Home » Features

How Can You Tell If You Have A Wheat Intolerance?

Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for foods such as leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles and couscous. Wheat ingredients are used in many other foods, such as some sausages and burgers, and many sauces. The most common form of wheat has the Latin name Triticum aestivum; antibodies for this form of wheat are tested for in the YorkTest foodSCAN food intolerance test.

You can tell if you have wheat intolerance because you will have symptoms that typically involve the gut, and can be very distressing. You may also have problems with low mood, fatigue, headaches and joint pains. Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein and food supply, as many as one in every 100 to 200 people has Coeliac disease, a condition which results from an immune system response to a protein found in wheat: gliadin. In those with Coeliac disease, gliadin stimulates the immune system to react with the bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to flattening of the lining of the small intestine, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. The only effective treatment for coeliac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet. Gliadin is a gluten protein found in wheat (and similar proteins of the group Triticale which includes other species such as barley and rye). Gluten is the elastic, rubbery protein in grains which binds the dough in foods such as bread and other baked goods. It contributes to the spongy consistency. Rice and maize do not contain gluten.

While coeliac disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is NOT the same as wheat allergy or wheat intolerance. Gluten and wheat intolerances can cause symptoms that are not related to inflammation of the intestines, and are not linked with Coeliac disease, however, they are very real. Food intolerance tests such as the YorkTest foodSCAN assess the level of anti-wheat, and anti-gliadin food antibodies in the blood. They do not measure the self-antibodies that cause Coeliac disease, and therefore do not diagnose Coeliac disease. If food intolerance test results indicate that you may have a gluten or wheat intolerance, it does not mean that you have Coeliac disease, although you may wish to consult your doctor for further tests. Those with wheat intolerance should avoid all wheat products, not just gluten-free products. Those with gluten intolerance should avoid all products containing gluten.

Dr. Gillian Hart is a Scientific Director for YorkTest Laboratories who specialise in food intolerance testing as well as allergy testing which can help those suffering from food intolerance symptoms such as IBS Symptoms. For more information visit YorkTest.com or call 0800 074 6185.