Celiac disease affects the small intestine. There are abnormalities in the intestinal lining, due to a permanent intolerance to gluten. Gluten is in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. (Corn, rice, millet, soybeans, quinoa, and amaranth do not contain gluten. There seems to be a little uncertainty about buckwheat.) The protein, gliaden, is thought to be the toxic part of the gluten. It interacts with the lining of the intestines, causing the tiny absorptive fingers which jut from it (the villi) to flatten and atrophy. As a result, nutrients are not absorbed (including vitamins A, D, and K) and the disease symptoms appear.

Unfortunately, many physicians and the food industries recommend that grains be introduced into the diet of the infant when they are less than a year old. This can prompt celiac disease to first appear then or even decades later.

Helpful herbs include aloe vera, burdock, pau d'arco, psyllium, saffron, slippery elm, and alfalfa.