Common Cookware Cross-contamination with Gluten Post Customary Sanitation Study

[Scott Adams 484]

Misdiagnosed my sophomore/ junior year of High School, 3 years ago, with celiac disease, I became obsessed with the science of this ailment and how it was supposedly affecting me. I was shocked by how little is known about this autoimmune disease and the many gaps in research done on it. One such gap is that of cross-contamination in the household, where it is likely to have a daily impact on those following gluten-free diets. Because of this, I decided to help fill this gap in scientific knowledge with a manageable project based on cross-contamination in the home, asking whether one can share common kitchen cookware that is used with gluten containing foods, or if people, to help maintain a gluten-free diet, need designated ones for their food preparation.

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[ravenwoodglass 1,436]

Interesting article. I do wonder how she was 'misdiagnosed' though and how she came to the conclusion she wasn't celiac.

[kareng 2,318]

Odd.  And I wonder why she thinks she doesn't have Celiac?  But her little experiment does show that some people may be going over board with new and separate pots, etc

[Victoria1234 98]

Wish we could see her follow up studies from the last 5 years.

[ravenwoodglass 1,436]

12 hours ago, Victoria1234 said:

Wish we could see her follow up studies from the last 5 years.

Yea. I hope she isn't like one of my blood and biopsy diagnosed relatives who then had a gene test that showed she didn't have one of those 2 most common genes.  She was then told it was a misdiagnosis and went back to eating gluten.

She is young so she could also be in what they call the 'Honeymoon' period that used to cause doctors to think celiac could be outgrown.  In young adults it can seem celiac has resolved because the person can consume gluten for a time before the antibodies start causing symptoms again.

Pure conjecture on my part.

[ironictruth 57]

She may be one of those people who got diagnosed only via blood. Some tests can come back false positive. Or maybe only via biopsy and it turns out she had H. Pylori. Who knows. Absolutely could happen though.

 

One of the things that surprised me too was when my doc said it can weeks to months for symptoms to develop on a gluten challenge. I always had this image of getting so imminently sick that there was no question about the connection with gluten. 

 

[cyclinglady 1,663]

Another variable that should be considered......old age and reduced eyesight!  We do not have a dishwasher, so we hand wash.  It appears that I am not washing as well at night.  This might be fine for a good gut bionome (referencing a study in Sweden, I think), but bad from a cross contamination perspective with gluten.  

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/02/23/387553285/kids-allergies-and-a-possible-downside-to-squeaky-clean-dishes

Bottom line?  Wear your reading glasses and improve your lighting!  You may consider transitioning to a 100% gluten-free household as reduced vision and dementia kick in.  ?

[Awol cast iron stomach 144]

Interesting the Teflon was the substrate /material the gluten "stuck to" with a higher ppm of cc a synthetic man made versus an organic material iron . Based on her writing further exploration is not likely to get funding but perhaps from this preliminary finding if repeated celiacs in shared households should avoid teflon products. 

My husbands bachelor pots and pans were a great set of stainless steel. Our wedding set of dishes mostly have broken.  I purged all pre diagnosis wood , plastic, and and old or very used ceramic and with my son and I both affected the household went completely gluten free. 

I wish the budding scientist much success, but hope she followed her own data and ditched all teflon.