Super sensitive folks - did you keep or get rid of your stand mixer when diagnosed?

[KP-]

I've been diagnosed & living gluten-free for a year, feeling great, symptoms gone, but my 1 year blood test this week showed that my tTG IgA is higher than it was at diagnosis (after being almost down to normal range at the 6mo follow up). I'm scheduling an endoscopy soon to see what's up, but in the meantime I'm trying to figure out what else might be glutening me, since apparently I'm maybe more sensitive than I realized.

At diagnosis I had read either here or on the Reddit Celiac forum that you can deep clean your stand mixer by basically taking off any parts that screw or snap on and washing them thoroughly, wiping the base of the machine thoroughly (use a toothpick or old toothbrush to get into all the cracks and crevices), and running it at high speed for a while to shake loose any gluten flour dust that may have accumulated inside the motor housing or other parts. This is what I did, and I've been using my mixer since then for occasional gluten-free baking and thought it was fine. Now I wonder if this is still somehow a potential source of contamination for me.

Did you keep & clean your previously-used-for-gluten stand mixer when you were diagnosed? Or is this something that should be replaced to avoid contamination?

Thank you!

[trents]

Apart from the elevated antibodies, are you experiencing physical symptoms? Are you still consuming dairy or oats?

Given the thoroughness of your stand mixer cleaning, I doubt if you are getting glutened from it. But having said that, may we assume you are cooking for others who are not eating gluten free?

[KP-]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Apart from the elevated antibodies, are you experiencing physical symptoms? Are you still consuming dairy or oats?

Given the thoroughness of your stand mixer cleaning, I doubt if you are getting glutened from it. But having said that, may we assume you are cooking for others who are not eating gluten free?

No physical symptoms anymore - and I was very symptomatic before diagnosis (mainly GI symptoms). I was honestly shocked that my blood test came back so high, I thought I was doing so well!

Not eating oats. I am consuming some dairy, but always Lactaid brand (namely their cottage cheese - marked gluten-free, but not certified) or hard cheeses (factory packaged & marked gluten-free, never from the in-store deli counter) because they seem to sit the best. And occasional butter.

The only cooking I do is dinners that my husband and I share, so they're always fully gluten-free. His breakfast & lunch choices are gluten-free so that he doesn't have to prepare gluten in the kitchen. He does have gluten snacks in the house, chips and nuts and stuff, but keeps it in his one cabinet in the kitchen away from my food, doesn't open it or eat it until he's in his office where I don't really go, and cleans up crumbs & washes his hands when he's done. The closest I come to contacting gluten is if he has a beer on the couch next to me, but the most I'm doing is smelling it in the air. We don't kiss until he's brushed his teeth (with gluten-free toothpaste).

So it's truly a head scratcher! That's why I wondered what other very sensitive folks did with their mixers, just in case I'm being cavalier by still using mine despite deep cleaning.

[trents]

A common misconception about dairy is that lactose is necessarily the problem with dairy intolerance. It may very well be not the lactose (which is the sugar component) but the main protein, which is casein. Lactose intolerance happens in the lower end of the intestinal track. Research has shown that for some people, casein can cause inflammation and cause villi blunting just like gluten does in the upper end (small bowel) of the intestines.

Edited October 30, 2021 by trents