One of the most common symptoms of celiac disease is anemia, and although anemia can be cause by a number of factors, it is also one of the biggest warning flags of celiac disease when it is diagnosed. One half of all patients newly diagnosed with gluten-sensitive enteropathy have anemia.  There are 3 different possible causes for this anemia, iron deficiency which is the most common, blood loss related to small intestine inflammation and folic acid deficiency. A patient may have one or all of these anemic related deficiencies.

First it is helpful to understand just what anemia is, what it does to our bodies, and why it is so important to get it treated. Anemia is the decrease in the number of red blood cells or amount of hemoglobin, these red blood cells are the vessels that carry oxygen to our organs and hemoglobin is what the red blood cells use to hold the oxygen. Without enough of these red blood cells or hemoglobin our body does not get an adequate supply of oxygen. Without oxygen our body cannot convert our food to energy. A vital function, if impair it will leave you tired and weak all the time.

Iron, folate and B12 are essential nutrients for the creation and health of red blood cells. A shortage of iron will cause anemia because it is an important part of creating hemoglobin. Folate is necessary for creating hemoglobin and for transporting oxygen to the entire body. B12 is essential for the formation and growth of red blood cells.

Because celiac disease causes damage to the area of the intestine where iron, folate and B12 are absorbed, this is the reason that anemia is one of the first and most common symptoms of celiac disease.

If you have ongoing anemia with no obvious cause and supplements or shots have not improved your anemia it may be time to ask your doctor to test you for celiac disease. If you have celiac disease and anemia, the good news is that following a gluten free diet will repair the damage to your intestines and with supplementation and healthy diet your anemia should go away.