What is Celiac Disease?
Gluten Intolerance / Celiac Disease
Celiac disease, also spelled coeliac disease, is an autoimmune disorder of the small bowel that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy. Symptoms include chronic diarrhoea, failure to thrive (in children) and fatigue, but these symptoms may be absent. It is estimated to affect about 1% of Indo-European populations, although significantly underdiagnosed. A growing portion of diagnoses are being made in people who show no symptoms as a result of increasing screening.
Celiac disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a gluten protein found in wheat (and similar proteins which includes other grains such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, the enzyme tissue modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts 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 is a lifelong gluten-free diet.
This condition has several other names, including: cœliac disease (with "œ" ligature), c(o)eliac sprue, non-tropical sprue, endemic sprue, gluten enteropathy or gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and gluten intolerance. The term coeliac derives from the Greek κοιλιακος (koiliakos, abdominal), and was introduced in the 19th century in a translation of what is generally regarded as an ancient Greek description of the disease by Aretaeus of Cappadocia.
Information adapted from Wikipedia.org
What is gluten?
Gluten is a mixture of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. These exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some grass-related grains, notably wheat, rye, and barley. Gliadin and glutenin comprise about 80% of the protein contained in wheat seed. Being insoluble in water, they can be purified by washing away the associated starch. Worldwide, gluten is an important source of nutritional protein, both in foods prepared directly from foods containing it, and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein.
The seeds of most flowering plants have endosperms with stored protein to nourish embryonic plants during germination, but true gluten, with gliadin and glutenin, is limited to certain members of the grass family. The stored proteins of corn and rice are sometimes called glutens, but their proteins differ importantly from wheat gluten by lacking glutenin. The glutenin in wheat flour gives kneaded dough its elasticity, allowing leavening and contributing chewiness to baked products like bagels.
Although wheat supplies much of the world's dietary protein, a small percentage of the population, including those with celiac disease, is gluten-intolerant and cannot consume it safely.
