Celiac disease is a really big deal because of the mechanisms involved - gluten inflames the gut and opens up the tight junctions, creating a leaky gut, and eventually destroys the gut lining causing malabsorption, and this happens every. single. time. you eat it - which can and will lead to more autoimmunity down the road. NOT GOOD! What about those who have been tested for Celiac and told they don't have it? Are they fine to eat gluten? (go back and listen to episode 011!) Many people do not have true Celiac, but they have "almost Celiac" - they have a gluten sensitivity, they have GI inflammation, they have TTG2 antibodies, but they don't fit all the criteria so they technically do NOT have Celiac Disease, but that doesn't mean they are safe! Celiac is diagnosed by 3 criteria: Gliadin IgA (gluten sensitivity inflaming the inside of the gut lining)Tissue Transglutaminase 2 (TTG2) antibodies (autoimmunity is destroying the gut lining)Tissue biopsy showing "total villous atrophy" What if you have 2 of those 3? You don't have Celiac, but you may have "almost Celiac".  What if you have a gluten sensitivity and TTG2 antibodies but have not had a biopsy? You don't have Celiac, but you have "almost Celiac".  In this episode I give several examples, review a couple lab examples, and talk about this problem because it's a pretty big problem in the autoimmune world. Just because you "don't have Celiac" doesn't mean that you don't "almost" have it!