By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)–From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
We see more foods advertised as gluten-free, and that’s good news for people with celiac disease because it gives them a heads-up to avoid those products. When they try to digest gluten – which is a protein in wheat, rye and barley – it sets off a reaction in which their immune system attacks cells in the small intestine.
The director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Griffin Rodgers:
“If you have celiac disease, removing gluten from your diet will control symptoms, heal existing damage to the small intestine, and prevent further damage over time.”
Rodgers says most people with celiac disease can recover completely if they stop eating gluten. But he says they might need a dietician’s help to identify what not to eat.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.