Do You Cheat?

[Mango04]

Maybe I would if I felt deprived, but there's so much gluten (and dairy and soy)-free food that I just don't feel it's necessary. I live in a bready country too where there are less gluten-free options, but there's still plenty to eat.

On another note, I could be wrong, but I don't think this thread is really representative of the general celiac population. I think this board tends to attract the strictest celiacs for some reason, and I'd venture to guess that there are many out there who do cheat occasionally.

[Phyllis28]

On another note, I could be wrong, but I don't think this thread is really representative of the general celiac population. I think this board tends to attract the strictest celiacs for some reason, and I'd venture to guess that there are many out there who do cheat occasionally.

I think Mango04 is correct. I have met several diagnosed Celiac's over the years who did not adhear to the diet. I could never comprehend why they would rather continue to eat gluten and be sick than be healthy on a gluten free diet.

[YoloGx]

I am currently living in Chile, so the good subsitutes are a little harder to come by. I do buy flours and things online and have my mother ship them down here. I just get so frustrated at the change in everyday life. So much planning ahead, so much preparation for everything I can eat, never being able to pick up a pizza or eat anything a party. I do want to cheat, but the thought of increasing my risk of cancer is too much for me.

And although I know I feel so much better than I did, I still don't feel great. I still cannot concentrate to save my life. I recently had my bloodwork done and everything is in the normal ranges, including iron, and no accidental glutening showed up. But I'm falling asleep at my desk, I feel anxious and I have no energy. I don't want to do anything. If I'm going to feel like crap anyway, I'd love to eat BREAD!!

I'm not going to, but some days I would love to.

Sounds like either cross contamination or other issues--likely other things you are sensitive to. Might be worth checking into. Milk, corn are also common allergens. Leaky gut from celiac tends to create more food and chemical sensitivities. If so, it is good to take dandelion root, cleavers, yellow dock to help get rid of the brain fog and tiredness and inflammation. Marshmallow root helps soothe the intestines and heal the villi. Bromelain/papain help take down inflammation too of the villi plus elsewhere in the body plus help with digestion. Taking extra probiotics seems essential for celiac since our forebears often survived long winters on fermented reindeer milk.

Exercise also is essential for many of us to just be OK too ironically since with our over active immune system it often also kicks in over active adrenals. By doing 20 minutes of vigorous heart pumping exercise a day it helps stop the cycle--though you have to keep it up. Many with celiac are made to go catch the prey after all for instance since we are of the old primitive man model -- always on the hyper alert which if not acted on, acts against one's own body and becomes toxic--and then we become bone tired.

Bea

[Fifi]

I will never cheat. It is just not worth getting sick. I have found ways to make just about anything that I culd crave gluten free so I don't need to cheat. Never want to be sick like that again EVER

[WW340]

I do not now, nor have I ever cheated.

Not only do I not want to get sick, but how can the rest of the world take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously.

There is another employee at my office that has Celiac. She was diagnosed before me, so everyone saw that she cheated all the time and thought I was being just way too picky about my food. It was hard for me to educate everyone and keep them from contaminating my food, because she cheated all the time.

[slmprofesseur]

I don't cheat (on purpose) and never will. It was hard at first, because I didn't know which foods tasted well. After my ER visit- it will never be worth it.

[rsm]

No! Never intentionally, I've been glutened by restaurants a few times when I wasn't supposed to be glutened but I have never cheated. 16 Months so far, yes pizza and cinnamon rolls call to me but I always remember the end of the story!

[mammajamma]

Seems like everybody had the same thought I had, as soon as I read the title to this thread! It's the same thing I tell all the people that ask me about it... "can you cheat every once in a while?" I say "it's been so horrible when I've been accidentally glutened... that serves as all the motivation I need not to cheat." As tempting as all those foods are... it's not worth the pain, the discomfort, and the loss of a whole day!

[slmprofesseur]

Seems like everybody had the same thought I had, as soon as I read the title to this thread! It's the same thing I tell all the people that ask me about it... "can you cheat every once in a while?" I say "it's been so horrible when I've been accidentally glutened... that serves as all the motivation I need not to cheat." As tempting as all those foods are... it's not worth the pain, the discomfort, and the loss of a whole day!

Or the loss of a week! It takes me a while to recover!

[gfp]

Eating out is probably the riskiest thing a celiac can do. Restaurants, delis at food markets, homes of family and friends, school cafeterias, snack days at work, etc., are all good sources of gluten. You have to ask a lot of questions and even try to read product labels, if they're available. There's a joke that illustrates the point: At a dinner party, do you know how to tell who the celiac is? It's the person in the kitchen digging through the trash to read labels.

Cross contamination is also a concern. Utensils, pots and pans, cooking surfaces, etc., may harbor crumbs or other traces of gluten. For example, you need a separate toaster that is dedicated only to gluten-free. If you dip a knife into peanut butter or jelly and spread it on bread, the knife is contaminated and must not be placed back into the jar. A fork used to stir wheat-based spaghetti must not be placed in a pot containing gluten-free spaghetti

This is the most sensible answer.....

I never knowingly ingest gluten really means nothing at all... despite the number of people saying that. (and the reason for my sig)

If you eat out you are cheating just the same, so everyone (exceptions noted) cheats... its a matter of how, how much etc. but in my opinion its like saying "Oh I never sleep with a married man/woman" and then deliberately not looking if someone has a ring...

Or to put it another way : Not eating bread or pasta is not being gluten free, its being "not eating large obvious amounts of gluten" ...

We live in a world where we can't ver 100% avoid risk... so we always have risk but its HOW we manage that risk.

[torontosue]

Or the loss of a week! It takes me a while to recover!

Yup, at least 3 days recovery here. I guess it depends on how bad I've been glutened.

[cyberprof]

I have never cheated. I agree with GFP that even eating out or at a family memeber's house is enough risk for me...and one that I don't take lightly.

Glutening sets me back 2-3 days of feeling crummy plus perhaps 2 weeks (like now) of mouth ulcers (from CC).

~Laura

[LadyCyclist87]

It might be a little easier to want to cheat if when you were diagnosed, you remained asymptomatic to food containing gluten, or just had very little symptoms. The more intolerant you are when you ingest gluten, the less you probably want to cheat.

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease all my life -- so I was only TOLD how I reacted to certain food I ate as a baby. Then, as a teenager, I grew curious as to how some food I couldn't eat tasted, and I felt no effects. However, when I started having some personal problems, cheating turned into something I used to do for control and power. Now, I'm a young adult (almost 21), and when I go to cheat, I do experience health problems -- fatigue, headache, inability to concentrate, mild stomach issues, etc. My joints in my right hand have been hurting. Worst of all, I just felt really bad about myself. The cheating became a vicious cycle, and now I'm trying to put an immediate end to it. I haven't cheated in 8 days.

So, my advice to cheating is to not even go towards that direction. It could end up being a more serious situation than you imagine, and you could cause yourself more physical damage and other health issues than you thought possible. I regret the 4.5 years that I did thoughtlessly cheat.

[darlindeb25]

I never knowingly ingest gluten really means nothing at all... despite the number of people saying that. (and the reason for my sig)

If you eat out you are cheating just the same, so everyone (exceptions noted) cheats

This is only true of a few, not the majority! I have never cheated, not since day 1, and I never will. Of course, I do not eat out, because I do not trust others. If I eat at someone's home, I take my food.

[pnltbox27]

i wish i could say i dont cheat, but i fall off the wagon ALL the time, it has been really difficult to deal with because i dont have any horrible symptoms or side affects , unless you consider gas and loose movements not always big 'd'. its almost like ive been dealing with this for sooo long im used to it..ive actually been off the diet since thankgiving of last year and really trying to get the self control and confidence to get back on the diet...

[gfp]

This is only true of a few, not the majority! I have never cheated, not since day 1, and I never will. Of course, I do not eat out, because I do not trust others. If I eat at someone's home, I take my food.

Deb, that was "exceptions noted" ...

Overall I just wanted to point out that people will say "I never cheat" but take risks. I have at times been able to do as you do and not eat out and the difference is amazing... all those little gripes dissapear.

The idea that we can eat out safely is a big problem for peoples experience... and the basis of so many bad facts and clinical trials.

There are many clinical trials for instance for the CODEX starch where a "gluten free" in the strict sense control group is used and the other group get 200ppm wheat starch.

Unfortunately probably 99% of the "true gluten free control group" are not actually gluten free so the clinical trial is worthless.

This then allows the clinical trails (paid for by the food industry) to say that the 200ppm wheat starch does no more damage than a group not eating it....

This is most specifically not the same as saying it does no damage but it allows the manufacturers to get away with using the 200ppm starch. This then just makes the problem of identifying 100% gluten-free controls worse!

On a similar track, the same thing happens on threads like McDo fries... people who are constantly exposed to gluten because they risk eating out etc. then say "I eat them with no problems" ... when what they mean is "I have NEVER been 100% gluten-free and I don't find the fries worse than the constant CC and hidden gluten I ingest on a daily basis"

When work allowed .. like you I went 100% gluten-free as best I could. I ate no prepared food, no risky items just home cooked meat/fish and vegetables. I didn't eat fruit you don't peel etc. etc. and would wash say a banana skin then open it then wash my hands again before eating it.

The difference in my health was amazing.... I had symptoms I didn't realise I had disappear! For those wondering its the little niggles you think are "getting older" or "everyone has that" ... and you suddenly realise "nope not everyone does and it disappears when I go 100% gluten-free"

[Mom23boys]

Yes I cheat. I am not a high targeted member in the family for this diet. However with my cheats I am learning that gluten is not my friend either. With this last cheat I have pretty much convinced myself that I need to be more dedicated.

[darlindeb25]

I tried to respond to this thread this morning, but the forum was being obnoxious, it ate my post, then just wouldn't work properly at all, so let's try again!!!

Unfortunately probably 99% of the "true gluten free control group" are not actually gluten free so the clinical trial is worthless.

This then allows the clinical trails (paid for by the food industry) to say that the 200ppm wheat starch does no more damage than a group not eating it....

This is very true, and very sad. It really does nothing for we who actually need the clinical trials to be done, and done properly.

I rarely ever buy gluten free foods, meaning, I buy natural foods, hardly anything processed, and then, the fewer the ingredients, the better. I no longer can eat grains, so I never buy cookies and crackers, nothing like that.

I too, work fulltime, yet never eat out. Some people crave eating in a restuarant, I never have. It used to be such a chore to eat out. I had to be close to the door, close to the bathrooms, away from the smokers, and then I always got sick afterwards...nothing enjoyable about it for me. Now, I just do not trust someone who isn't gluten free to fix my food, especially in a restuarant setting.

My daughter is staying with me, has been here since mid May. We cook our meat in separate pans, she uses seasoned salt and it bothers me. Well, I was feeling off, my tummy not quite right, and I couldnt figure out why. Then one day she says, "Mum, we can't share the pan lid, my seasoned salt is probably splattering on the lid, then dripping onto your meat." That had not occured to me. I would sit the lid on her pan while I flipped my meat, she doesn't use a lid. I guess, like she said, her salt was dripping onto my meat, just a tiny bit, I could not even taste it, yet it was causing a reaction in me. I stopped doing it, and now I am ok again!!!

So, for that reason alone, I do not eat out, and never want to cheat. It's an individual thing. We all come to our own dicision, one way or another. The day I went gluten free, was the last day I ever ate gluten on purpose!!!

[Jestgar]

Two very interesting points. Nicely said.

[luvs2eat]

I cheated in the beginning thru my own ignorance. Now, years later, I'm VERY careful cause the smallest amount of gluten will reward me w/ molten lava shooting out of my butt for days, in addition to feeling horrible. Who wants that???

[JNBunnie1]

Yup, at least 3 days recovery here. I guess it depends on how bad I've been glutened.

Try 30. No cheating here.............

[Ab-Normal]

I'm here for my pat on the back: friends came over for dinner last night and brought my absolute favorite french bread (and some pretty good beer) and I passed on both of them. Yay, me!

[tarnalberry]

On another note, I could be wrong, but I don't think this thread is really representative of the general celiac population. I think this board tends to attract the strictest celiacs for some reason, and I'd venture to guess that there are many out there who do cheat occasionally.

True. Randomized studies show the average celiac population "cheating rate" at above 50%. This board is a biased sample - it consists of people who care about their health and are out there looking for answers and ways to maintain the diet better.

[happygirl]

https://www.celiac.com/articles/21484/1/Stu...Diet/Page1.html

[darlindeb25]

On another note, I could be wrong, but I don't think this thread is really representative of the general celiac population. I think this board tends to attract the strictest celiacs for some reason, and I'd venture to guess that there are many out there who do cheat occasionally.

You are going to find this true of any disease. How many diabetics do you know that follow their diet to the letter? Their lifestyle change is not near as strict as ours, and many still can't or won't adapt to the change! How many people with heart conditions do you find not following their doctor's orders? There is always going to be a percentage that does well, average, and falls through the cracks.

The question was asked in this forum, and I truly believe we are all answering truthfully. Maybe we in the forums are the strictest celiac's. I am in several forums, and find this is true in all of them. Honestly, we all should be very strict with our lifestyles, we are the celiac's striving for the optimum health. If we don't care, who will! I come from a celiac family, none of us cheat, never have. I do believe one factor may be how sick you get if you cheat. That is a huge determining factor, in my eyes. Nothing out there is worth eating for as sick as I get. My last glutening was accidental, with a product that stated it is gluten free, and I was sick for over 3 months....it's just not worth cheating!