What's the Difference Between a Gluten Allergy and Gluten Sensitivity?

By medical definition, an allergy is developed when the body reacts to a specific substance by producing an antigen-antibody response.  In simple terms, if one is truly allergic, after the first contact with the substance, the body goes into anaphylaxis....the symptoms of which can be life threatening.  The medical profession has allowed the confusion between sensitivity and allergic response to go uncorrected.  Those seasonal allergies one responds to are truly sensitivities, albeit very uncomfortable and annoying.  People who are allergic to shellfish or bee stings or certain medications will go into anaphylatic shock if exposed to these things and need to carry epi-pens with them at all times.

I have yet to run into anyone who has a true gluten allergy.  I'm sure they may exist, but probably in minute numbers.  No, what we have developed is a gluten sensitivity.  One significant reason is that the wheat crop has been genetically modified since the 1990's to contain twice the gluten content that unadulterated wheat used to contain.  We eat lots of bread, crackers, pie crusts, cakes, cookies and processed, packaged foods...all of which contain gluten.

When the body is given the same food or type of food all the time, it develops a sensitivity; it can even develop an allergy.  One of my nutrition professors at chiropractic school told us that when he was a poor undergrad, he ate a pound of peanut butter everyday.  He cannot even be near peanuts, anymore...he developed an allergy and carries an epi-pen wherever he goes.

The symptoms of gluten sensitivity are many and varied...foggy thought processes, muscle and joint pain, headaches, sinus infections, bowel irregularities....any symptom, really, that has to do with inflammatory changes in the small intestines.  The gut is where all nutrient assimilation and digestion takes place...as such, gluten can interfere with enzyme production and nutrient utilization.

My suggestion is for all of us to assume we have a degree of gluten sensitivity and simply adjust our diet to accommodate for that.  There are so many gluten-free choices available today that we should all be able to incorporate this change into our everyday lives fairly easily.

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