia, nerve and heart problems, and auto immune diseases frequently are the result...

Bea