gluten vs. wheat allergy

[moonlight mom]

My son just had a blood test that showed a significant reaction to wheat and eggs. The test for celiac was negative. I'm starting to avoid wheat only, but still include oats, barley and rye in our diet. Now I am wondering if I should avoid gluten too. Most of the internet searches I did define wheat and gluten as the same thing. My ped has no clue.
Does anyone have just a wheat allergy? If so, do you include oats, rye and barley in your diet?
Also, are spelt and kamut safe alternatives to wheat?
TIA

[nataliachick7]

Originally Posted by Lindsay13

My son just had a blood test that showed a significant reaction to wheat and eggs. The test for celiac was negative. I'm starting to avoid wheat only, but still include oats, barley and rye in our diet. Now I am wondering if I should avoid gluten too. Most of the internet searches I did define wheat and gluten as the same thing. My ped has no clue.
Does anyone have just a wheat allergy? If so, do you include oats, rye and barley in your diet?
Also, are spelt and kamut safe alternatives to wheat?
TIA

i dont trust those tests....they are highly innacurate. i realized my son is intolerant to wheat/gluten myself. its just trial and error. generally though, people have problems with wheat AND gluten, not just wheat.

im not sure about spelt of kamut.

[DollyX]

spelt and kamut both have gluten...if i'm not mistaken, spelt actually has more gluten than wheat does. i have an intolerance to gluten, so i don't eat any of those buggers! but i guess there are some people who only react to wheat.
good luck sorting this all out, i know how tough it can be!

[jocelyndale]

For wheat allergies, it depends. There are several different kinds of proteins in wheat. Some of them include gliadin/glutenin (glutens), prolamins, albumen, etc.

Now, spelt and kamut *do* contain gliadin. Some folks with anaphylactic wheat allergies are allergic to gliadin (I think one study cites the omega-5 gliadin as being in both ancient forms of wheat and modern wheat).

Not everyone with a wheat allergy is allergic to gliadin and some people do seem to tolerate spelt and kamut just fine.

I have an anaphylactic wheat allergy *and* a gluten intolerance (likely celiac disease). If I consume spelt or kamut, I react just as severely as I do to wheat, allergy-wise. And, of course, I get a gluten reaction, to boot, though I'm generally more immediately concerned with the allergic reaction.

I had to give up rye, barley, and oats due to cross contamination with wheat. I was still having varying levels of allergic reactions to those, in line with varying levels of cross contamination. I have to make sure I buy grains milled in GF facilities (rice, buckwheat, millet, etc).

[tysmamaca]

My 20-month-old dd has just a wheat allergy. She is not celiac. She had a blood test when she was 6 months and a skin test last month with the same results. I don't avoid barley or oats or anything else with gluten in it. She has been fine so far. A couple weeks ago, I did give her spelt pretzels because I didn't know it was wheat and there was no allergy warning on the bag. She did break out in a rash and her allergist confirmed for me that there is wheat protein in spelt.

An actual allergy to the wheat protein and a gluten intolerance are two different things. If his celiac test was negative and he has been tolerating barley, oats, and rye just fine, I don't see a reason to cut those out of his diet. It's hard enough avoiding wheat without having to lose other grains too if you don't have to.

I would also suggest making an appointment with a pediatric allergist. Peds just really don't know much about food allergies.

Good Luck!

[moonlight mom]

Thanks for all the advice. Big help!!

[Marni]

The blood test for Celiac is often incorrect. They have a mouth-swab test now (by Kimball labs, I believe?) that is said to be FAR more accurate. It can tell you if you have the actual GENE for the disease. As celiac IS an autoimmune disease and NOT an allergy.

(I am a gluten-free celiac myself : )