Celiac and beer

[SaraVegan]

Hi, i just wanted to get your opinion/experience with something. I have been diagnosed celiac 8 years ago and since then i follow i very strict no gluten diet and the few times that i accidentally ingest gluten (it happened a couple a few times in restaurants) my reaction is pretty strong, i start feeling bad soon after and in a matter of an hour i am very very sick and i am not ok for the following day. When diagnosed i did the usual blood test, the pick test and gastroscopy with biopsy, all indicating a strong case of celiac disease. A couple of years ago i accidentally drank a regular beer and when i noticed the mistake it was too late, the beer was gone and i started to feel a bit of panic as it's not something i like feeling sick  because of gluten. to my big surprise nothing happened. As a sort of experiment i started consuming regular beers doing blood tests on a regular bases and the tTG-IgA test has always shown negative. Now i have decided to do another gastroscopy to make sure there is no harm in that. I am quite happy because i like beer a lot (i am German) and gluten free beer does not taste good in my opinion, costs really really a lot and it's not available very easily. My doctor is also surprised, he says as the blood test are always ok and i have no reaction should be fine but do the gastroscopy can help remove doubts. Of course he doesn't encourage it as beer should contain gluten so he cannot say it's safe. But if after a couple of years i still show no damage whatsoever i don't know how to understand all of it.

Has someone else had a similar experience or has more information on why this could be happening?

[Scott Adams]

Due to the fact that beer is fermented and filtered, even regular beer would be considered low gluten, although not necessarily gluten-free. We've done at least one article on this topic:

 So I'm not advising that you continue, however you likely want to avoid weizen beers, and go for clear ones. Also, there are beers in Germany that are rendered gluten-free via enzymes, which are quite good. I believe one is called Lammsbräu (https://www.lammsbraeu.de/) so you may want to switch to this one to be safe. 

If you do continue to drink regular beer you probably should monitor your blood regularly via celiac disease blood panels, and perhaps also via an occasional biopsy.

[SaraVegan]

Thanks for the reply Scott. I am actually monitoring blood levels regularly (and no anomalies after 2 years or regular beer drinking) and I will do a biopsy soon to make sure. I am super sensitive to gluten and usually very small amounts make me really sick, that's why I am quite surprised by lack of reactions 

[CAS7]

A little late to the party, so to speak. My situation : I was diagnosed back in 2016 with Celiac ( Endoscopy/Biopsy, and Blood Draw). I have adhered to a gluten-free diet as best as possible, as I have been in healthcare my entire life, I take my health seriously as I did my my Celiac condition.  In speaking with a Gastroenterologist, he related that most American macro brews are very low in gluten. Now, before I go any further the point that I want to make is like so many other disease processes, no two cases of celiac disease are exactly alike. I'm not advocating regular beer for those with celiac disease. My experience is, just that my experience. I have been drinking Coors Light, and/or Corona Extra since around 2017 with no negative effects. I have had subsequent biopsy's and blood draws that all were negative. My last MARSH score was 0 as opposed to MARSH 3 when I was diagnosed. Again, with the exception of beer I'm very careful about my diet. So there you go. 

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum @CAS7! You are correct that many commercial beers may be naturally gluten-free, as they are filtered using very fine membranes for maximum clarity and consistency, and other people have reported similar stories here. In the gluten-removed beer category, we still recommend beers like Omission, which use AN-PEP enzymes during the fermenting process to break down even gliadin, which is what triggers the reaction in those with celiac disease. Here is a good list: