If you have noticed that your child is not eating enough and has a very slow growth rate, then these could be symptoms of Celiac Disease. Other than these, you will also be able to notice skin rashes, constipation, anemia, fatigue, and bloating. Children affected by it cannot intake gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. The tissues inside the body get damaged as soon as the gluten enters it. The small intestine is affected the most, as it does not receive enough nutrients.
To be sure, you can always take the child for celiac disease blood test. The most common one is a tTG-IgA test. If the test reports suggest celiac disease then the physician will carry out a test for the small intestine. The only treatment that can effectively combat celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. Here are some food items to avoid and the alternatives that are available easily in the market.
FOODS TO AVOID AND THE ALTERNATIVE
- Barley, Wheat, Rye: These are not gluten-free. The only way to treat celiac disease is to avoid eating anything with gluten. Barley, wheat, and rye contain the protein called gluten. Therefore, you should not give your child anything made out of these three. Barley malt is also not gluten-free. If you find anything with the word ‘malt’ in the ingredient list then you need to avoid it.
- Blue Cheese: The milk used to make the blue cheese sometimes contains bread mold. This, in turn, contains gluten. Therefore, you need to avoid feeding the child blue cheese. These days you can find gluten-free blue cheese in the market easily.
- Pasta: If you find that the pasta is made from wheat, wheat starch, barley or rye then this is not for your child. However, the good news is that gluten-free pasta is easily available these days. It is made of corn flour, rice flour, and quinoa. It will be exactly the same in taste and your child will love it.
- Cake Flour: It is strongly recommended to avoid cake flour in case your child have celiac disease. But that does not mean the child cannot have delicious desserts. For gluten-free baking, you can use amaranth flour, millet flour, cornmeal, groundnuts, potato flour and rice flour. For the binding agents, you can go for arrowroot powder. To top it up, you can use raisins and cranberries. There is no way the child will not love it.
- French Fries: Yes, you heard it right. The child should not be given French fries if he/she is gluten sensitive. This happens because of the fryer; you should not be using the same fryer for gluten-based products and for gluten-free products. If you visit a restaurant then make sure they are too not using common fryers for both. If you are buying packaged fries from the grocery store then you need to be sure that they are “gluten-free.” To be on the safe side, always use a separate fryer for gluten based and gluten-free frying.
To know more about celiac disease symptoms, foods to avoid and celiac disease blood test visit Nutrition4kids. Here you will find everything you need to know about diseases and conditions in children of every age group. All the information provided has been gathered and written by medical experts.
Visit the website http://www.nutrition4kids.com/ for more details.
