Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are often grouped together since both conditions have an adverse response to gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. As for Celiac disease, it is an autoimmune disorder that makes people negatively react to gluten, eventually causing life-long damage to the lining of the small intestines, as well as malabsorption that causes the inability to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. As for gluten intolerance, when a person ingests gluten, they have negative reactions like bloating and belly pain, but it does not cause long-term harm. Symptoms for both are quite similar, including bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. While gluten sensitivity affects around 6% of the U.S. population, celiac disease is rarer at less than 1%.
