Questions from a non-celiac disease family member

[deanna1ynne]

We live with my in-laws, and my mother in law would like to know the answer to these two questions:
1) Can going gluten-free have any negative impact on her health (outside of making sure you get appropriate nutrients)? She's heard that if you go gluten-free without being celiac, it can actually cause you to become gluten intolerant or even have celiac (if you have the genetic predisposition). She has a lot of existing health issues and does not want to cause any more for herself. 
2) Is flour in the house a concern? I.e., Can "airborne" gluten cause problems for my celiac kiddos? Does it only need to be avoided if the kids complain that it hurts them, or should it be avoided, because it is causing internal damage even if they don't complain about it?
3) Is celiac disease only related to INGESTED gluten? Or is topical gluten also a concern?

[ravenwoodglass]

18 minutes ago, deanna1ynne said:

We live with my in-laws, and my mother in law would like to know the answer to these two questions:
1) Can going gluten-free have any negative impact on her health (outside of making sure you get appropriate nutrients)? She's heard that if you go gluten-free without being celiac, it can actually cause you to become gluten intolerant or even have celiac (if you have the genetic predisposition). She has a lot of existing health issues and does not want to cause any more for herself. 
2) Is flour in the house a concern? I.e., Can "airborne" gluten cause problems for my celiac kiddos? Does it only need to be avoided if the kids complain that it hurts them, or should it be avoided, because it is causing internal damage even if they don't complain about it?
3) Is celiac disease only related to INGESTED gluten? Or is topical gluten also a concern?

Going gluten free will not have any negative impact on her health. It would be a good idea for her to get tested for celiac first though. If someone reacts to gluten after being gluten free that means they were either celiac or sensitive.

Flour use in the house if a concern. Personally I would not allow it in a house with celiac children or adults.

Anything applied topically can be accidentally injested and while gluten cannot get through intact skin it can cause a reaction if the skin is broken. This may be more of a concern for those of us with DH but it really is easy to avoid gluten in topicals as wheat germ or wheat protein is usually clearly listed. As someone with DH I also avoid oats and oat protein in both topicals and food but not all celiacs react to oats.

[knitty kitty]

@deanna1ynne,

What great questions to ask! 

1. Going gluten free without having the genes for Celiac will not harm a person's health, as long as adequate nutritional needs are met.  

A person who adopts a gluten free diet before their Celiac genes are activated will not be harmed by a nutritionally adequate gluten free diet.  

Celiac Disease requires that a person have at least one gene for Celiac Disease and that this gene (or genes) becomes activated by some sort of stress event (an illness or physical trauma, or a stressful life event.)  The event of a person with inactive Celiac genes who is gluten free and then begins eating gluten could be stressful enough to trigger the Celiac genes and begin the disease process.

 

A person who has undiagnosed Celiac Disease (with activated genes, but doesn't know their lifelong health problems are related to Celiac) and goes gluten free, can very easily have a reaction to gluten if they resume a gluten containing diet.  This is not suddenly developing an intolerance or becoming Celiac.  It's merely an undiagnosed Celiac resuming the gluten containing diet and having a reaction. 

There are many people who go gluten free prior to Celiac Disease testing for diagnosis (either on their own or from poor advice from an unknowledgeable doctor).  When they resume consuming gluten before testing, they report more severe reactions to gluten.  The gluten challenge for diagnosis requires consumption a "normal" amount of gluten (a minimum of two slices of wheat bread for six to eight weeks for antibody tests or two weeks for endoscopy).  

Considering the symptoms you mentioned your mother-in-law as having in a previous post (anemia gastrointestinal upset), testing for Celiac Disease should be done now before she makes any changes to her diet.

2.  Yes, airborne gluten can be problematic because inhaled flour drains from the nasal passages into the digestive system.  Even the eyes drain this way.

3.  Yes.  Soaps, shampoos, beauty products, etc. with gluten ingredients should be avoided.  And because small children often put their fingers in their mouths, toys like Play-doh should be avoided.  

You're a very thoughtful, thorough mom!  Cheers!