95% Gluten Free Any Good?

[UnhappyCoeliac]

I have been trying to be gluten free and have been doing ok

11 days now which is my longest.

Today I had hot chips....they probably were cross contaminated i didn't even ask....basically I had been up for 35hrs without any sleep and starving and I thought basically stuff it im getting some chips.

Ironically 4 days ago I also had a slip up where I was told hot chips were gluten free but I dont believe they were.

As well as milk chocolate eggs, use to be gluten free... assumed they still were but they are not cross contamination BS or something

So 3 stuff ups in 11 days, and this is the only time since being diagnosed (one year) that I have even tryed to be gluten free. I feel like I am getting nowhere and I might as well go back to my favourite foods because I am getting gluten accidentally anyway, are these stuff ups complete tearing down any small progress I night have made>

[RiceGuy]

Well, unfortunately, 95% gluten-free doesn't quite do it. Neither does 99%. You must maintain a completely gluten-free diet. That's 100% gluten-free, and 100% of the time. Your small intestine is damaged every time you slip up, whether an intentional glutening or not.

However, only you can make the resolve to remain gluten-free. It can be as easy or as difficult as you make it.

It is so very worth it, and it really isn't difficult when you get right down to it. So the question you need to ask yourself, is how healthy do you want to be? Not just in terms of how you feel now, but a few decades from now. Like so many diseases, catching celiac disease early, is key to avoiding the more serious health problems. If you are fortunate enough not to have done years of damage, take advantage of that fact, and do yourself a favor for the rest of your life, which money cannot buy.

It's up to you...

[Hummingbird4]

The best suggestion I have is to keep some gluten-free food with you at all times. Keep some trail mix or a gluten-free energy bar in your bag or car in case you're away from home and feeling hungry. It's hard to keep your resolve when you're hungry and there's nothing around to eat but gluteny foods. Preparation is key.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

You really need to be 100% gluten free. I know it's hard in the beginning, but it's getting easier. At least I can go to the grocery store without freaking out. If I'm going out for a while, I try to carry something with me like cashews or a banana or chocolate.

Every little bit of gluten is going to damage your small intestines. Then that leaves you open to so many other things. For me, one auto-immune disease is enough. I don't want another.

It's been almost a year for me. Most days are really great and I don't miss the gluten that much. I still have some days, very few, where I would really like a gluteny thing. Then it passes. I have cheated on every diet I've ever been on except this. For me there is no choice. I simply cannot have gluten. You can do this!

[Gentleheart]

NOPE. 95% isn't any good.

I have learned that you can't just go gluten free with no effort. It takes a reasonable amount of planning ahead. If you don't plan ahead, you get yourself in situations where you are starving and vulnerable to slipping. You just have to decide if you are serious about all of this or not. 99% isn't any good either. So make your decision one way or another and go for it! You can't sit on the fence with gluten intolerance.

[LuvMoosic4life]

all this advice is really good. I would definitly keep snacks you KNOW are gluten-free handy wherever you go. Also, I'm not sure what your diet is like, but it is really helpful to eat NON-Processed whole foods. I know the typical diet of the average person today is anything but this, but the more you stick to relying on whole foods over processed, the less likely you will be glutened (of course unless they are CC'd in the preparation process)

I notice that all those processed gluten-free foods really dont make me feel well either...sometimes I almost feel like I have eaten gluten, even if they are 100% gluten-free. I eat nearly all whole foods everyday....maybe a couple times a week I will have a processed snack. It really takes a while to get used to eating this way....I know it's something I gradually had to work myself into...otherwise I would go into binging on junk that I really shouldnt have.

just a suggestion...

good luck. it will get easier

[mindwiped]

I agree with all that everyone above has said, but just wanted to add to it. OK, you've slipped, you know it wasn't what you should be doing, and you're making a plan to keep it from happening again (at least I hope so), at this point, don't beat yourself up for slipping. Everyone has the occasional glutening, be it through CC or not checking a label that just changed. Get back on the horse, learn from your slip and move on.

[Gentleheart]

I agree with all that everyone above has said, but just wanted to add to it. OK, you've slipped, you know it wasn't what you should be doing, and you're making a plan to keep it from happening again (at least I hope so), at this point, don't beat yourself up for slipping. Everyone has the occasional glutening, be it through CC or not checking a label that just changed. Get back on the horse, learn from your slip and move on.

I agree totally. When you do slip, just get back up and keep going. However, never allow yourself to have the "it doesn't matter if I slip once in awhile because nobody's perfect" attitude with gluten. Don't PLAN to slip. It has been said that it can take from 3 weeks to even months for your gut to recuperate from one single glutening. So if you slip frequently, you can see how you might never make any real progress at all. Accidental glutenings are going to happen and you can't necessarily control them. So take control of all the rest and PLAN to not eat gluten 100%. You can do this.

[Tallforagirl]

...Accidental glutenings are going to happen and you can't necessarily control them.

I second this. This is the primary reason why it's important to be in control of your diet 100 per cent of the time when you can control it.

There will be times, for instance in restaurants or at a friends house, when no matter how hard you try to let peoplw know your needs, you are not in ultimate control, and you will get glutened, so in order to minimise the impact of those accidental glutenings on your body, the rest of the time you should aim to conform to the gluten-free diet 100 per cent.

As others have said, being prepared is a good way to stay in control. It's hard not to grab whatever is at hand when you're starving hungry, so you need to make sure you have something at hand that is gluten-free.

Don't beat yourself up about past mistakes though, just learn and move on.

[UnhappyCoeliac]

first wanting to thank the people for answering as always. The only reason I ask is these accidental gluten are destroying my resolve and eroding my will to comit to a gluten-free lifestyle as I simply keep messing up and going back to square one. Just had another incident now it is very depressing and really getting to me.

Since I have ignore the disease for 6mths plus and now I try and the accident gluten is probably doing as much damage as what I was when I simply ignored it

Bit of a rant because im tired pissed of and glutened but meh tomorrow we are back to day one... the fourth day one of quest to remain gluten-free

bread butter, fruit, and meal replacement that's gluten free is all that's on the menu this way i cant fail but have to go hungry

prop to riceguy notice you in a few of my threads being helpful

[JNBunnie1]

bread butter, fruit, and meal replacement that's gluten free is all that's on the menu this way i cant fail but have to go hungry

You know what else is gluten free?

chicken

beef

turkey

rice

avocado

fish

celery

carrots

lettuce

peas

corn

cheese

milk

broccoli

green beans

kidney beans

squash

potatos

sweet potatos

[loxleynew]

first wanting to thank the people for answering as always. The only reason I ask is these accidental gluten are destroying my resolve and eroding my will to comit to a gluten-free lifestyle as I simply keep messing up and going back to square one. Just had another incident now it is very depressing and really getting to me.

Since I have ignore the disease for 6mths plus and now I try and the accident gluten is probably doing as much damage as what I was when I simply ignored it

Bit of a rant because im tired pissed of and glutened but meh tomorrow we are back to day one... the fourth day one of quest to remain gluten-free

bread butter, fruit, and meal replacement that's gluten free is all that's on the menu this way i cant fail but have to go hungry

prop to riceguy notice you in a few of my threads being helpful

Look at it this way too. If you do accidentaly gluten yourself you don't jump back to day 1. It's not like you take 2 steps forward and 2 steps backward. It's more like 2 steps forward and 1 step backward. So yes you have to stay 100% gluten free to your best efforts but when you slip up it's not like all the work you did before is for nothing.

Also gluten free is generally more healthy, can always think of it that way