If you’ve undergone testing for celiac disease, there is a good chance you have come across warnings to keep consuming a ‘normal,’ gluten-containing diet until all of your testing is complete. But have you wondered why this is essential in the first place and how much gluten should I eat before celiac test?
Well, the reason is quite simple. For those who might not know, celiac disease tests aim to look for the damage caused to your body when you consume gluten-containing foods, such as pizza, past, and break. If at all you stop consuming these foods, the damage can start to heal quite quickly, and you may test negative even when you actually have the condition.
To get a celiac disease diagnosis, your medical practitioner will first order blood tests that look for antibodies your body produces when you eat gluten. It is worth noting that these antibodies reflect the damage done to your small intestine by your own immune system as a response to gluten ingestion.
If no gluten is in your diet, your immune system won’t produce these antibodies, so none will show up in your blood. For those who return a positive blood test, the next step is an endoscopy. If you test negative but have overwhelming celiac disease symptoms or other reasons to think you have celiac disease, you might also proceed to the endoscopy despite those negative blood test results.
Just as a quick reminder, an endoscopy is a procedure in which a gastroenterologist winds an instrument down your throat and actually collects tissues samples from your small intestines. These samples are then examined for signs of intestinal damage caused by your immune system’s response to gluten ingestion.
Additionally, if you are not ingesting gluten, there may not be as much damage to find, and samples might test negative for celiac disease, even though you actually have the condition with you. Ensure you have a word with your medical practitioner to better understand how much gluten should I eat before celiac test before deciding on anything.