Celiac Disease Diet

All doctors agree that consumption of the gluten-containing grains wheat, barley, and rye must be avoided in all celiac patients. Less consensus exists regarding the advisability of eating or restricting oats and oat products. While oats contain a substance similar to gluten, modern research suggests that eating moderate amounts of oats does not cause problems for most people with celiac disease. In one of these reports, approximately 95% of people with celiac disease tolerated 50 grams (almost two ounces) of oats per day for up to 12 months.

Strict avoidance of wheat, barley, and rye, and of foods containing ingredients derived from these grains, usually results in an improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms within a few weeks, although in some cases the improvement may take many months. Tests of absorptive function usually improve after a few months on a gluten-free diet.

Many people with celiac disease become symptom-free when following gluten-free diets. Others, however, continue to experience symptoms, often resulting from the presence of trace amounts of gluten either permitted in some gluten-free diets or consumed by mistake. Such mistakes are easy to make because many processed foods contain small amounts of gluten. For people with residual symptoms, a diet that truly eliminates all gluten, followed by open and double-blind challenges, resulted in symptomatic improvement in 77% of those studied. A careful dietary analysis should ensure that all trace amounts of gluten are removed from the diet. If this fails to relieve symptoms after three months, then other food intolerances should be ruled out using an elimination diet...