Is it Celiac Disease? Should I go Gluten Free even when my test is Negative for Celiac Disease?

Lots of delicious foods in life are NATURALLY gluten free!

If you are tested for Celiac Disease and are found not to have it , it could be that you really DO have it but they missed it, or you have just plain gluten intolerance instead. Here are some reasons Celiac Disease/gluten issues are missed. Sometimes after the testing comes back negative but you are still feeling poorly, and you know something is wrong, you owe it to yourself to see if going gluten free makes you feel better. Almost everyone will feel better when going gluten free...but get tested for Celiac Disease first! And for goodness sake it CAN be healthy if you eat a nutritious gluten free diet. Just like anything else you can do it wrong by eating gluten free junk foods.

1) If you took a  blood test (Celiac Disease Panel) are you gluten free? If you go gluten free before you take the test, the results would give you a false negative. If you are tested by endoscopy of the small intestine, Dr. Peter Green and others say all it takes for a false negative on this test is to test the wrong spot in the intestine. Best to go to a proven specialist for this because if you have Celiac Disease and you don't continue to eat gluten free you are subject to disease manifestations including colon cancer and possible death. Celiac Disease is  NOT something to play around with!

2) Maybe you don't have Celiac Disease maybe you just have Gluten Intolerance, maybe if you test negative for celiac disease (sometimes this takes multiple tests to get a proper diagnosis) you can try a gluten free diet for a few weeks to a month...if you feel better it's a no brainer...eat gluten free. Go to the bottom for easy gluten free diet ideas, it can be simple.

3) The bottom line is do you feel better when you avoid gluten?

Gluten free can be really expensive when you buy- gf mixes, cakes, cookies, bread,  they are not very healthy choices anyway.  It is also more expensive when you purchase gf specialty flours, pre-made boxed and jarred foods.


Is GF healthy? And EASY? 

 YES!!!! When you eat a gluten free diet all that is necessary is to leave out the bread, pasta, and all common starches. A great and easy dinner is a small portion (deck of cards)  of fish or meat or chicken, rice (preferably brown- or can go grain free also and skip the rice) and 1-3 veggies. Some fruit for dessert.
You could also have a salad with grilled chicken/steak or fish or beans (read the labels of the dressings), good old olive oil and vinegar does well in a pinch. Have the hamburger or the hotdog without the bun. Potato salad is OK too but watch the mayo for other health reasons. (too much fat in mayo but it is gluten free)
Read labels for things that you wouldn't consider to have wheat, barley, rye, oats. Wheat turns up in some odd places:  like twizzlers, soy sauce, soups, gravies, seasoned french fries, dressings, vitamin pills, etc. READ all your labels!!! Read on below if you'd like...

Going gluten free may still help...think it's not nutritious? See this post
http://lupushope.blogspot.com/2012/01/gluten-free-diets-can-be-healthy.html

http://lupushope.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-healthy-vs-badunhealthy-gluten.html

Read the following article on

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200393522456636.html