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Nexium Celiac Disease Article
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Reasons to follow a gluten-free diet
from:Around one in 100 people in the UK are estimated to have coeliac disease, a medically diagnosed, life-long condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract. The only way people with coeliac disease can control the symptoms, which range from vomiting and weight-loss to tiredness and breathlessness, is by cutting gluten out of their diet permanently.
Although this may at first seem drastic, it is important to reduce the risk of serious complications, such as osteoporosis - and there is still a wealth of wonderful food to be enjoyed. The biggest lifestyle change involves taking care when buying processed foods (even the slightest trace of gluten can make someone with coeliac disease ill).
Cookery writer and teacher Darina Allen has worked closely with fellow chef, Rosemary Kearney, who has coeliac disease, to develop great-tasting gluten-free recipes for everyday staples such as bread and pastry. BBC Food put your questions about coping with coeliac disease to Darina who responded with a wealth of practical tips and gluten-free recipes suitable for people with coeliac disease or anyone choosing to follow a wheat-free diet.
What happens if I accidentally eat gluten?
The reason eating gluten makes people with coeliac disease ill has to do with the villi, which are finger-like projections in the small intestine. The villi increase the surface area of the intestine for the absorption of food and nutrients. In a normal person these stand on end, but in an undiagnosed coeliac they become flattened and thus reduce the surface area of the intestine. If a coeliac adheres to a strict gluten-free diet permanently, then the flattened villi will return to normal.
However, if the diet is broken, typical symptoms can include chronic tiredness, lethargy, headache, nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramps and diarrhoea. If the diet is consistently broken, even if there aren't any symptoms, there is still the risk of more serious conditions such as anaemia, osteoporosis, gut lymphoma (cancer) and problems surrounding fertility and pregnancy.
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