Anyone Get Gluten Type Reactions From Coffee?

[gluten-is-kryptonite]

I went off coffee for about 5 months. When I started back on it I got some GI issues- not as bad as gluten but similar. I thought it may be from the little bit of creamer so I switched to rice milk which I never react to. I still seemed to have GI issues from coffee. Not cool. Anyone else find this? I know there is some info out there about the cross reactivity of coffee and gluten (even though coffee is Gluten-Free the body may react to it like gluten - or something to that effect).

 

Thoughts?

[kareng]

I don't believe there is any good scientific evidence that coffee looks like gluten to our bodies.  Its amazing how someone with an agenda, a slick website and products to sell becomes  a "medical" authority.  And even more amazing how it spreads as if it were true.

 

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Coffee can be harsh to your system.  Maybe it is not for you.  I find that, if I don't have food or some milk with it, it hurts my stomach.

[hannahisabrooks]

What about other sources of caffeine? Do they make you sick too?

[alesusy]

I had issues with coffee and with coca cola as well. Now I'm just trying to avoid them.. The odd coffee (even an Italian espresso) doesn't bother me but a couple of cups of American coffee a day play havoc with my bowels. Ditto for tea. I've been gluten-free three months and I think my gut is just very sensitive (for now, hopefully) to anything harsh.

[GFinDC]

I gave up coffee some years ago.  After a few years I tried tea and am able to drink that now.  I haven't tried coffee though and don't plan to.

[NorthernElf]

I love my coffee and could never stop it (well, I wouldn't want to). However - if I have coffee on an empty stomach sometimes it can result in some gastric issues. My hubby (non celiac) is the same....esp. first thing in the morning.

 

Also - if I have been glutened coffee is more effective on me in that way. Like a lot of things (eg. dairy) - if I am already 'down' it doesn't take much to bother me.

[cavernio]

I have always had more of an effect of coffee than a similar amount of caffeine from tea or cola. My mom gets a pretty upset stomach from coffee (and she's the only person who bothered to get fully tested for celiac disease, she doesn't have it), and I have a cousin who gets heart palpitations from it if she drinks a large cup.

 

Caffeine will speed up your bowel movements, just like it might make you a bit more jittery or alert, it's all part of the same thing. I bet you were constipated for a little bit when you stopped your coffee 5 months ago...that's normal too because caffeine is a drug and your body will habituate to it, so stopping it will have the opposite effects of the caffeine until your body adjusts to not having any.

 

I occasionally have it myself still, but I kick myself everytime I do. The 'down' afterwards, b%$@#iness, tiredness, isn't worth the high I get. I'm getting better, think I've only had it twice the past 30 days.

 

Decaf still makes my tongue dry.

 

As far as cross-reactivity in general, I'd call celiac's reactions to hordein in barley a cross-reaction since it's not gliadin. Clearly cross-reactions can occur.

 

I wouldn't worry about coffee damaging your intestines. But you may have all sorts of other adverse reactions to it, celiac or not.

[dilettantesteph]

Maybe this could be the problem.  I looked at the USP food fraud database: Open Original Shared Link

 

They found barley, rye, soybeans, grain, malt, and corn in coffee.

 

I drink coffee, and I am super sensitive.  I stick with one brand, and I buy it whole and check through it so that I'm sure I'm getting pure coffee.

[Kamma]

The findings in that database are fascinating.  Especially about coffee being adulterated with those grains you mentioned, dilletantsteph. 

[GFinDC]

I gave up coffee some years ago.  After a few years I tried tea and am able to drink that now.  I haven't tried coffee though and don't plan to.

 

well, take backs are free right?  So, I gave up regular tea for a few days and feel much better.  Not tired, not sleeping as much, actually have some energy too.  So tea isn't for me it seems.  It didn't seem to bother me right away.  but after a while it caused more and more symptoms.  Kind of snuck up on me.

[Chiana]

Coffee is very acidic and high in caffeine, which can be hard on your stomach -- especially an empty stomach.  Both me and the non-celiac gent get a little stomach upset with coffee.  (I am not a stomach celiac.)