Even A Kiss?

[NicoleKnott]

I was just diagnosed and have been reading everything I can get my hands on and most of the time it seems that information is contradictory. I understand the need to now make my kitchen as gluten free as possible (which will be chore with three other people in the household) but I read that gluten can even be given in a kiss. Do I really need to have my husband brush his teeth every time he wants to give me a kiss? (not that this a bad thing) But is it really that necessary? And do I really need to have a different sponge? I have been trying to remember to wash my hands more when making food and using separate utensils when cooking, but I didn't think I needed a different sponge. Thoughts?

[beebs]

To be honest - my husband went gluten-free for this very reason- and now he has found out he has a problem with gluten and he'll need to have the tests done. How ironic! B

[rosetapper23]

Sorry to say that, yes, your husband will need to brush his teeth before kissing you. Also, you'll need to be careful about kissing "Aunt Mildred" or others on the lips if they're wearing lipstick. After you've been gluten free for a while, you'll see what I mean.

[mommida]

Yes even a kiss can do it.

Seriously, get a new sponge. You have to realize your health is more important than a simple sponge.

I don't want this to seem rude, so I'm trying to use smiley faces.

I didn't really think I had to be this CC concerned, until it happened to me. Listen to the experience here and avoid some misery.

[NicoleKnott]

What's more frustrating than the loss of a spontaneous kiss is that my health care provider wasn't thorough with information like this. He simply said stay away from eating it all together. There was no explanation of all the ways CC can happen. Further frustrating the matter is my lack of symptoms. I can't even tell if I have accidentally put gluten into my system, or at least I haven't learned to tell. I was only diagnosed because my sister was tested and when I went in a few weeks later without my knowledge my doc added the test to my blood work. Some days this feels very overwhelming.

Happy Thanksgiving

[Skylark]

Your hubby will figure out pretty soon that he'd best eat gluten-free around you if he wants a quick kiss. Remember that you can make a lot of the meals for your family gluten-free using rice, potatoes, quinoa, sweet potatoes, cornbread, corn tortillas, and rice pasta. You'll also want to do any baking gluten-free. Don't let wheat flour into your kitchen - it's too fine and flies everywhere.

Also, your kids should be tested for celiac disease. Since you have it, they may. It's also never a bad idea for the relatives of people with celiac to eat less gluten. They often feel generally better.

[dilettantesteph]

The reason you get such contradictory information is that different celiacs have sensitivities to different levels of gluten. Some won't notice a problem with something, while that same thing might make others very sick.

So the answer is: it depends.

It makes this so hard to figure out as several celiacs will adamantly claim that something is 100% safe because they eat it all the time, while you are sure that it made you sick.

[mommida]

In the begginning I searched for information, "How much gluten does it take to cause a reaction?" The most common consistent "scientific" answer was one micron.

If one micron can be exchanged through a kiss, then that is the final answer.

[dilettantesteph]

In the begginning I searched for information, "How much gluten does it take to cause a reaction?" The most common consistent "scientific" answer was one micron.

If one micron can be exchanged through a kiss, then that is the final answer.

A micron is a measure of distance: Open Original Shared Link

You can't measure gluten with distance.

[mommida]

Measuring a bread crumb you probably want to use the prefix of micro (no "N") or factor 10 to negative 6. In plain terms "a very small amount".

Stale bread would have a different measurement than fresh bread.

Thank you for pointing that out. Does that make you or anyone else understand that cross contamination is a problem for a person with Celiac?

[ElseB]

I've always joked that someone should do a study on the oral health of the partners of celiacs and others with food allergies. My husband is always brushing his teeth so that he doesn't gluten me. Last year he even brought a little travel toothbrush with to a New Year's Eve party just so he could kiss me at midnight! It was so sweet!

[dilettantesteph]

Mommida, I am sorry that I only told you that gluten wouldn't be measured with distance, but I didn't give you an answer as to how much gluten could be harmful. I didn't have the reference at the time.

Now I have found a reference. It is from The Food and Drug Administration, Office of Food Safety. It is called Health Hazard Assessment for Gluten Exposure in Individuals with Celiac Disease, Determination of Tolerable Daily Intake Levels and Levels of Concern for Gluten. It is 93 pages long, so this took me awhile, and I still haven't finished reading the whole thing, so I hope I got this right.

Open Original Shared Link

They look at a whole bunch of research done by celiac specialists and analyze and summarize.

They come up with the amount of Total Daily Intake of gluten that is tolerable to be 0.015 mg/day.

To give this some perspective, there are 4.745 g of sugar in a teaspoon. A mg is 1/1000 of a gram.

It is a small amount.

[mommida]

honestly I only read to page 24. I realized I should have responded by stating the amount is always going to vary for individuals (page 10 top paragraph last few sentences.)

A reaction will occur for the individual when the immune system has identified gluten as an "intruder" that needs to be attacked. The symptoms and amount of damage done is also specific to the individual. You would have to consider the capabilities of the individuals immune system at the time of consumption.

We are very sensitive in this household. If someone tells me they are having a gluten reaction, I believe them. Yes. I have been glutened by a kiss. (Maybe it was just that awesome of a kiss.)

The Codex system is always going to leave room for debate. What is a "safe" "tolerable" amount?

[dilettantesteph]

We are also extremely sensitive. I thought we were in the extreme minority, but after reading that publication, I guess that we are much more normal than I thought. I guess we are only in the extreme minority for here. I was amazed at the levels they came up with for 90 percentile celiacs. You got halfway through. The words only went to page 46, I think, the rest was references and tables and such.