What are wheat allergy symptoms?

Symptoms of wheat allergies include hives, difficulty breathing and nausea.

By

Judd Handler

Tue, Dec 14 2010 at 2:14 PM

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Healthy Eating

Wheat allergies can kick in after eating bread.

(rainydayknitter/Flickr)

Almost everyone loves cakes, cookies and other baked goodies. Eating these foods, however, can cause numerous health problems for those who have wheat allergies.

Not sure if you’re one of them? Well, if you’re wondering why your nose is congested and your eyes are watery, itchy and have dark rings, you might have sensitivity to products containing wheat. These are all wheat allergy symptoms.

It’s more common for children to display more obvious symptoms of wheat allergies but if you’ve been bombarding your system with wheat products for decades, your immune system could start turning against you.

A wheat allergy is an abnormal immune system reaction to one or more proteins found in wheat. The immune system has developed a specific antibody (a pathogen fighter) to one or more of the four major wheat proteins, including gliadin, which is the bane of all people with Celiac Disease.

People with Celiac Disease (an autoimmune disorder) have to go on a 100 percent gluten-free diet. Although not everyone who has a wheat allergy needs to go totally gluten-free, many people with wheat sensitivity follow similar dietary restrictions.

Other wheat allergy symptoms

For those who are allergic, eating pizza, muffins, fried-battered foods, soy sauce and other foods with wheat could induce hives, difficulty breathing (including asthma) and nausea.

A rare but very strong reaction to wheat proteins can cause a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. People severely allergic to bee stings or peanuts can relate all too well, and often carry with them an “EpiPen”, which is an injectable dose of epinephrine (adrenaline).

Diagnosing Wheat Allergies

Skin test: An allergist or doctor who is able to do food allergy testing may choose to drop tiny particles of wheat allergen extracts onto the forearm. About 15 minutes after the drops are left on the skin, if you develop red, itchy bump where the allergens were placed, you know you have at least intolerance to wheat (more on the distinction between allergy and intolerance below)

Blood test: If you’re taking medications or if you have some other skin condition, your doctor may forgo the skin test and choose instead to draw some blood that screens for specific allergy-causing antibodies to various common allergens, including wheat proteins.

Wheat intolerance vs. Wheat Allergy

If you have a true wheat allergy, you’re a rare breed. It’s estimated that less than one percent of the U.S. population suffers from wheat allergies, whereas some estimates peg those with some form of wheat intolerance at nearly 20 percent.

Allergies usually trigger a response from the immune system; intolerances don’t involve a major immune response and can often be subtle and take hours to develop. It may show up days later as eczema, a belly ache, or even some mood swings; a true allergy can exhibit symptoms within minutes.

Avoiding wheat: easier said than done

Obviously, if you have an intolerance or allergy to wheat, it’s best to avoid wheat all together. But realize that even if you do your best to avoid wheat, you may end up being exposed to it when consuming other products like oats, as the wheat may have been in contact with the oats during the production process.

Reading food labels will tell you if a specific food was made in a facility that also processes wheat. To be on the safe side, opt for gluten-free products, although there is no governing body to certify gluten free foods. You can call the Celiac Foundation or visit their website to inquire about a particular label.

Some sources of wheat proteins are obvious, such as the aforementioned baked products and bread. If you are intolerant or allergic to wheat, it’s wise to avoid all flours as much as possible. (Again, cross-contamination is the main concern.)

Not-so-obvious sources of wheat

Beer
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Soy sauce
Condiments such as ketchup
Meat, crab or shrimp substitutes
Coffee substitutes
Meat products, such as hotdogs
Dairy products, such as ice cream
Natural flavorings
Gelatinized starch
Modified food starch
Vegetable gum

Judd Handler is a wellness consultant and lifestyle coach. His New Year’s Resolution is to eat less wheat and go gluten-free as much as possible. He can be reached at CoachJudd@gmail.com.

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Comments: 5

Guest Jun 07 2011 at 10:56 AM

sound like it is impossible to escape the wheat problem

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Greg Ehlert Dec 15 2010 at 11:04 PM

As far as I have been able to research wheat allergies also know as (aka) gluten intolerance aka celiac disease are all the same. To think otherwise is to take and extreme risk with your body and health. This disease occurs in 5-10% of the population depending on what study you read. According to the most extensive study done to date in the Republic of China, wheat is the only food among all food groups (meats, rice, sugars, etc) that is highly correlated to disease. I disagree on a point of

.... More

this article, that some people that have celiac disease can tolerate small amounts. The true nature of celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder and even though there may not be obvious outward symptoms, somewhere the body is reacting and creating antibodies to attack the gluten that has affected the body. The problem is since the antibodies can't really affect the gluten, they start to attack the body effectively damage organs and opening them to attack by other diseases. I can find no evidence that anaphylaxis has even been a symptom of celiac disease in all of my research on this subject. I have never never found or experienced hives due to wheat exposure, but there have been instances of skin reactions called Dermatitis Herpetiformis (unrelated to Herpes effectively treated with Dapsone) which could be confused with hives. This occurs in a very small percentage of Celiacs but it is a very painful and obvious symptom. There are many other symptoms which are not all typically all present at the same time and can be confused with other conditions: Weight gain or loss (I've heard evidence both ways); Digestive issues: diarrhea, gas, cramping, abdominal pains, mouth ulcers, lactose intolerance; Headaches; Nausea; Anemia; Organ failure; Vitamin deficiency; Malabsorption; Severe hangover (after drink gluten laden beers or alcohol); Food poisoning look alike symptoms (after wheat laden meals); Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms (often confused with); Auto immune deficiency; IgA deficiency; Abnormal liver test; After prolonged exposure the following symptoms can develop: Hyposplenism; Diabetes mellitus type 1; Autoimmune thyroiditis; Primary biliary cirrhosis; Microscopic colitis Colon cancer; Prostate cancer; Adenocarcinoma (small intestine cancer); Lymphoma; Ulcerative jejunitis (ulcer formation of the small bowel); Stricturing (narrowing as a result of scarring with obstruction of the bowel); If you read into the symptoms you can see the linkage between inability to digest wheat and the body's fight to attack it results in the failure of individual or multiple body systems. There are blood tests that can be done that indicate IgA, AGA, EMA or IgG AGA but these at best are only indicators that further testing is required. There is a genetic test for Celiac disease, but only positive conclusion from this test guarantee you have celiac disease, negative results are inconclusive since there may be other genes that affect celiac disease. Gastroscopy can be used to conclusively diagnose Celiac disease, but the subject must continue to ingest gluten up until the test, so that tissue biopsied continue to be damaged. I suggest is you display any of the symptoms above or have a family member that has had any of these symptoms you find a Gastro Interologist very experience with Celiac disease, otherwise you are likely to be misdiagnosed. Celiac.com and Wikipedia are excellent resources for this disease. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease just after I turned 40. Maintaining a 100% gluten-free diet is as nearly hard as diagnosing the condition.

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amanda Aug 21 2012 at 6:32 PM

I have a wheat allergy but not a gluten allergy. I can eat all other grains with no allergic response, it is only wheat. So wheat allergy and celiac disease or gluten allergy are not identical. This allergy was discovered via blood tests though I knew I was allergic due to obvious allergy symptoms every time I would consume wheat.