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Celiac Disease vs. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

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Generally, whenever someone tells you their story about being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, it is very common for people to say that they were originally incorrectly diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which is commonly referred to as IBS.  This is because IBS is considered to be the most common disorder with close to 20% of Americans believed to have some form of it.

Unfortunately, the treatments are different and when someone with Celiac Disease is incorrectly diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome their symptoms do not typically get better.   Sometimes it can take years before a correct diagnosis is eventually made.

So what is the difference between Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks gluten in the digestive system, damaging the tissue of the intestines at the same time. Individuals with Celiac Disease are genetically predisposed to the disease but can develop it at any age. It can often be triggered by a stressful event such as surgery or pregnancy.

The causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, on the other hand, are not well understood. Many believe it originates in the central nervous system with changes in the nerves that control sensation or muscle contractions in the bowel. The walls of the bowels or intestines, which usually contract rhythmically to allow food to pass through, start to contract irregularly, meaning that food is pushed through too quickly or too slowly. Because IBS tends to affect women more than men, hormone changes are also often thought to play a role in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

The triggers for IBS and Celiac Disease often appear to be similar. IBS can be triggered by stress or a particular illness such as gastroenteritis in the same way as Celiac Disease. IBS can also be triggered by eating certain types of food that the body is intolerant to, including foods that contain gluten, but gluten does not cause the symptoms of IBS as it does with Celiac Disease, it only aggravates them. With IBS, the immune system does not produce antibodies to fight the food that is aggravating the condition.

The Long-Term Effects of Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The crucial difference between Celiac Disease and IBS is that with Celiac Disease the gut is actually damaged by the gluten-fighting antibodies, leading to long-term complications, whereas with IBS, although the gut may be inflamed, no long-term damage is done.

The effects of IBS are likely to be more emotional than physical as people find it hard to lead a normal, happy life while experiencing IBS symptoms. The complications associated with Celiac Disease can be as severe as malnutrition, osteoporosis, and possibly bowel cancer, although the link between these two diseases is often contested.

The moral of the story is if you have IBS get a blood test to rule out Celiac Disease. You don’t want to do a bunch of severe damage to your body if you can help it, and it can easily be avoided with a simple blood test!

Nutrient Deficiencies and Celiac Disease

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If you have Celiac Disease, are you aware that you might not be getting enough nutrients?  Celiac Disease can often affect a person’s digestive ability resulting in decreased nutrient absorption. In addition, a gluten-free diet can reduce the intake of some important nutrients. Common nutrient deficiencies seen in celiac disease include calcium, magnesium, vitamin b12, vitamin D, iron, and folic acid.

As always, it is important to discuss your nutrient status with your physician both upon diagnosis and while maintaining a gluten-free diet. Also, keep in mind that some vitamins and supplements may contain gluten, but there are plenty of naturally gluten-free foods that are excellent sources of these nutrients:

  • Calcium – Dark leafy green vegetables, broccoli, sea vegetables (wakame and kombu), sprouts, tofu (calcium prepared), whole or low-fat milk, enriched soy or rice milk, raw almonds, sesame seeds, navy beans, dried tapioca, and aged cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan
  • Magnesium – Pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, spinach, quinoa, halibut, soybean, buckwheat flour, and legumes
  • Vitamin B12 – Organic beef, organic dark meat poultry, and gluten-free brewer’s yeast
  • Vitamin D – Fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, tuna, and oysters, fortified dairy and non-dairy products, butter, and sunshine
  • Iron  – Organic beef, organic dark meat poultry, tuna, black strap molasses, enriched brown rice, prunes, raisins, spinach, kidney beans, lima beans, and pumpkin seeds
  • Folic acid – Dark leafy green vegetables, asparagus, bananas, legumes, citrus fruits, organic beef, organic lamb, fish, nuts, and root vegetables

If you aren’t already, you’ll want to listen to your body and take extra precautions to ensure you are getting the properiate nutrient intake.

Should Babies at Risk for Celiac Disease Eat Infant Cereal?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff

If you are pregnant or have an infant that is at high risk for Celiac Disease, here is something you should be aware of. A typical child is supposed to start eating infant cereal at around the age of 6 months old. However, according to a recent study by the Journal of American Medical Association, it looks like children at high risk for Diabetes 1 or Celiac Disease should actually start eating cereal long before that.

According to this post over at WLKY:

They found that children who were exposed to gluten in the first three months of life were five times more likely to be immune to the disease than children who weren’t exposed until later.

“It’s been thought that delaying the introduction of gluten in the infant diet may have a beneficial effect with regarding to preventing celiac disease,” Norris said. “However, our study suggests that’s not the case.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies get only breast milk for the first six months of life, slowly adding cereal into the diet beginning at six months of age. The academy says that some babies may need food as well as breast milk as early as four months of age.

“A lot of factors go into making the decision as to when to introduce foods in to the infant diet,” Norris said. “A parent trying to make this decision should discuss this with their pediatrician to decide what’s best for their baby.”

As always, you’ll want to consult with your doctor before making a decision like this. I always recommend people bring a printout of the article in question (such as the one above) when they have that conversation.

Does the Gluten-Free Diet Help Migraines?

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Over the past two years, I’ve spent a lot more time researching Celiac Disease and probably the most surprising thing I’ve found is the number of other problems that can possibly be or are attributed to having untreated Celiac Disease.

Whenever I see these types of posts, I do my best to feature them here to help get the word out to everything. Today I read this post over at The Daily Headache where Karen Yesowich Schmucker shares her experiences battling migraines:

Does maintaining a gluten-free diet help migraine? There is some evidence to suggest that some migraineurs are helped by it. Some report the total disappearance of migraine while others have fewer and less severe attacks. I fall into the latter category. I found out (by accident) a little over a year ago that I am gluten intolerant and I have followed a gluten-free diet since December 2006. Do I still get migraines? Yes, but not as many and not as severe. I have not had a classic migraine (with aura) in about a year. Does my neurologist think that gluten caused my migraines? No, but it could have created a situation where migraine was more likely to occur, especially since I had evidence of malabsorption and was deficient in several important minerals like magnesium, even though I was supplementing at 400 mg per day!

As a direct result of my experience, my neurologist now tests his patients who show gastrointestinal symptoms for gluten sensitivity. But he doesn¹t test all his patients. He (incorrectly, according to experts on celiac) believes that one must have these types of symptoms before testing makes sense. However, with celiac, symptoms often do not appear until the disease has progressed and a patient is not absorbing nutrients. Here are some of the symptoms noted in celiac literature: fatigue, anemia, migraine, eczema, psoriasis, mineral deficiencies, as well as gastrointestinal complaints such as bloating, gas, constipation and/or diarrhea. So the bottom line is: finding out you have gluten intolerance may or may not help your migraine, but the health benefits of discovery and treatment by themselves are compelling. I went gluten-free hoping to rid myself of debilitating headaches, but knowing what I know now makes me glad I did it regardless of the effect on my headaches.

Bloggers and people sharing their experiences go a long way toward helping others with similar problems, so I really appreciate Karen sharing her story with us!

Infant Recipe: Gluten-Free Ground Rice with Apples

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Hunting for some homemade infant baby food recipes? Here at Celiac-Disease.com, we’ve managed to locate a few recipes that can help parents who are looking for gluten-free baby foods they can make for their child at home. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Ground Rice with Apples Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 small eating apple
  • 2 tablespoons ground rice
  • 4 fl oz (110ml) milk or milk substitute
  • 1 tsp reduced sugar jam

Directions:

  1. You can use a microwave to prepare this meal, but allow time for cooling as you could burn your baby’s mouth if you feed it to him too soon.
  2. Core, peel, and slice the apple.
  3. Place it in a small bowl and microwave on high power until soft.
  4. Mash with a fork or pop in the food mill or processor.
  5. Meanwhile, place the ground rice and half the milk into another bowl and mix to form a paste.
  6. Add the remaining milk and microwave on high power for around 4 minutes.
  7. Mix the apple pulp and jam into the rice, cool then serve.

Looking for more baby food recipes?  Check out our Gluten-Free Baby Foods Category!