Question:
I recently found that I am allergic to wheat. (I had a
blood test). It doesn't affect me right away but I experience fatigue and
such. Anyways, does anyone suggest a particular book or website that will
explain all the details of what this means? At this point I know very little
and find the whole thing really confusing.
Answer:
There are some sites below, I have no connection to them, that have
information and also sell wheat free foods.You can also do a search for
gluten free and get a lot more.
I also get the fatigue and a feeling of "unwellness", hard to explain. I
have found that the best resource for me is the health food stores. The
people there are very knowledgable and helpful.
Keep in mind RYE bread is made with wheat and some rye, pasta is made
with wheat, semolina is wheat. They do make pasta made with rice flour.
You need to read everything before you eat it. I am allergic to wheat, also. There is a grain called SPELT that is a good
substitute for wheat. They have some really good spelt pastas. Any health
food store has it. Be careful with spelt, some people with wheat allergies can eat spelt,
some can not. When I eat spelt I get very jittery and feel like my heart
is racing. One important thing to keep in mind is that there is a distinct difference
between what is known as celiac sprue or gluten intolerance and a true wheat
allergy. Wheat allergies can generally be cured using the NAET treatments
described by Ellen Cutler in her book The Food Allergy Cure. You'll want to
see either a Bio-set practitioner or NAET practitioner in your area. They
can also help you determine if you have true celiac sprue,( which is an
enzyme deficiency and is probably not curable), wheat allergy, or perhaps an
allergy to gluten, which is also curable using the NAET treatments.
There are several different kinds of adverse reaction to wheat, which
show up on different kinds of test with different degrees of reliability:
which test did you have and what did the person doing it say it meant?
(When you get a test done, it really helps to budget for an explanation
of the answer, otherwise you end up with information like "42" in _The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_). This is common with coeliac disease (gluten intolerance, gluten-sensitive
enteropathy), which is not really an allergy but often treated by allergy
practitioners as the practical implications are similar. (Usually coeliac
disease has worse symptoms as well, but not always). If so you will need
to avoid wheat (including bread wheat, soft wheat, pasta, spelt, kamut and
emmer/einkorn), rye, barley, possibly oats, and products like beer and malt
made from them. They are a real mixed bag. Some know their stuff, some are just out to
sell you as much as possible and to hell with the consequences for your
health. Spelt is a wheat variety. For somebody with gluten intolerance it is
every bit as bad as any other kind. If a health food shop tries to sell
it to you for gluten intolerance they're trying to make you sick to get
a fast buck. Note that if you are in the UK and you have a diagnosis of gluten-
sensitive enteropathy from your doctor, you can get some gluten-free
foods on the NHS. Not many people bother because they don't taste
that good and doing without gluten grains isn't all that hard, but
they might be useful to some.
