Wheat Allergy in Children

A wheat allergy is a reaction by your child's immune system to the proteins found in wheat. Our immune systems normally respond to invaders that attack the body such as bacterias or viruses. When a child has a food allergy their immune system mistakenly attacks harmless things, such as the substance found in wheat. Wheat is among the 8 foods that are responsible for most food allergies seen in children.

Allergic reactions to wheat usually begin within minutes or a few hours after eating or inhaling wheat. There are 4 types of protein found in wheat. They are albumin, globulin, gliadin and gluten. Your child may be allergic to any one of these proteins. Oats, rye and barley also contain gluten and may cause symptoms. Symptoms may included some of the following: Skin reaction such as eczema, hives, swelling, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, asthma and hay fever.

The only treatment for someone with a wheat allergy is to completely eliminate the foods that contain wheat. This will be very hard to do since wheat is the staple in the American diet. Its found in hundreds of foods such as pasta and breads. Many processed foods contain a flour-based thickeners.

Most of your daily foods will now have to be prepared from scratch using wheat free food products. Substitute flours such as potato, rice, soy and corn are often available in the health food markets or in the natural food sections at your local grocery store. There are a lot of wheat free Online stores available too. You will need to educate your self and start reading every single food label. If you child is old enough to read, start teaching them right away also.

Foods that contain wheat are: most breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, pasta, bread crumbs, most breakfast cereals, kamut, couscous, crackers, graham flour, enriched flour, whole wheat flour, cracker meal, soy sauce, hydrolyzed vegetables, vegetable starch and vegetable gum.