Gluten Is Everywhere?

[Simona19]

I have been reading some older posts, and I'm very surpriced from people's reactions to gluten. I started to avoid gluten from my food after my upper endoscopy( May 20.), but I didn't checked stuff from my bathroom. I didn't even checked my medicine yet. It is for real? Is gluten so bad? I'm a sceptic with that. Hm... Maybe all this didn't sank into my brain yet. I was sick all my life. I had something new every year to add to my list of illnesses. I'm the sickest person from my family. And now, on top of all my food allergies I need to stay way from all gluten things. It is hard. My son stopped eating meat in March, I'm gluten free for month and half and my husband and mother can eat anything. For two months I have been cooking three dinners avery day. My household is very interesting these days.

[tarnalberry]

Lots of us have mixed households. Many of us do not cook multiple versions of the same meal - the family can eat the same gluten free meals you eat. (Lots and lots of foods are naturally gluten free - meats, veggies, rice/corn/millet/quinoa/buckwheat/amaranth, fruit, dairy (if you tolerate it), eggs. It's packaged or processed foods that are relatively likely to have wheat.

Medications can, though I admit I haven't found any that *actually* contain gluten, rather than simply have a CYA statement by the manufacturer. But many on this board have had trouble with some formulations.

As for avoiding every last particle - think of it this way: celiac disease is, like everything else in your body, a chemical reaction. You don't need to have a lot of something for the chemical reaction to occur. And just by occurring, damage is done to the intestines. The reaction itself is, from what I've read, self-sustaining for up to two weeks, so it's not just that you injure yourself at the moment the gluten hits the intestines, but the damage continues for a while after that.

[Kay DH]

I've been gluten intolerant since getting the flu last September, although I have probably been intolerant for years but flying under the radar. Even if a Celiac's reactions are minor, there still can be damage to the GI tract and other areas of the body; it is a systemic immune response. I am very sensitive to cross contamination (CC) now. I've gotten reactions from foods labeled gluten-free, because they were processed in plants that also process wheat. Buying foods that should be gluten-free from bins causes problems from CC; I've been sick from hummus and buckwheat. There is a lot of hidden gluten, lipstick, chapstick, medicines... We purged the house of things with gluten (tough for you with a son that doesn't eat meat...most vegetarian "meats" have wheat). Most meals can be made gluten-free, and are as good are better. gluten-free breading on foods is better than wheat...it doesn't absorb liquids the same way. gluten-free can be more expensive, unless you like to cook. It is a pain to check ingredients on everything to make sure there is no hidden gluten, but it is worth it for your health. Going gluten-free takes time to emotionally adjust, but it is good.

[lucia]

Just wanted to chime in about vegetarians and gluten: while most "meat substitutions" are made of gluten, there are plenty of protein sources that are naturally gluten-free. In fact, a majority of people in India are vegetarian and you won't find such meat substitutions there. What you will find are dishes made out of beans, nuts, soy derivatives, and cheese, as well as protein-packed grains. "Meat substitutions" are designed for people who are used to making meat the center of their meal, but healthy vegetarians don't rely on them and they're not necessary for a vegetarian diet.

[T.H.]

Sadly, yup, it's for real.

Think of it this way. You can get a cold or the flu from just one germ. If someone touches raw meat and touches the counter, and then YOU touch it and touch your mouth, you can get food poisoning. And most of us have heard of people who are so sensitive to peanuts that they can simply breathe in a few molecules of peanut in the same room as someone who is eating peanutbutter.

Celiac Disease has the same issue, in some ways. We can react to amounts smaller than those we can see with the naked eye. It really does seem a bit crazy, sometimes, but we KNOW that microscopic things can harm us. This is no different.

A lot of people have already spoken up about the damage, and let me just add: there may be more damage we don't know about. There are some celiacs with neurological problems that the experts don't know the cause of, they only know that without gluten, the neurological symptoms disappear. So to my mind, if there is damage the experts can't explain yet, that means there may be damage they don't even know about, so I just stay well away from gluten and try to stay safe, ya know? In part, this is for my kids.

  On 7/25/2010 at 1:07 PM, Simona19 said:

I have been reading some older posts, and I'm very surpriced from people's reactions to gluten. I started to avoid gluten from my food after my upper endoscopy( May 20.), but I didn't checked stuff from my bathroom. I didn't even checked my medicine yet. It is for real? Is gluten so bad? I'm a sceptic with that. Hm... Maybe all this didn't sank into my brain yet. I was sick all my life. I had something new every year to add to my list of illnesses. I'm the sickest person from my family. And now, on top of all my food allergies I need to stay way from all gluten things. It is hard. My son stopped eating meat in March, I'm gluten free for month and half and my husband and mother can eat anything. For two months I have been cooking three dinners avery day. My household is very interesting these days.