Nausea, heartburn, upset stomach, indigestion, diarrhea. Does this annoying commercial jingle have you tapping your foot and nodding your head in empathy? Do you also experience bloating, unexplained weight loss, asthma, fatigue, anemia, eczema or allergies? If these symptoms are familiar to you, the latest heartburn medicine will do you no good as you may be one of the many to have an undiagnosed allergy to our culture's favorite food: wheat.

A few more questions to help weed through the remaining group of readers:

Do you eat a diet that is high in wheat-containing products such as cereals, breads, muffins, pretzels, bagels and cookies?

Are you of European descent, particularly Eastern European, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, German, English or Scandinavian?

Do not start calling me up looking for your psychic reading, but I do see that you are the typical example of one that has wheat as the underlying antagonist to your ailments. Wheat makes such a large appearance in the American diet and over the years has been genetically modified to have a higher gluten content. Gluten is a wheat protein that is most often the cause of our digestive disregulation and is hidden in many of our foods, from baked goods to condiments. Most people don't know how much is being eaten in the course of a day. When we eat cereal and muffins for breakfast, breads and cookies or pretzels for lunch, and then pasta for dinner, the amount of wheat that is consumed is completely out of proportion to what our digestive tracts can handle.

What is the problem with wheat in our diet, you ask? In a nutshell, the body (more specifically, our antibodies) is having an adverse reaction to one of the four proteins found in wheat. For those that are really interested, the four proteins are albumin, globulin, gliadin and glutelin. Gluten is the combination of glutelin and gliadin.

Celiac disease, which is an autoimmune reaction to wheat, is due to the molecule gliadin, which is antagonistic to the lining of the small intestine. When being digested, it causes inflammation and destruction to the intestinal lining, intervening on optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients. The molecule acts as a razor, shaving down the villi (tiny hair-like projections that absorb nutrients) of the intestinal tract, creating a flat surface so the vitamins and nutrients that our bodies need cannot be absorbed.

People of the northern heritage are most affected by gluten intolerance for the following reason: Wheat grains were first introduced in the Middle East and eventually spread across the continent into Northern European areas. Northern Europeans' digestive tracts were not designed to digest this foreign substance. It was not native to their land. Today, their digestive tracts are still evolving, and portray this through the digestive symptoms shown after eating wheat.

Those with gluten intolerance find that they can make a major impact in their life by strictly avoiding wheat. There is no other way than to cut wheat from their diet completely. I have seen such improvement with people, among those including a family member that was experiencing digestive upset and headaches, and is now free from symptoms ever since she chose to stay away from wheat. A friend was miraculously able to conceive after omitting wheat completely. Recurrent infections cleared, and infertility soon was not a problem. She is now happily mothering her son. When wheat is taken out of the diet of school-age kids, some cases have shown improvement with focusing issues and the child being less rowdy and disruptive.

Blood and saliva tests are available to see if you are wheat intolerant, but I find the best and most effective way is to simply omit wheat for two weeks. You should notice an improvement after only a few days. Wait two weeks and then try eating some wheat, being aware of how your body responds. If you notice the symptoms mentioned above, it is time to come to the realization that you are one of the many who should omit wheat from their diet completely.

The key to living with gluten intolerance is to commit to making a lifestyle change and to always read the label. Gluten is hidden in many unlikely foods such as soups, soy sauce, cold cuts, low- or nonfat products and candies. With the help of a creative nutritionist, you can find many alternatives.

Hang in there — there is life beyond wheat and beyond the upset stomach or diarrhea. To find out more about a balanced diet despite the limitations, call or e-mail for a consultation. Until then, Choose Healthy, Live Happy!