Wheat allergy is among the most common types of food allergies. A wheat allergy occurs when you inhale or ingest wheat, and your body’s immune system overreacts to these proteins, causing symptoms all over your body.
Many people can consume wheat without suffering from symptoms. However, when you have a wheat allergy, your body recognizes wheat as an invader and attacks it like a bacteria or virus.
A person with wheat allergy can even experience debilitating symptoms like anaphylaxis, which is life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention. Wheat allergy is often mistaken for celiac disease. However, these conditions differ graetly.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition. It affects the gastrointestinal tract, damaging the walls. Gluten is the main protein that triggers celiac disease. However, a person develops an antibody to one or many white proteins in wheat allergy. Therefore, consuming a gluten-free diet doesn’t help people with wheat allergy as they’ll still be consuming other wheat proteins that will cause them allergy symptoms.
In celiac disease, a gluten-free diet helps one overcome the symptoms. Wheat allergy can be managed by avoiding all items containing wheat. Therefore, while you must avoid only wheat when you have a wheat allergy, celiac disease makes you avoid wheat and other grains like rye and barley. That’s because all these grains contain gluten.
Also, since celiac disease isn’t an immune response, it’s impossible to suffer from anaphylaxis. Still, even though it is a rare wheat allergy symptom, it is possible to suffer anaphylaxis after inhaling or ingesting wheat or its proteins.
Wheat allergy symptoms
Wheat allergy symptoms can vary from one person to the next. One person may always suffer from severe symptoms, even anaphylaxis, while the other only encounters a few reactions that can be solved by taking over-the-counter antihistamines. Knowing your responses helps you act accordingly upon exposure to wheat.
Often, wheat allergy symptoms arise within a few minutes or hours after contact. Symptoms include:
- Stomach pain
- Diarrhea
- Sneezing
- Stuffy nose
- Watery itchy eyes
- Runny nose
- Headache
- Wheezing
- Hives and swelling
- Rash
- Inflammation
- Anaphylaxis
These symptoms will vary from one individual to the next. If your child has wheat allergies, you can expect them to outgrow it. However, if you develop the allergy in adulthood, you may have to manage it as a lifelong condition.
Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and needs immediate medical care. If you notice someone or yourself suffering anaphylaxis, it’s necessary to find immediate help or use an Epinephrine injector if you have one. There are allergy symptoms that indicate anaphylaxis. These include:
- Difficulty swallowing
- Pale or bluish skin
- Swelling and tightness in the throat
- A weak pulse
- A drop in blood pressure
- Chest pain and tightness
- Difficulty breathing
If you ever suffer from anaphylaxis, your doctor will recommend an EpiPen that you need to carry at all times in case of accidental encounters with the trigger food.
How common is wheat allergy?
Wheat allergy affects 0.2-1.3% of people worldwide. Often, children outgrow this allergy, but those who don’t have to manage it lifelong. Anyone can develop a wheat allergy; however, people from families suffer from allergic diseases like asthma or eczema.
People who have parents who suffer from allergies have a higher likelihood of developing a wheat allergy compared to those who have one parent with an allergy.
Triggers of wheat allergy
A wheat allergy happens when your immune system mistakes the proteins in wheat for harmful substances, even though they’re not. So, a wheat allergy involves immunoglobulin antibodies reaction to one or more of these proteins present in wheat:
- Globulin
- Albumin
- Gliadin
- Gluten or glutenin
While you may be allergic to one of these proteins, it’s also possible to be allergic to more than one of them when you have a wheat allergy. Besides allergic reactions, there are other ways that wheat can cause you to have a response that you may think is an allergic reaction.
Wheat and exercise
Some people experience allergic reactions if they exercise within a few hours of consuming wheat. Exercise-induced changes in your body can either trigger an allergic reaction or worsen the response to wheat. It’s common for exercise-induced allergic reactions to wheat to cause anaphylaxis.
Baker’s asthma
Those working around uncooked wheat flour may often develop baker’s asthma. This allergic reaction occurs because of wheat flour inhalation rather than ingestion. Suffering this affects their breathing; a fungus or wheat protein can trigger it.
Risk factors of wheat allergy
Anyone can develop a wheat allergy. However, some factors can raise your risk of developing a wheat allergy. These include:
- Age: Often, children suffer from wheat allergy because they have an immature immune and digestive system. However, as children get into their teenage years, they can outgrow the allergy. However, adults can still develop it as a cross-sensitivity to grass pollen.
- Family history: If your parents have allergies like asthma, hay fever or food allergies, you’re at a higher chance of developing wheat allergies.
How to manage wheat allergy
The best way to avoid wheat allergy symptoms is by avoiding wheat proteins. It may be challenging to do so, considering many foods contain wheat. However, checking labels before purchasing anything is the key.
You can treat those symptoms when you are accidentally exposed to wheat allergens. If they’re mild, over-the-counter antihistamines should help you eliminate the symptoms. However, emergencies like anaphylaxis should be treated with an EpiPen. Adrenaline, found in an EpiPen, helps open airways to breathe easily. It can also restore one’s low blood pressure.
Even after using an EpiPen, one must visit the hospital for observation. It’s common for the symptoms to return after a few minutes or hours, and it’s best to be under observation. When shopping, you need to know common foods containing wheat to avoid them. These may include:
- Couscous
- Pasta
- Bread
- Cakes, cookies, and muffins
- Crackers
- Spelt
- Semolina
- Farina
- Soy sauce
- Dairy products like ice cream
- Hydrozlied vegetable protein
- Processed meats like hot dogs
- Vegetable gum
- Natural flavourings
- Modified food starch
- Gelatinized starch
If you have a wheat allergy after your Allergy Test, you should manage your diet to follow a wheat-free diet. In the case of wheat sensitivity, a Sensitivity Test will help you know if you’re suffering from it. Some people with wheat allergy follow a gluten-free diet, but that’s constrictive and unnecessary in this case. However, when purchasing other flour and grains, always look for labels. If they mention “may contain wheat” or “manufactured in the same factories as wheat,” it’s common to find trace amounts of wheat causing you allergy symptoms.
What to expect if you have a wheat allergy
At first, living with a wheat allergy can seem very complicated. Symptoms often range from mild to severe, varying from one allergic reaction to another. This can make it hard to predict how your body will react.
If you take extra precautions, you can manage your wheat allergy easily. A dietitian can advise you on transitioning to this new diet and still consume healthy, balanced meals. For your daily meals, you can start with Dietitia’s help. Then, you’ll eventually learn what you enjoy and what is wheat-free and create your menu.
Final thoughtsA wheat allergy happens when your immune system reacts defensively to wheat proteins after ingesting or inhaling wheat. Various symptoms will arise upon exposure to wheat. In severe cases, one may suffer from anaphylaxis. Not knowing what’s causing your symptoms can be frustrating, but an Allergy Test can help you discover your food allergies while a Sensitivity Test can help you know your wheat sensitivity, so you can manage your diet accordingly and prevent symptoms.
