I’m quite lucky in that I’m only intolerant to wheat, so if I were to eat it in small quantities, I probably wouldn’t notice. I am also not intolerant or allergic to gluten, so I have a lot more choice than some of you.
A wheat allergy is more serious than just an intolerance, but it is different from Celiac Disease, which is an aversion to gluten, and requires a complete gluten ban for life.
If you do have celiac disease you cannot eat wheat, rye, oats, and barley.
Most children who are allergic to wheat will grow out of the allergy.
Most people claiming that they have a food allergy may at worst have a food intolerance. Often a person has decided to eliminate a food from their diet based on one bad experience.
In other cases people eliminate foods from their diets because another family member suspects that he or she has a food allergy, or because they have read a magazine article and decided that the symptoms described relate to their own.
As a result they cut out and eliminate foods which in fact may be an essential part of a healthy balanced diet. Such self-medication can be dangerous as it can obscure the real health problem.
I had a food tolerance test by a qualified nutritionalist. Ask your health food shop where to find one. But if you cannot find one, your family doctor can perform the test.
If you find you do have a wheat intolerance or wheat allergy, you need to read food labels very carefully. I’m too lazy to do that, so I just buy fresh, non processed food.
When I go to a restaurant or a friends house, I am less pedantic about my diet. As it is an intolerance, and not an allergy, I can break the rules once in a while. I hate to be a burden to others, although all my friends are very understanding.
Still, I have fruit, nuts and herbal tea bags with me all the time, just incase what’s on offer is so unappealing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment