I first began to work out the root cause of everything that was wrong with my health when I discovered that wheat had been linked to all my major health issues. It was only when I started researching the link with gluten though that I discovered that ALL my issues were related to the same cause – gluten and more specifically the gliadin component of gluten. Gliadin is the prolamin in wheat which is responsible for coeliac disease.
Because coeliac disease is so serious and affects a relatively large proportion of the population, currently 1% but may be higher, research is well funded. The funding for research is also influenced by the huge market for gluten free substitutes for wheat based staples such as bread, pasta and breakfast cereals to name but three.
There are approximately 300 symptoms and conditions which have been linked to coeliac disease and by inference, gluten. I am going to list 30 of them and you can read the complete list here.
Alopecia
Autoimmune disorders
Blurred vision
Candida infections
Cataracts
Crohn’s Disease
Dementia
Diarrhea
Diabetes
Eczema
Epilepsy
Fatigue
Food allergies
GERD
Gums bleeding
Hangnails
Infertility
Irritable Bowl Syndrome
Kidney stones
Leaky Gut Syndrome
Migraines
Muscle cramps and spasms
Nails with vertical or horizontal ridges
Nosebleeds, unexplained
Osteoporosis
Psoriasis
Seborrhea
Taste, loss of
Urinary tract infections
Vaginitis
Weight gain or loss, unexplained
Zinc deficiency
Ok, that’s 32, I admit it. The thing is that there are so many symptoms and illnesses that are associated with gluten intolerance that it is really hard to select just a few.
A lot of people recognise the symptoms in themselves straightaway when they hear them but are unwilling to accept the idea that wheat could be causing trouble. Maybe it is because there are so many linked symptoms that people are overwhelmed. Maybe wheat has some kind of addictive hold on our brains. Something so common can’t possibly be causing all these problems.
But something so common has been linked to so much and whether a person has coeliac disease or not; cutting wheat out of the diet is a great way to improve health.
