Asthma may be one symptom of celiac disease. This is not surprising since gluten affects every organ in the body for celiacs.
This website has an article called Wheat, Gluten and Asthma. Hundreds of people have commented that eliminating wheat reduces or eliminates their asthma symptoms, which is great.
Leah Johnson left a comment specific to asthma and celiac disease. I’m glad she did because it highlights a couple of issues I was wondering about. Here’s what Leah has to say:
Since going gluten free in January 2012 (due to Celiac Disease) my asthma has slowly went away and I am now off of all asthma meds. I had been on asthma medication and was getting progressively worse for 25+ years.
I have now found that white potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers can cause me to have wheezing. After doing some research I found several articles that list nightshades to cause asthma. My reaction is pretty immediate after eating these items but I am slowly adding them back into my diet without having a reaction.
I went nightshade free for 3 months before trying to add a few to my diet. Food elimination diets are fairly easy to do and I am amazed after all of the years of taking medications that something as simple as a diet change can make such a huge difference in a person’s health.
Even after going gluten free I was still having some asthma (although NOTHING to the extent it was) and after being gluten free for 4 months and then eliminating the nightshades I am totally off asthma meds. I have been GF free for 9 months and nightshade free for 5 months.
I am slowly adding so nightshades back to my diet now and I am not reacting to them at this time (no asthma but I only eat small amounts of nightshades once a week or so).
My doctor is amazed at how clear my lungs are after all of these years being so sick. Normally this time of year I would be on predisone, nebulizer three times a day, singuliar, benedryl, and inhaler everyday. I am now on NONE of these things and I can take a deep breathe with no pain and no wheezing. AMAZING.
It looks like nightshades only cause asthma symptoms when she is eating gluten, but it may take a while to know for sure.. It appears as if gluten causes her to have asthma because of her celiac disease, although this direct line of reasoning may not be 100% true. For example, she may also have a gluten allergy as well as celiac disease. The bottom line is that when she eliminates gluten from her diet, the asthma goes away.
What is your experience with celiac disease and asthma? Please leave a comment.