Celiac disease is a intestinal disorder which damages the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutritional elements. People that suffer from Celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in numerous grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. Because many forms of beer depend on grains such as barley for their production, people that are afflicted by Celiac disease are not able to consume regular beer.
When individuals with the disease ingest foods (or beer) which includes gluten, their body’s defence mechanism reacts by damaging and even doing damage to villi, the small finger-like protrusions lining the small intestinal tract. Under normal conditions, the villi permit nutrients from the food you eat to be soaked up through the surfaces of the small bowel. When these villi are under assault by your own body’s defense mechanisms, then they are usually unable to assist in the absorption of the food nutrients and a person with this disease becomes malnourished.
The disease is an abnormal immune system response to gluten which is genetic. It can easily lay dormant for a extended time before it is activated after surgery, pregnancy, giving birth, viral infection, or severe psychological distress. Because of this, numerous people have Celiac disease and don’t even realize it. As a result, after it is triggered numerous people are required to drastically alter their eating habits and what they drink-even beer.
Symptoms of this disease when it is activated vary from person to person, and they may possibly happen in the digestive system or in other parts of the human body. In younger people, such as children and infants, symptoms usually appear in the digestive system and they will consist of the following:
* Abdominal pain and bloating * Chronic diarrhea * Vomiting * Constipation * Pale, smelly stool * Weight loss
Adults usually don’t incur digestive disorders, but instead their symptoms include one or more of the following:
* unexplained iron-deficiency anemia and fatigue * bone or joint pain including arthritis * bone loss or osteoporosis * depression or anxiety * tingling numbness in the hands and feet * seizures * missed menstrual periods and infertility or recurrent miscarriage * canker sores inside the mouth * an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis
This disease affects people of all walks of life in all parts of the world. Originally it was thought to be a childhood disorder, but after thorough research it has been found to be a common genetic disorder. About 2 million people in the United States have Celiac disease which accounts for about a 1 in 133 ratio. For people with a close relative with the disease, the odds of having the disease increase to 1 in 22.
The only treatment for Celiac disease is to change the food you eat and the beverages you drink. A gluten-free diet is the only way to avoid the symptoms of the disease. To stay healthy, people with Celiac disease will need to avoid gluten for the rest of their lives. This means no pasta, cereal, most processed foods, and almost all types of beer. If they do this, then there is a good chance any intestinal damage they have will heal and they will leave a happy and healthy life.
Ray Bay Brewing Company makes Gluten Free Beer so that beer drinkers with Celiac disease can live a happy and healthy life and still enjoy great tasting beer.