What is Gluten?

For the life of some kids with celiac disease, eating gluten in a loaf of bread can cause a reaction in the immune system. Gluten (say: gloo-tin) is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley grains are abundant in everyday foods. Most of the kids can eat foods with gluten without difficulty. But for some kids, eating gluten can cause unexpected reactions in their bodies. A kid who has this problem also have celiac disease (say: see-lee-ak).

Have you ever eaten gluten? If you eat bread, pizza, or a bowl of cereal, chances are you're eat gluten.

Why Do Kids Get Celiac Disease?

No one is sure why celiac disease happens, but it appears in most of the families life. Your kid or your self may have 5% to 10% chance of getting celiac disease if someone in your family or your neighborhood has it. It's common in people from the northern European countries and the United States. About 1 in every 133 people in the United States has celiac disease with their life. Obviously, many people who have celiac disease don't know about it. If all these people diagnosed, celiac disease would be more common than type 1 of diabetes disease. Fortunately, awareness is growing about the problem, and there are better ways of testing people for it.

Some common symptoms of the celiac disease are decreased appetite, diarrhea, poor growth, stomachache and bloating, and also weight loss. Many kids diagnosed with celiac disease when they are in between 6 months and 2 years old. It makes sense because at this modern era, many kids are getting their first taste of gluten in their foods. For some people, the problems may occur gradually and the symptoms may be terrible one week and not as bad the next. Because of this, some people are not diagnosed with celiac disease yet until they are growing older. But the point of the problem here is chronic, which it means that although the symptoms may come and go, but the people who have celiac disease will always have it and it's invisible. Someone with celiac disease may feel tired and could be irritable or have skin rashes and mouth sores. The other problem sometimes mistaken for the other digestive problems called inflammatory bowel disease or lactose intolerance. And in some cases, a kid won't have any symptoms and then will all of a sudden start having problems during a time of stress, such as after an injury.

How Do People Know They Have The Celiac Disease?

Someone who has many kind of stomachaches, weight loss, diarrhea, or any of other symptoms of celiac disease should find and consult with a doctor to know if it may or not the celiac disease. The doctor can sort this out and help to find the answer and solution. Doctor will usually order a screening blood test also. If the screening tests show a person may have the celiac disease, the next stop usually is to see a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in digestive problems. This specialist may decide to take a sample of the small intestine to look at under the microscope. This small sample is called a biopsy. If a biopsy is done, the doctor will give some special medicine to help the person to stay comfortable during the procedure.

So how The Celiac Disease Treated?

Try to not eating gluten if your kids diagnosed with celiac disease. This maybe a little difficult to be done because gluten contained in many foods, but a dietitian will help to adjust your kids diet to cut out gluten. It's important not to start a gluten-free diet unless your kids are truly diagnosed with celiac disease. Gluten-free diet allows the small intestine to be heal. But that doesn't mean the person or your kids can start eating gluten again. For the kids who live with celiac disease, gluten will always irritate the intestines and if this is happens, the diarrhea, stomachaches, and other problems will return. If your kid diagnosed with celiac disease, it can be a challenge to learn which foods contain and not contain with gluten.

Gluten Free Foods

Pasta will contains with gluten because pasta made from wheat. Fortunately, you can make the gluten-free pizza crust or buy for it, or make fried chicken with a gluten-free batter or try to find gluten free pasta. In fact, nearly all of the foods we eat can be made gluten-free.

In additional foods that contain with gluten, you will need to watch out for the foods that may have been contaminated with gluten. That means the food doesn't contain gluten as an ingredient but may have contact with gluten-containing foods. Some foods are contaminated during processing, so mom or dad can help kids by finding certified gluten-free foods. For instance, gluten-free oats are now available for people with celiac disease. A diagnosis of celiac disease doesn't mean giving up your kid's favorite foods. Many different gluten-free products, baking mixes, and recipes are available. That made a big change in the allowed foods someone with celiac disease could eat.