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How Bad Is Cheating On The Gluten Free Diet Periodically


icm

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icm Apprentice

Many doctors I've seen in my time seem to think it's ok for celiacs to cheat on the gluten free diet. Some say once every few months and others say once every year or couple of years.

How long would it take to heal? I've heard it's around 3-4 weeks from a single 5 gram dose of gluten.


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kareng Grand Master

How often is it Ok to eat rat poison? Would you believe some experts over some doctors that do not know anything about Celiac? These are just two. There are more you can google.

Celiac info

Open Original Shared Link

The gluten-free diet is a lifetime requirement. Eating any gluten, no matter how small an amount, can damage your intestine. This is true for anyone with the disease, including people who do not have noticeable symptoms. It can take weeks for antibody levels (indicating intestinal damage) to normalize after a person with celiac disease has consumed gluten

Q: Is it ok if I ingest some gluten if I do not experience any symptoms?

No. The majority of patients with celiac disease experience no symptoms when they ingest gluten, either intentionally or unintentionally. This led to the concept that patients, especially children may grow out of the disease. In addition, patients also consider that it is doing no harm to them. However the ingestion of even small amounts of gluten results in damage to the small intestine--regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms--and puts the patient at risk for resulting complications including malignancies and osteoporosis.E

N.

rosetapper23 Explorer

Geez....those "doctors" don't know what they're talking about!! They are most definitely NOT experts, and you shouldn't listen to them.

I'm a perfect example of why you should never, ever ingest gluten. I, too, thought it might be okay to cheat occasionally, and I even read an article that said that after the small intestine heals, some people could actually eat gluten again. Was I wrong!! I cheated a few times by eating pizza...and after the third time, I became unable to absorb iron and had to have weekly intravenous infusions of iron. My boss wasn't too happy that I had to have a three-hour lunch every week in order to receive the infusions, and I had to use my vacation time. Eventually, I was diagnosed with cancer and the chemo miraculously healed my small intestine so that I no longer needed iron infusions (but no one wants to go through chemo, believe me).

A few years later, I accidentally ingested some gluten, and I ended up suffering from malabsorption of Manganese and Zinc so that my tendons and ligaments became floppy. As a result, both of my feet fractured a week apart. It took me eight months to figure out which nutrients I wasn't absorbing, and I spent that time limping around with a walking boot on the foot that hurt the most.

So, if you think you'd like to end up like me, sure, go ahead and cheat. Once the gluten is out of your body for a while, your immune system becomes strong again and reacts violently to the smallest ingestion of gluten. Want to test this concept? Believe me, you don't want to go there!

icm Apprentice

Geez....those "doctors" don't know what they're talking about!! They are most definitely NOT experts, and you shouldn't listen to them.

I'm a perfect example of why you should never, ever ingest gluten. I, too, thought it might be okay to cheat occasionally, and I even read an article that said that after the small intestine heals, some people could actually eat gluten again. Was I wrong!! I cheated a few times by eating pizza...and after the third time, I became unable to absorb iron and had to have weekly intravenous infusions of iron. My boss wasn't too happy that I had to have a three-hour lunch every week in order to receive the infusions, and I had to use my vacation time. Eventually, I was diagnosed with cancer and the chemo miraculously healed my small intestine so that I no longer needed iron infusions (but no one wants to go through chemo, believe me).

A few years later, I accidentally ingested some gluten, and I ended up suffering from malabsorption of Manganese and Zinc so that my tendons and ligaments became floppy. As a result, both of my feet fractured a week apart. It took me eight months to figure out which nutrients I wasn't absorbing, and I spent that time limping around with a walking boot on the foot that hurt the most.

So, if you think you'd like to end up like me, sure, go ahead and cheat. Once the gluten is out of your body for a while, your immune system becomes strong again and reacts violently to the smallest ingestion of gluten. Want to test this concept? Believe me, you don't want to go there!

Was that just from a couple of gluten ingestions or were you keeping on eating gluten periodically while you had the infusions? (or was it just those three times?)

rosetapper23 Explorer

It was just those few times. My body goes completely crazy if I accidentally ingest the smallest quantity of gluten now. One of my feet will never be the same, so even though I was a lifelong runner, running is no longer something I can enjoy.

Plenty of people on this forum can attest to how sick gluten makes them now that they've been gluten free for a while. Our bodies react as though it's the worst poison possible. When I cheated by eating the pizza, I really didn't have much of a physical reaction (I didn't feel sick or anything), but when my ferritin level bottomed out and I couldn't get it to increase no matter how much I supplemented with iron, I knew I was in trouble...and I knew why. I was extremely strict with my diet thereafter, but now even the slightest gluten contamination causes havoc with my body. I get a migraine, my eyes swell up, my nose gets stuffed up, I get a low-grade fever, my joints hurt terribly, I get awful diarrhea for three days, and I get foggy brained. It feels a lot like a very bad flu. Afterwards, I worry about which part of my small intestine got destroyed...and I wait for the fallout. Please don't consider cheating for even one minute. I know it's tempting, but it's so not worth it.

Juliebove Rising Star

Ugh! It's not like a weight loss diet. That's like the Dr. who said I needed to give my kid with food allergies a break and let her be a kid for two weeks on a vacation with her dad. I was like... Let her get sick for two weeks? She doesn't WANT to get sick! Some Drs. are clueless.

Yes at some point you will screw up and eat some wheat or something. You either won't read a label correctly or will get it through cross contamination or from eating something prepared by a well meaning but clueless person. But in my mind there is no need to do it on purpose.

Chad Sines Rising Star

As much as I would love to disagree, they are right. I still have not 100% committed to permanent gluten-free. I get better and then relapse. It really is not worth it just in the symptoms you feel. Even worse for the issues you do not feel that will affect your life later.


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srall Contributor

I don't think anybody on this forum is going to say cheating is ever okay. To me it's just not worth it because the symptoms are so severe. I sometimes wonder if I were symptomless if I'd have the discipline to be as vigilant. I would hope so just because I know how dangerous all that gluten is.

Plus, even with being super super careful, I feel like just going out into the world and eating at a restaurant, or grabbing fruit at a buffet table probably is zapping me a few times a year, so I'm not going to knowingly do it to myself.

Once you get your mind completely around this, and get into your gluten free routine, it's not so terrible. (Although I'm getting ready to get on a plane and mapping out my food for the flight and in case of emergency food...and well, sometimes it's a hassle. But I don't want to be sick on vacation)

cavernio Enthusiast

Physically your villi might be able to recover quickly from a glutening, say a couple of weeks. Maybe for your body it will take a couple of months. Maybe if you cheat once only half your intestine or something will react poorly, not all of it. So what, a couple of months with poorer food digestion, so what? You've probably lived with poor digestion for years.

The thing is, even if your body has a lighter reaction that someone else's, or if your villi heal quickly, or if your intestines make giant gaps to absorb everything and anything so that you won't be as nutrient deficient while your villi are damaged, FIRSTLY, you just don't know. Rather, you KNOW it will damage you, but you don't know how long it will take your body to heal and if your body can cope properly while it heals. Maybe it would be OK in the long run, but is it worth the risk? Rosetapper's story should be enough to scare the bejeebuz out of you to ever purposefully cheat on your diet! (it does to me) AND she was one of those people who didn't really even notice when she was eating pizza, not someone who feels like they're dying an hour after ingesting gluten. I feel you Rosetapper, and for me your story doesn't fall on deaf ears.

SECONDLY, you ARE going to ingest gluten at some point. It doesn't matter how careful you are, you will screw up or someone else will screw up for you. The doctor who says once a year is alright is basically telling you that you can only screw up ONCE A YEAR, not purposefully eat a bagel once a year. What I'm trying to say is that even if the doctor's right, you still can't ever purposefully eat gluten and expect to stay healthy, because you will ingest it at some point or another, (probably closer to the once a month mark than the once a year mark too), whether you know it or not.

MitziG Enthusiast

Something else those ignorant doctors are discounting: the fact that every time you even accidentally ingest gluten, you are triggerring an auto-immune response. Continue doing so and one of those times you will trigger the start of another auto-immune disease, one that can NOT be controlled completely with diet. So, if you want to develop Multiple Sclerosis, Sjorens Syndrome, Lupus, Type 1 Diabetes, Hashimotos....the list goes on and on.....then by all means, indulge. I know it is difficult to get your head around the fact of a lifelong diet in the beginning. It IS an inconvenience and it sucks. But that is the straw we drew. People with cancer or any of the other horrible diseases one can develop don't get to choose how their life will change either. They have to accept it. And you do too.

notme Experienced

if you have celiac, you can't have gluten. the end.

even if i accidentally ingest gluten, from who knows where because i am very careful, it takes weeks for my whole body to recover. from the joint pain, irritability, headache, extreme fatigue, etc, not to mention the severe reaction from my intestines, loss of appetite, hair loss, rash, IMMEDIATE weight loss, etc. and it's so depressing, too. i am still weak and puny from a 'mystery glutening' almost 2 weeks ago...

i will never purposely ingest gluten. i don't have time for it.

IrishHeart Veteran

I am with Karen and notme!

I view gluten as poison and a trace glutening sets me back for weeks.

This disease almost killed me.

It certainly killed my Dad. He was unDXED and suffered horrid gastro symptoms, h. pylori, ulcers, anemia requiring blood transfusions for 8 years, a heart valve transplant and kidney disease requiring dialysis. If only we had known; this simple gluten-free diet may have helped spare him some of that misery.

I lost 3 years of my life to this thing. Why would I purposefully ingest gluten and go back there?

Some celiacs go ahead and cheat and incur damage.

For what? wheat bread? what's the big deal?

You are the one that has to live with the consequences.

At some point, a celiac has to decided this "is what it is" and learn to cook and bake yummy gluten-free foods and get over it.

There are WORSE diseases we could have --and they can be yours if you mess with gluten. Read about lymphoma, diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease, etc. and their association with untreated celiac disease. (meaning NOT adhering to the gluten-free diet)

Why would anyone screw around with that?

It's the hand we were dealt. Play it.

Stop negotiating and bargaining "how much will be okay".

The answer is NONE.

JNBunnie1 Community Regular

My dad died of leukemia, I'm pretty sure due to undiagnosed Celiac. Were I symptomless, that would be enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

My grandmother's sister, my mother's sister, my mother's father, my mother's cousin, my best friend's father, and my father all died of cancer. With all of that I have learned exactly how much doctors DON'T know. The best information you can get is from people who have long experience with something, and that's the people here. There is no safe gluten, and any doctor that says there is ought to be reported to Quackwatch.

Adalaide Mentor

My grandmother died of cancer that may have been related to undiagnosed celiac. After a seven year battle she died. The last year of her life she pooped in a bag, weighed less than 100 pounds and kept loosing weight and was in constant pain. She died weighing less than 50 pounds in unimaginable pain. I really have no desire to die in pain with a poop sack.

My great grandmother fell when she was 80 and broke her hip. Maybe she was just old, maybe she had celiac related osteoporosis. I really don't feel like breaking any bones, certainly not a hip.

I met my husband and his family just in time to watch his sweet grandmother slowly slip away to dementia. Day by day a little more of her gone. During her good moments, terrified, knowing what was happening to her. She had many other symptoms of undiagnosed celiac. I don't want to slowly slip away, knowing it's happening and helpless to do anything, knowing I'll eventually be nothing but a burden to my family, unable to even recognize them.

My husband's mother has a type of cancer that can be related to celiac. It hasn't spread yet, but it will. Her hair is relatively short, it hides well how thin it gets when she goes back for chemo and it isn't awkward growing back. She spends weeks at a time barely able to do more than go to chemo when she gets the bad news. Again. This happens every few years. She knows that eventually the cancer will claim her, the doctors will say that this time nothing will help and to simply enjoy what time she has left. She lives on borrowed time, I don't want to.

Lots of people have shared what untreated celiac does. The only treatment for celiac is a gluten free diet, so when you cheat you are opening yourself to all of the possibilities of untreated, undiagnosed celiac. Every time you eat gluten on purpose you are playing Russian roulette. A slice of pizza can literally kill you. Not the day you eat it, but in much more horrific and unbearable ways. Think about it, is dying worth it?

GFinDC Veteran

Hi ICM,

Welcome to the site! You sure picked a popular question for this thread! :) I'm sure you got the idea by now that people are against the whole cheat a little thinking of your doctors. There is a reason for that, or maybe quite a few actually.

Here is a post from a few years ago that seems relevant. My younger brother had a colostomy for a while so I know it is not so much fun. BackTalk doesn't visit often but did share her story as a warning.

Falling off the gluten-free wagon Post #37

Here is something to consider. IT WILL KILL YOU! I was gluten-free for almost 3 years. It was a struggle and it wasn't easy. I had had enough. I hauled my butt to Mc Donald's, ordered a quarter pounder and never looked back. It made me feel like crap but I stayed with it and got to the point where it didn't bother me. I went for another year and a half eating anything I wanted. About 4 months ago I started getting stomach cramps but was able to blow it off for a few weeks. I ended up on the floor of a pizza place with such bad cramps I was out of my mind with the pain. I was taken to the hospital, and thank God, just in time. My intestine perforated and blew out. They took out 2 feet of destroyed intestine. I am now the proud owner of a Colostomy. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Long story short, I poop in a bag now that is attached to my stomach. Again only by the grace of God mine can be reversed and I can be put back together in a few more months.I haven't posted on this forum in a long time but your post got to me. If you were told you need to go gluten-free, you better do it. If a bowl of cereal is worth having, keep eating it. You will enjoy the bag on your side when it gets bad enough. But what the heck, it may take years.Jess

IrishHeart Veteran

Then again, when I was young and used to smoke, people could show me a black lung and I would still think "Oh that won't happen to me!"

Scare tactics may not work for people.

We could tell stories all day long, but will it have any effect?

In the end, if you cheat with gluten, you're risking further health problems.

It's just that simple.

melikamaui Explorer

Something else those ignorant doctors are discounting: the fact that every time you even accidentally ingest gluten, you are triggerring an auto-immune response. Continue doing so and one of those times you will trigger the start of another auto-immune disease, one that can NOT be controlled completely with diet. So, if you want to develop Multiple Sclerosis, Sjorens Syndrome, Lupus, Type 1 Diabetes, Hashimotos....the list goes on and on.....then by all means, indulge. I know it is difficult to get your head around the fact of a lifelong diet in the beginning. It IS an inconvenience and it sucks. But that is the straw we drew. People with cancer or any of the other horrible diseases one can develop don't get to choose how their life will change either. They have to accept it. And you do too.

I totally agree with MitziG. I was diagnosed with celiac disease at 38 years old, long enough for my celiac disease to trigger the start of another auto-immune disorder that I was just diagnosed with, Meniere's disease. For me, having celiac disease is a walk in a park on a sunny day compared to my Meniere's. I wish my celiac disease had been diagnosed MUCH earlier, if only to save me from developing another auto-immune disorder.

Cheating is NOT worth it.

benXX Rookie

Welcome to the site! You sure picked a popular question for this thread! :) I'm sure you got the idea by now that people are against the whole cheat a little thinking of your doctors. There is a reason for that, or maybe quite a few actually.

IMHO the big problem is that it is hard to find scientific data on the net for what happens when one is occasionally glutened. Why we feel so ill from a small dose of gluten, while before we didn't feel that ill when consuming gluten regularly. Is feeling ill from being glutened a measure for the damage done?

It took years for most celiacs to get diagnosed, so it feels like it took years to get to a point that the villi were destroyed enough to be diagnosed.

Also, when already gluten free, to be diagnosed one must undergo a severe gluten challenge for many weeks and still risks a false negative.

I guess I'm not the only one wondering how much damage an occasional glutening really does.

Not that I plan or want to cheat, I'm very happy without gluten, but just wonder. Would be nice to find a scientific, non-emotional answer to this question.

IrishHeart Veteran

IMHO the big problem is that it is hard to find scientific data on the net for what happens when one is occasionally glutened.

Actually, there are MANY studies of people on a gluten-free diet for years who still have villous atrophy (or refractory sprue) upon repeat biopsy.

here is just one:

https://www.celiac.com/articles/710/1/Refractory-Sprue-by-Michelle-Melin-Rogovin-University-of-Chicago-Celiac-Disease-Program/Page1.html

"In a recent study of patients with "unresponsive" celiac disease, Dr. Joseph Murray and his colleagues found that of 49 patients evaluated, only nine actually had refractory sprue—25 were found to have gluten contamination in their diets.

How can I reduce the chances of developing refractory sprue?

Researchers agree that most cases of refractory sprue develop in people who were diagnosed very late in life or who didnt follow the diet completely. Note that it doesn't matter how much gluten was consumed in these patients, they still developed refractory sprue."

The patients in these studies insist they adhere to the diet, but does this mean then that they are cheating occassionally or more likely, being glutened accidentally? --something ALL of us are likely to have happen many times throughout our lives.

Our point is, it's bad enough we get trace glutened all the time (despite our best efforts) but it is unwise to ADD to the problem by purposefully ingesting it.

That is just reckless, IMHO.

Adalaide Mentor

Then again, when I was young and used to smoke, people could show me a black lung and I would still think "Oh that won't happen to me!"

Scare tactics may not work for people.

We could tell stories all day long, but will it have any effect?

In the end, if you cheat with gluten, you're risking further health problems.

It's just that simple.

I used to be a smoker too. I was lucky to be able to share some insight at a recent meeting focused on dealing with having a family member who is an addict. (of any sort) I remember pointing out that at the time that I was smoking, nothing else mattered. I knew it was bad for me, I knew I might die, I knew all the horrid things that could happen before I died. What mattered was when the next time was I could light up.

Sound stupid? It isn't any more stupid than having celiac and eating gluten. Both are bad for you, can kill you and will make you horribly sick before you die.

cyberprof Enthusiast

Then again, when I was young and used to smoke, people could show me a black lung and I would still think "Oh that won't happen to me!"

Scare tactics may not work for people.

We could tell stories all day long, but will it have any effect?

In the end, if you cheat with gluten, you're risking further health problems.

It's just that simple.

Yes, scare tactics aren't too effective, especially on the young. I heard it said that telling young people that they will die if they drive drunk doesn't work, because they think it won't happen to them and they feel invincible. Instead tell them that they could end up in a wheelchair like Christopher Reeve and unable to hang out with their friends. That has more of an impact.

But it applies to a lot of things. I took birth control pills as a young, relatively healthy woman. The doc and the prescription insert said that users could develop a whole group of side effects, including kidney and liver tumors. Did I think it would happen to me? NO. Did it? YES. (Benign at present, thankfully.) Would I go back and change my decision now? Maybe, but I was able to not worry about unplanned pregnancy and have two very well-planned, healthy babies exactly when I wanted them and not when I didn't. My friends who were not on BCPs were unexpectedly parents when they didn't want to be.

benXX Rookie

IMHO the big problem is that it is hard to find scientific data on the net for what happens when one is occasionally glutened. Why we feel so ill from a small dose of gluten,

Actually, there are MANY studies of people on a gluten-free diet for years who still have villous atrophy (or refractory sprue) upon repeat biopsy.

This is a completely different issue to "what really happens on an occasional glutening"

Please don't get emotional about it. It is a valid question. I'm just curious what happens in case I get accidentally glutened.

kareng Grand Master

This is a completely different issue to "what really happens on an occasional glutening"

Please don't get emotional about it. It is a valid question. I'm just curious what happens in case I get accidentally glutened.

I gave this, impersonal, non-emotional & credible link at the beginning. Here's a pertinent excerpt:

"The gluten-free diet is a lifetime requirement. Eating any gluten, no matter how small an amount, can damage the intestine. This is true for anyone with the disease, including people who do not have noticeable symptoms. It can take weeks for antibody levels (indicating intestinal damage) to normalize after a person with celiac disease has consumed gluten."

Open Original Shared Link

and another:

": Is it ok if I ingest some gluten if I do not experience any symptoms?

No. The majority of patients with celiac disease experience no symptoms when they ingest gluten, either intentionally or unintentionally. This led to the concept that patients, especially children may grow out of the disease. In addition, patients also consider that it is doing no harm to them. However the ingestion of even small amounts of gluten results in damage to the small intestine--regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms--and puts the patient at risk for resulting complications including malignancies and osteoporosis."

Open Original Shared Link

benXX Rookie

I gave this, impersonal, non-emotional link at the begining. Here's a pertinent excerpt:

"The gluten-free diet is a lifetime requirement. Eating any gluten, no matter how small an amount, can damage the intestine. This is true for anyone with the disease, including people who do not have noticeable symptoms. It can take weeks for antibody levels (indicating intestinal damage) to normalize after a person with celiac disease has consumed gluten."

Open Original Shared Link

I've seen this document and although it is coming from a very reliable source, there is no scientific reference to their statement that it "can" damage the intestine.

Has nobody found any study yet about the effects of occasional glutening?

psawyer Proficient

Has nobody found any study yet about the effects of occasional glutening?

I highly doubt one exists. It would be very difficult to do in a meaningful way. You would need a significant number of people with celiac disease, over a long period of time, with a "control" segment who are 100% successful at keeping totally gluten-free, for comparison. Given reality, I don't know how you could verify the control group's compliance.

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The new they bought me pan was even carried home in a shopping bag with gluten bread in it, which triggered my OCD. It also has a rubber handle and I’m scared it might still hold onto gluten. Even if it’s washed well, it’s stored next to other pans that were used for gluten food/bread. Our kitchen table is used for eating gluten bread daily. My mom wipes it but not with soap. I’m scared tiny particles remain. If she made gluten-free bread dough on a board at the table, I’d still worry about cross contmaination contamination even with something under the dough and on the table as at one point the dough would probably touch the table. So I stopped eating anything she makes.   I know OCD is making it worse, but I can’t tell how much of my fear is real and how much is anxiety. Examples: • I wash my hands 20–30 times a day — before eating, after touching anything at home or outside, after using my phone/laptop. • I don’t let others touch my phone, and I’m scared to use my laptop because friends at school or my brother (who eat gluten) have touched it. And it annoys me a lot when others touch my stuff and feels like it got contaminated and is unsafe instantly. • I stopped eating while using my phone or laptop, afraid of invisible gluten being on them. • I wash my hands after opening food packaging (since it was on store cashier belts where gluten food is placed). • I avoid sitting anywhere except my bed or one clean chair. • I won’t shake hands with anyone or walk past people eating gluten. • At school, when switching classes, I wash my hands before getting out my laptop, again before opening it, etc. • I open door knobs with my elbows instead my hands   Job Concerns (Powder Coating, Sandblasting, Etc.) I’m working a temporary job right now that involves: • Powder coating • Sandblasting • Wet spray painting • Anodizing There’s also a laboratory. I don’t need this job, and my OCD makes me believe that dust or air particles there might contain gluten somehow. Should I quit?   Doctors Haven’t Helped My family doctor told me: “Asymptomatic celiac isn’t serious, if you have no symptoms, your intestines won’t get damaged, so you don’t need a gluten-free diet.” I knew that was wrong, but he wasn’t open to listening. I just nodded and didn‘t argue. My gastroenterologist (who’s also a dietitian) said: „If your antibodies are negative, there’s no damage. It might even be okay to try small amounts of gluten later if antibodies stay negative.“ Also said, pepper that says “may contain gluten” is fine if it only contains pepper. She was more informed than my family doctor but didn’t seem to fully understand celiac either.   Questions I Need Help With 1. Is it realistically safe to eat food my mom cooks, if we get separate pans/ and boards even if gluten is still used in the same kitchen? There will always be low risk of cc chances like that she will still touch stuff that was touched by her and my siblings after they ate gluten. And as there are gluten eaters in the house and she also prepares and eats gluten. So would opening the fridge then getting the food and touching the food be okay? So basically what i am doing, washing my hands multiple times while preparing food, she would only wash it once before, then touch anything else (for example water tap or handles) that were touched with gluteny hands, then also touch the food. I dont know if I ever could feel safe, I could try telling her how important cc really is. And I trust her so she wouldnt lie to me then be careless about cc, but idk how safe it really can be if she and everyone else keeps eating gluten and touching stuff in the house after eating. 2. Do I need to worry about touching doorknobs, fridge handles, light switches, etc. that family members touched after eating gluten? What about public places like bus handles or school desks? Or like if i went to the gym, I would be touching stuff all the time, so there will be small amounts of gluten and those would get transferred on my phone if I touch my phone while in the gym. But I want to knos if it would be enough to do damage. 3. Is an endoscopy (without biopsy) enough to tell if my intestines are healed? I’d pay privately if it could help and if i dont get a refferal. Or do i need a biopsy? 4. Could my job (powder coating, sandblasting, etc.) expose me to gluten or damage my intestines through air/dust? 5. Do I need certified gluten-free toothpaste, hand soap, shampoo, or moisturizer? (For example: Vaseline and Colgate don’t contain gluten ingredients but say they can’t guarantee it’s gluten-free.) 6. Is spices like pepper with “may contain traces of gluten” safe if no gluten ingredients are listed? Or does everything need to be labeled gluten-free?  7. Is continuing to only eat my own food the better choice, or could I eventually go back to eating what my mom cooks if she’s careful? 8. is cutlery from dishwasher safe if there are stains? Stuff like knives is used for cutting gluten bread or fork for noodles etc. I often see stains which i dont know if its gluten or something else but our dish washer doesnt seem to make it completely clean. 9. I wash my hands multiple times while preparing food. Do i need to do the same when touching my phone. Like if i touch the fridge handle, I wash my hands then touch the phone. I dont eat while using my phone but i leave it on my bed and pillow and my face could come in contact with where it was.  10. Do i need to clean my phone or laptop if theyve been used by people who eat gluten? Even if no crumbs fall onto my keybaord, i mean because of invisible gluten on their fingers. 11. Does medication/supplements have to be strictly glutenfree? One company said they couldn‘t guarantee if their probiotics don’t contain traces of gluten.  12. I had bought supplements in the past, some of them say glutenfree and some of them dont(like the brand „NOW“ from iherb). I bought them and used them when i wasnt washing my hands so often, are they still safe? As I touched and opened them after touching door knobs, water taps etc. It was like a year ago when i bought those and even though i was eating gluten-free, I never worried about what i touch etc. I know this post is long. I’m just extremely overwhelmed. I’m trying to protect myself from long-term health damage, but the OCD is destroying my quality of life, and I honestly don’t know what’s a reasonable level of caution anymore. Thanks for reading.
    • lmemsm
      I've been making a lot of black bean brownies lately because it's one of the few gluten free dessert recipes that actually tastes palatable.  I've also seen chocolate cake recipes with black beans.  Someone mentioned a cookie recipe using lentils in place of flour.  Just wondering if anyone's run across any tried and true recipes using beans, lentils or peas for desserts?  I've seen a lot of recipes for garbanzo flour but I'm allergic to garbanzo beans/chickpeas.  Was wondering if adzuki or pinto beans might be useful in replacing some or all of the flour in baking.  Since gluten free flours can be crumbly was hoping the beans might help produce a better, less crumbly consistency.  Any recommendations for recipes?  Thanks.
    • lmemsm
      I've seen a lot of recipes for chia pudding, so I decided to make some with chia, water, cocoa and honey.  Didn't like the taste, so I added ground sunflower and ground pumpkin seed to it.  It tasted okay, but came out more like frosting that pudding.  I used to make pudding with tapioca starch, milk powder, water and sugar.  It came out very good but I haven't figured out what to use to replace the milk powder to make it dairy free.  Most starches will work in place of tapioca starch but quantity varies depending on the type of starch.  If I didn't add enough starch to get a pudding consistency, I'd add gelatin as well to fix it.  Avocado and cocoa makes a good dessert with a pudding like consistency.  Unfortunately, I have a bad reaction to avocados.
    • lmemsm
      Seems like when I find a gluten free product I like, the producer stops manufacturing it and then I have trouble finding a new gluten free source for it.  What's worse, I've been contacting companies to ask if their products are gluten free and they don't even bother to respond.  So, it's making it very hard to find safe replacements.  I was buying teff flour at nuts.com and they no longer carry it.  I noticed Naturevibe has teff and soy flour.  However, I can't get a response as to whether their flours are safe for someone with celiac.  Can't get a response from Aldi if their peas are safe for someone with celiac either.  I know Bob's Red Mill has teff flour but was hoping to get a large quantity.  I've been using up the 20 ounce Bob's Red Mill teff flour too quickly.  Does anyone know of a good source for teff or soy flour?  Any recommendations where to get gluten free beans, peas or lentils?  I found some packages of gluten free beans at Sprouts but not much variety.  I've also been looking for lentil elbow macaroni and it seems like no one is making that now that Tolerant was bought out.  Any suggestions for safe sources for these types of ingredients.  Thanks.
    • chrish42
      All I can say is this site is great!
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