Are you classed as coeliac if you have an intolerance to barley but not wheat?

[Poshbird]

Have recently found out that I have an intolerance to barley and millet but not wheat and am wondering if I should now follow a gluten free diet or should I just literally avoid barley?

Sorry if it's a stupid question but I can't seem to find the answer easily.

[mitchellbarbara]

I would avoid ANYTHING your body doesn't tolerate no matter what the diagnosis...listen to your body

[FionaGFG Administrator]

Poshbird, I recommend you discuss this with your Dr. How did you discover you are intolerant to barley and millet? What medical tests did you have?

It is not healthy for people to go on a gluten free diet unless there is a strong medical reason to do so. It maybe worth asking your Dr for a Coeliac blood test if you haven't had one as yet.

[Poshbird in reply to FionaGFG]

I recently had a hair analysis test and it showed i had an intolerance to barley and millet but not wheat. It went onto say that i possibly had a digestion issue and was low in nutrients.

I have also recently been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. As im new to this i just wondered if the same gluten was in wheat and barley and if i should cut it out altogether or was it strictly barley only. Do notice bloating and skin irritation with gluten, but not necessarily wheat on its own..... Strange.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to FionaGFG]

FionaGFG, not to take this off-topic, but I'm wondering what's intrinsically 'unhealthy' about a gf diet? Are you saying that it's unhealthy to eat a lot of processed gf foods or that a gf diet is essentially unhealthy in and of itself?

I'd like to understand your perspective better because I'm still sorting the wheat from the chaff (npi!) on this issue myself and all info is welcome.

Also I've written a separate blog on this to avoid taking this question off-topic if anyone wants to weigh in there.

[FionaGFG Administrator in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Thanks will reply to you in full on other thread soon.

[Angelbelle]

I too was wndering how you know you are intolerant to wheat. My blood test for gluten was not confirmed by the blood test. Rather than go for the biopsy, eating gluten for six prior, I put

myself on a gluten free diet and am managing my own diet.

[katethebake]

Hi Poshbird.

Your question made me curious so I was just looking up the barley and millet on wiki to see if there was anything besides the obvious gf issues. No doubt you have done this too. The only thing that jumped out at me was that millet is a thyroid peroxidase inhibitor. Some people who are coeliac and/or gluten intolerant have issues with their thyroid so it might be possible that eating millet is influencing an existing condition. As Fiona says, it definitely sounds like you should have a chat to your GP about this and ask about thyroid as well as gluten intolerance/coeliac disease.

Good luck

[Elizida]

To be classed as coeliac you cannot eat wheat barley and rye and for some oats as you cannot digest the gluten in these foods. As suggested you need to speak to your GP

[meanioni]

Hair analysis is not generally regarded as an accurate test for allergens or nutrients (the proponents will say that hair is a microcosm of the minerals that you eat but this is stretching the truth a little and certainly not reliable on something as important as this).

The best way to deal with this is to carry out a food diary for a couple of weeks, recording everything you eat and drink - and capturing your state of health. You should then take this to a doctor. Go to think-free.info/infocentre/ for a downloadable food diary sheet.

The medical community is a little split on intolerances though so you may find that your GP could go either way. Personally, I know they exist as I have some but this is hotly debated in the medical community.

As a simple test, if you rub some of the suspected substance on you cheek/lips and get a rash/tingling/reaction then you may be allergic to the substance. If you don't get a reaction on your skin/lips (but do suffer from gut or other problems) it could be an intolerance or coeliac disease.

Either way go to the doctor with a completed food diary and they should be able to help.