Celiac disease, also known as gluten-sensitive enteropathy or sprue, is a chronic autoimmune disorder caused by a genetic intolerance to gluten. Although gluten means the entire protein component of wheat, the word is commonly used in reference to gliadin (occurring in wheat) and the related proteins hordein (in barley) and secalin (in rye). Patients with celiac disease must avoid the ingestion of wheat, barley, and rye (and perhaps oats)-including any product containing these grains-in order to prevent disease-related pathology. This can be challenging, as ingestion of as little as 50 mg of gluten per day may produce disease-associated pathology, and some clinicians believe that exposure to even smaller amounts may be problematic. The FDA has suggested that a gluten-free diet be defined as ingestion of no more than 10 mg of gluten (estimated to be equivalent to 1/100 of a peanut) per day.
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