--- title: Food Allergies and Gluten Sensitivity: Do I Have a Food Allergy? description: Food-related reactions might be signs of an allergy, food intolerance or food sensitivity. FInd out what experts say about food allergies canonical: https://time.com/3838662/food-allergy-gluten-sensitivity/ author: Markham Heid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-29T12:56:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:14.930Z article:section: Health og:title: You Asked: Do I Have a Gluten Allergy? og:description: Food-related reactions might be signs of an allergy, food intolerance or food sensitivity. FInd out what experts say about food allergies og:url: https://time.com/3838662/food-allergy-gluten-sensitivity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08ab858a4fdb0b6a/6987ed71e20a8763c3a8923a/you-asked-food-allergies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2650 og:image:height: 1491 og:image:alt: You Asked: Do I Have a Food Allergy? og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Asked: Do I Have a Gluten Allergy? twitter:description: Food-related reactions might be signs of an allergy, food intolerance or food sensitivity. FInd out what experts say about food allergies twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08ab858a4fdb0b6a/6987ed71e20a8763c3a8923a/you-asked-food-allergies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # You Asked: Do I Have a Gluten Allergy? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Eat Pizza? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Pizza?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-02-12. You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs._ by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Apr 29, 2015 12:56 PM UTC  Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Apr 29, 2015 12:56 PM UTC People tend to conflate the terms allergy, intolerance, and sensitivity when they talk about food-related reactions, and especially gluten. The first two refer to well-understood digestive disorders with predictable symptoms, says Dr. Robert A. Wood, division chief of allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins. If you have a true allergy, your immune system produces antibodies designed to protect you from something it sees as a threat—be it nuts or shellfish. Even a little nibble can cause cramping or stomach pain, a runny nose, skin rashes, or swelling and breathing issues, Wood says. An intolerance is an inability to properly digest or absorb specific foods or nutrients, often due to a lack of one or more digestive enzymes. (For example, people who are lactose intolerant don’t have the enzymes required to break down lactose.) This inability can lead to gastrointestinal problems like stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhea. Wood says food intolerances, unlike allergies, tend to be “dose dependent”—meaning the more of the food you eat, the worse you feel. Take gluten, a type of protein found in grains like wheat, rye and barley. When it comes to gluten-related health concerns, says Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, roughly 1% of the population has celiac disease—a condition that causes a sufferer’s immune system to attack the small intestine whenever gluten is present. A smaller percentage of people, maybe 0.5%, have a related wheat allergy. “We can verify each of these through blood tests and screening,” Fasano adds. Blood tests are the first step in identifying the underlying condition; to get a definitive diagnosis, a gut biopsy is usually required. For people with these conditions, cutting gluten or wheat is an absolute necessity. But unlike allergies and intolerances, food sensitivities occupy a gray zone. Like an allergy, they may be related to immune reactions. But they’re poorly understood and symptoms are hard to pin down, says Fasano. “If you believe reports, a food sensitivity could cause a stomachache one time, then a headache, then joint pain or even cognitive problems,” Fasano says. Because the mechanisms underlying sensitivities aren’t known, Fasano says there’s no way to test and validate them. That ambiguity has led to a lot of confusion and disagreement among researchers, while creating ideal conditions for spurious health “experts” to push food elimination diets that may do more harm than good, he says. Eliminating gluten is the most common (and some would say trendy) example of this, Fasano says. Some estimates suggest a third of Americans are trying to avoid or altogether ditch gluten. “There’s this misconception that gluten-free foods are healthier or somehow linked to weight loss,” Fasano says. “But for most people, going gluten-free probably will not be beneficial.” There may be another category of people who suffer from a sensitivity to wheat or gluten. Some popular books have suggested, in the words of _Grain Brain_ author David Perlmutter, that gluten “represents one of the greatest and most under-recognized health threats to humanity.” But there’s not much data to support such claims. Fasano says what data there is point to stomach or abdominal pain as the most common symptom of gluten sensitivity, followed by skin conditions like eczema. While foggy thinking and fatigue are tied to gluten, there’s no agreed-on explanation for these symptoms, Fasano says. Aside from celiac disease, Johns Hopkins’s Wood says that the medical science community is so convinced gluten isn’t a major health issue that there’s very little funding or interest in studying the subject further. “I think the bulk of people avoiding gluten are avoiding it unnecessarily,” he says. “Most doctors or people who’ve looked into it think it’s more of a lifestyle choice than a valid health issue.” And when people claim to feel healthier after ditching wheat or gluten? “Lots of junk foods and snack foods contain gluten,” Fasano says. Some estimates show one-third of all grocery store items contain gluten—many of them the additive-stuffed, overly processed packaged foods nutritionists would love for you to eighty-six from your diet. “If you cut out those things, of course you’ll feel better,” Fasano says. “But it’s not because your body has a problem with gluten.” While he doesn’t believe gluten is the health villain many have made it out to be, Fasano says food-related reactions are common, from gastrointestinal issues like stomachaches or cramps to non-GI issues like headache and joint pain. Fruit, beans, alcohol and many other common foods have been linked to symptoms of allergy or intolerance. If you feel certain foods, including gluten or wheat, may be triggering pain or another type of physical reaction, Fasano recommends visiting a gastroenterologist or an expert dietitian—someone who can help you identify the source of your problem without putting you at risk for a nutritional deficiency. “You wouldn’t take antibiotics or insulin without seeing a doctor first,” he says, “and you should take the same precautions when it comes to making changes to your diet.” ### You Asked: Your Top 10 Health Questions Answered  You Asked: Are Cleanses Healthy? Potions that claim to clear your body of toxins might sound alluring, but do they deliver? Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Eating Dessert Really That Bad For Me? Bad news for sweet-eaters—except if you end your meals with this kind of treat. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Whiten My Teeth? Yes, teeth whitening actually works—but here's why you have to dish out major bucks to see results. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Meditation Really Worth It? From easing stress to lowering heart disease risk, focusing your mind can do some amazing things for your body. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What’s the Healthiest Sweetener? Take a taste of the unsettled science of sweeteners. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Should I Go Paleo? The pros and cons of eating like a caveman. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Cracking Your Knuckles Bad? Here's what really happens to your joints when you snap, crackle and pop. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Is Running on a Treadmill as Good as Running Outside? You'll fool your body into thinking it's outside with this one small treadmill tweak. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: Does Laughing Have Real Health Benefits? Here's proof that everybody could use a belly laugh. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME  You Asked: What Is My Poo Telling Me? If you listen hard enough, you'll hear all kinds of health stories from #2. Illustration by Peter Oumanski for TIME ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] You might be surprised that four out five health experts are giving pizza the thumbs up. But don't be fooled. These are not greasy thumbs. Delivery is a nutritional minefield. One slice of sausage has 14 grams of fat. Pizza is the number one source. Of solid fat intake for kids. 20 % of the pizza that kids eat comes from school cafeterias. Which is pretty much equal to the fast food kind in fat finds a study by Jennifer Poti. Beware the fatty, salty topping. Things warns Lisa Powell. Here 2015 study found that on days when kids eat pizza they take in more calories, saturated fat, and sodium then usual. The trick here is rethinking the pie. Pizza can be as harmless as an open faced sandwich filled with vegetables whole grains and even fruits says Adam Drewnowski. It has a lot going for it. Tomato sauce packs more antioxidants than raw tomatoes, found one 2015 study from the University of Barcelona. In one recent study, Emily Combet developed a nutritionally perfect pizza, with less saturated fat. Less sodium and more fiber. 81 % of kids liked it as much as the regular kind, and 77 % agreed. So yes, by all means eat it, but let your love for pizza be your excuse to cook more. 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