Some signs of Gluten Intolerance in Kids and its Treatment

Food intolerance is unfortunately a very common problem in the USA. By some estimates, around 30 million people of all ages in America are affected by these conditions.

It is not a problem to be taken lightly at all. If you choose to ignore it or keep it on your backburner, you will do so at your peril.

Even prepared meal providers like Little Spoon are well aware of the serious implications of food intolerance.

You will find that using the Little Spoon Discount Code will be quite advantageous to you and your kids, since the site also offers specialized foods that are prepared taking into account the various food intolerances that are most prevalent in the community.

What is a Food Intolerance?

A food intolerance can be described as facing difficulty in the digestion and absorption of certain foods.

When the affected person eats the offensive food, it triggers a negative and unpleasant reaction in them.

This is reflected by the person feeling sick in physical or even mental terms, as food intolerance can lead to psychological uneasiness as well.

What are the Effects of Food Intolerance?

• Generally it has been observed that people who have a food intolerance will experience such discomforts as stomach bloating and abdominal pain, flatulence and diarrhoea.
• In a few cases, it can also result in the victim breaking out with skin rash and itchy skin.
• Overall you can say that some sort of physical or mental discomfort will invariably be felt by such people.
• You have to be wary because sometimes the symptoms do not make themselves evident immediately.
• They may arise a few hours after the intolerance triggering food has been consumed.
• So really speaking, it may be quite difficult to know for sure if your kid has a food intolerance or not.
• It is only when you notice a recurring pattern or decide to keep a food diary, will you become aware that some kind of food allergy exists in your kid that is in fact triggered by intolerance to a certain kind of food.
• The complicating factor here is you cannot know for sure. Symptoms of food intolerance can sometimes be confused with similar conditions that are indicative of other common ailments.
• It may be a simple case of dyspepsia or diarrhea that we are dealing with, rather than a food allergy.
• So the only way of being sure is, that we arrange a session with the doctor, and get some tests done that will prove once and for all, whether the child has some kind of food intolerance or not.

Kinds of Food Intolerance

Research has indicated that the most common food intolerances include the following:

1. Gluten Intolerance.
2. Casein Intolerance.
3. Lactose Intolerance.
4. Egg Intolerance.
5. Intolerance for Almonds and Nuts.
6. Yeast Intolerance.

The rest of this piece will focus on Gluten Intolerance. It is one of the most commonly occurring issues that parents and their kids have to deal with in the 2000s.

More about Gluten Intolerance

Gluten is an element of protein that is found in dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt. It is also a part of cereals such as wheat, rye or barley.

As described above, a person having intolerance to gluten (also referred to as gluten sensitivity) may feel stomach pain or bloating, especially after consuming foods that contain gluten.

Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

How can you know for sure if you or your child is suffering from gluten intolerance? As indicated above, the sufferer will most commonly experience tiredness, bloating, stomach pain, headache, nausea, diarrhea or constipation.

Gluten sensitivity can also result in other symptoms of feeling unwell, such as confusion or brain fog, numbness, confusion, joint and muscle pain.

The victim can even get skin rash or itchy skin.

All this can result in the victim experiencing some degree of anxiety as well.

Coping with Gluten Intolerance

For people who have been diagnosed with the condition, it is best to take some or all of the following steps and even turn them into lifestyle changes if possible:

Avoid all dairy products, especially milk based. This also applies to all those products which have been dipped in milk as part of their preparation.

Avoid all wheat based products. This covers, rice, wheat, rye, barley and associated products. Any product that uses a wheat base as part of its preparation is also to be avoided.

Wheat products include breads, pasta, cookies, biscuits and couscous. For adults, even beer is a no-no.

It is surprising but nevertheless true that gluten is an ingredient in many sauces, soups, spices and seasonings.

Be careful while reading the ingredients of canned foods, since many of them could contain gluten.

What Foods Can they Eat?

If you are at this point wondering what to feed a person having gluten intolerance, you will be relieved to find that there are many gluten-free foods.

This includes fruits and vegetables, unseasoned meat, poultry and fish, beans and lentils, quinoa, rice, potatoes and some oatmeal based preparations.

Make it a rule when preparing meals or snacks for gluten-sensitive individuals, that you always read the labels of prepared foods purchased from the supermarket, that they are gluten-free.

Use gluten-free ingredients in meals and keep a list of gluten-free recipes handy to deal with a food emergency.

If using flour, use chickpeas flour as a substitute for regular flour.

Thankfully, most packaged food items have the label Gluten Free that makes it easier for those who cook to pick out these products for gluten-sensitive individuals.

And if you are lost or just want to relax, you can safely order gluten-free meals from Little Spoon that meet with the doctor’s recommendations.

About the Author

Deanna Wainwright is a mother of two kids- one of whom is gluten-sensitive. She scours the internet regularly to find ways to deal with this problem. Other than that, she is considered a good bridge player in her neighborhood community.