Gluten Intolerance

[UIDancer]

I had the necessary Celiac tests done, they came back negative, so my GI doc said I am just gluten intolerant. He came to this determination after seeing the results coupled with the fact that my condition improved/disappeared after going gluten-free. He lead me to believe that gluten intolerance is basically an allergy: if I ingest some, I will be sick for a bit but no actual harm will come to my body. This is the assumption I've been going on since being diagnosed a couple months ago.

But now I'm completely confused because of a post on another forum. The post is as follows:

"Just because you're not diagnosed Celiac does NOT mean that gluten isn't JUST AS harmful to your body. Either your body manifests its reaction in other ways, or just damages areas other than the intestines."

Can someone please explain what my condition means and if the above statements are true? I'm kind of scared I've been taking this too lightly.

[KaitiUSA]

Well that basically means your body does not want gluten. If you are gluten intolerant you need to follow the same diet as a celiac....if you do not then it may lead to eventually getting celiac disease.

If something makes you sick..stay away from it.

[PreOptMegs]

I am considered gluten intolerant as well. My bloodwork was positive, but biopsy negative. Anyway, I am reading the book "Dangerous Grains" and it is such an informational book. It basically says that they are trying to get doctors to realize that gluten intolerant and celiac are both an equally negative reaction to gluten, and thus should be treated the same. There are so many, many symptoms of celiac now, and some people don't have any symptoms at all, thus the book is just trying to get doctors and patients aware of the gluten phenomena that is becoming incredibly prevalent in America. It also says that now there are more overweight celiacs than underweight and the number of undiagnosed gluten problems is astounding. It is a fantastic book and I do not believe my little synopsis is doing it justice, but you should check it out because it is incredibly informative!!