Wheat Intolerance Vs Gluten Intolerance

[zentex]

I am beginning to suspect that my intolerance/allergy is to wheat only and not gluten. How would I go about fleshing this out?

I've been gluten free (or so I thought) since April 2011. Now I find out from another thread that I've been regularly consuming malt with zero ill effects.

I know for sure that wheat is a problem. When I went gluten-free many, many symptoms "magically" went away and I felt much better. Then I accidentally ate something with breading on it and I got sick. The breading was wheat, corn meal, salt and pepper only.

Where do I go from here? How do I go about experimenting with barley and rye? Or should I just keep on keepin' on as I am now?

I surely do miss real beer (hint, hint)!

[mushroom]

Well, since most beer contains barley malt, start there but make sure it is not a wheat beer you are drinking. Or you could make a vegetable soup and put some pearl barley in it. Rye is hard to test on it's own.

[GlutenFreeManna]

Try some pearled barley or see if you can buy rye flour and make some bread/crackers from that with no other flours. I happen to have both a wheat allergy and gluten intolerance. I know about the wheat allergy becuase it showed up on allergy testing. However I also know I have a problem with at least barley because I got very sick when I ate soup with barley in it and the items with malt in them DO bother me. I've never tested rye because I don't really run into it as an ingredient on it's own ever.

[mamaw]

Have you had any testing done? Bloodwork,scope? You say you now think you may only have a wheat allergy---but then you say you have been gluten-free for a few months then ate something with breading & got ill... And when you are on the gluten-free diet you feel better? Confusing.

Plus you say you have no ill effects from malt in beer? You may not have any outward issues but how do you know what is happening in your intestinal tract? There are many who have celiac & present with no symptoms at all. It is very hard for these people because they can't put their finger on anything that makes them feel or see this illness. It is like a phantom illness & very hard to be gluten-free...these this is slient celiac...

I would reconsider & get testing done if you haven't done so. Remember for an accurate test you need to be consuming wheat & gluten ...

There are some truly good tasting beers that are gluten-free.. Green's, Dam Estrella are a couple of beer drinkers favs.........

[Reba32]

it is entirely possible to have a wheat intolerance or allergy, and not a gluten intolerance. If you think wheat and wheat only is the problem, then by all means, have a few sips of beer. (personally just to be safe I wouldn't drink an entire bottle just yet!). Just make sure not to have anything else that day that would typically trigger a reaction. If you don't have an immedaite reaction, wait a day and try again, see what happens.

What sort of reaction do you get from wheat? Intestinal? Nausea? Pain? Hives? Headache? Look for any of these same reactions when you test other gluten sources. If there's no reaction, then it probably is just the wheat.

[Skylark]

Well, since most beer contains barley malt, start there but make sure it is not a wheat beer you are drinking. Or you could make a vegetable soup and put some pearl barley in it. Rye is hard to test on it's own.

There are imported pure rye breads you can find at a lot of big grocery stores. They are tiny loaves with very thin slices. There are also pure rye crackers like Wasa crisps and Finn crisps. I thought I could eat rye when I did my elimination diet. I don't react to it immediately like wheat. I definitely felt better once I got off all gluten though.

I'm pretty sure it's possible to be allergic to wheat only.