I Think I Accidentally Ate Gluten

[antibread]

Hi! New to the form with an important question– I think I may have accidentally eaten gluten the other day, but I didn't have a crazy reaction or anything like that. Today is Wednesday, and it happened Thursday. I only realized yesterday. (College dining halls in the time of COVID– what a mess!) My throat has a been a bit sore and scratchy the past few days, and I didn't think anything of it and attributed it to outdoor allergies, but I only just thought it could be from what I ate. It was a blondie (and it was very good! Too good to be true, I suppose haha!) and it was relatively small, but I've had celiac for over 10 years now and haven't had any real incidents with eating gluten, so I'm not sure if my body really reacted or not. I'd really appreciate anyone's advice/experience.

[trents]

Unless you are a sensitive celiac it can be hard to tell when you unintentionally consume minor amounts of gluten. Symptoms may be very vague or entirely missing. This is especially true if you have been regularly exposed to minor amounts of gluten, such as through cross contamination, that allows your system to maintain some degree of tolerance to gluten. I have not heard of scratchy throat being a symptom of gluten consumption in connection with celiac disease. That sounds more like an allergic reaction to me.

I would think it would be very difficult to avoid cross contamination when eating in a college cafeteria. Total safety in that setting would require the kitchen staff to cook your food in separate containers and on separate surfaces and use separate knives and utensils in it's preparation and handling. Very few university or commercial eatery kitchens are set up for that.

The other thing to say here is that just because consuming gluten doesn't seem to produce symptoms doesn't mean it isn't doing your gut no harm. There are many celiacs who have very minor or no symptoms when the consume gluten, at least at first. We call them "silent" celiacs. But the damage  to the small bowel villi progresses over time and eventually they develop serious health issues.

Edited March 18, 2021 by trents

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum! It might be too late now, but when I eat out I always take 1-2 GliadinX enzymes (they are a sponsor here but don't pay me to post things like this), which contain AN-PEP enzymes, which have been shown in more than 5 studies to effectively break down small amounts of gluten in the gut. 

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