IC Disease

Treating Celiac Disease doesn’t require medication or surgery.  A patient who has been diagnosed with Celiac Disease is treated by giving up all food items that contain gluten.  It may sound simple but it’s really not.  I have a relative who has Celiac Disease and there are so many foods that contain gluten and she has had trouble sticking to the diet.  Anything made with and that includes wheat, rye, barley and oats is off limits for someone with Celiac Disease.  That means no bread - unless you make your own gluten-free bread or buy gluten-free bread.  Most cereals would also be off limits to Celiac patients as well as many, many other foods.

This is what the Celiac Sprue Association has to say about gluten:

What is Gluten?

The term “gluten” is, in a sense, a generic term for the storage proteins that are found in grains. In reality, each type of protein - gliadin in wheat, hordein in barley, secalin in rye, avenin in oats, zein in corn and oryzenin in rice - is slightly different from the others. The “gluten” in wheat, barley, rye, and a much lower amount in oats* (WBRO), contain particular amino acid sequences that are harmful to persons with celiac disease. It is important to note that the gluten found in corn and rice does not cause harm to those with CD. (Note: In order to avoid confusion, the term “gluten” used in this web site refers to only that gluten found in WBRO, not that found in corn and rice.) Gluten-Free Defined.

* Inconclusive information exists concerning the inclusion of oats in the gluten-free diet. Some clinical studies indicate that uncontaminated oats may be tolerated by some people with CD. Other studies indicate that some people with CD have an immune response to oats (avenin). Currently, there is no way to identify which people with CD may tolerate oats. Therefore caution is advised when considering the use of un­contaminated oats in a gluten-free diet.