An estimated 1 in 133 Americans has celiac disease today. That is about 1% of the population, or 3 million people living in America. These figures are estimated to be on the rise as diagnostics and disease awareness become more prevalent in the United States. While not a terribly complex disease to understand physiologically, celiac disease can be an incredibly challenging disease to manage.
Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Every time we eat, our pancreas secretes digestive enzymes that have the ability to break down our foods into molecules that our cells recognize. These enzymes are manufactured from proteins and need to be continually replenished. Each enzyme has a specific job, and works on a specific type of molecule. The main types of enzymes are lipases for digesting fats, carbohydrases for digesting carbohydrates, and proteases for the digestion of protein.
Gluten is a protein found in certain grains: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, semolina and triticale. Gluten is particularly resistant to digestion, and can play havoc with our digestive lining when your pancreas is not producing the proper enzymes to break down these proteins.
When people with celiac disease eat foods or ingest gluten through cross contaminated food containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats. However, typically, distestive upset is just one element of celiac disease.
*Written by The Healthy Celiac for Richard Helfrich.com | Content currently published on richardhelfrich.com
Celiac disease is a genetic autoimmune disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. Every time we eat, our pancreas secretes digestive enzymes that have the ability to break down our foods into molecules that our cells recognize. These enzymes are manufactured from proteins and need to be continually replenished. Each enzyme has a specific job, and works on a specific type of molecule. The main types of enzymes are lipases for digesting fats, carbohydrases for digesting carbohydrates, and proteases for the digestion of protein.
Gluten is a protein found in certain grains: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, semolina and triticale. Gluten is particularly resistant to digestion, and can play havoc with our digestive lining when your pancreas is not producing the proper enzymes to break down these proteins.
When people with celiac disease eat foods or ingest gluten through cross contaminated food containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats. However, typically, distestive upset is just one element of celiac disease.
*Written by The Healthy Celiac for Richard Helfrich.com | Content currently published on richardhelfrich.com
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