In order to maintain a completely gluten free diet, it is essential that you do a lot more than just look for gluten in foods. Did you know that gluten can also be found in all sorts of other things? Did you know stamps contain gluten? Certain medicines?
It would be to difficult to compile a complete list of these products, but here are some things you should look for if you are living gluten free:
- Lotions, creams and cosmetics (primarily for those with dermatitis herpetaformis).
- Stamps, envelopes or other gummed labels.
- Toothpaste and mouthwash.
- Some medicines contain gluten.
- Some brands of rice paper.
- Laxatives.
Can you think of any non-food or drink items that contain gluten that I might have missed? Let me know in the comments below!
For those of you with Celiac Disease or some form of gluten intolerance, you are not alone. Many have heard the figure 1 in 133 people are believed to have Celiac Disease, but could it possibly be even more?
As the diagnosis continue to grow, so does the attention focused on the disease by doctors, so I wouldn’t be surprised if even more people than previously thought have some form of gluten sensitivity.
Another benefit that comes with the disease getting more attention is the attention provided by cooks, restaurants, and even large corporations, who are looking to capitalize on this with gluten free products. Here is one story of how far things have come in the last decade (from the Current Argus):
Once considered a rare condition, celiac disease or gluten intolerance is becoming one of the most common genetic conditions in the world, with a wide range of symptoms that can range from digestive problems to depression.
The disease cannot be cured, only controlled through careful diet.
For sufferers in Carlsbad, there is much help to be found through the local Celiac Disease Support Group.
The group offers good information on alternative food choices as well as recipes and general information on how to cope with the disease and diet. However, members agreed, the emotional support is probably the most important offering at the meetings.
Angie Madl was diagnosed eight years ago. For her, the support group has meant a great deal as far as the sharing of important information she might not have found on her own. What keeps her coming back is the camaraderie of knowing others who suffer from the same disease.
“I was diagnosed too late,” Madl said, noting she wasn’t given any information or told what to do.
I always found that the hardest part about being on a gluten free diet is traveling. Fortunately traveling is getting a little easier as awareness grows and a larger percentage of the population is diagnosed with things like Celiac Disease.
Today I noticed a post about Balancing Food and Fun at Disney World, which includes an interview with Joel Schaefer, Disney’s Special Dietary Needs Manager. In the interview, they discuss Disney’s committment to people with special dietary needs. Here is the main part relevant to those of us with Celiac Disease:
My child has celiac’s disease. Are there kid-friendly options for her? I would love for my child to be able to experience Mickey Mouse waffles and a safe cookie or brownie.
We have a variety of options for Guests with celiac disease and most locations have gluten-free pancake and waffle mix. You will need to contact us ahead of time to see what locations can accommodate your request.
Do you find that you suffer from both Celiac Disease and bad allergy problems? Apparently, some people believe that Celiac Disease may be associated with Allergy Problems:
Wheat is among the most common triggers of food allergy and sensitivity. People suffering from reactions to wheat or its constituent proteins gluten and gliadin often suffer from diarrhea, stomach pain, and other gastrointestinal discomforts. A condition called celiac disease is also characterized by intolerance to gluten and gliadin, found in wheat, rye, barley, oats; similar proteins are also found in buckwheat (a grass seed) and millet. Not all people experiencing reactions to wheat and other gluten/gliadin foods have celiac disease. Patients with celiac disease experience diarrhea, foul-smelling, greasy stools, and weight loss, due to multiple vitamin and nutrient deficiencies. They also have damaged small intestine tissue folds (known as jejunoileal fold pattern reversal) caused by exposure to wheat proteins. The liver is also damaged in celiac disease. A recent report in the Journal of Pediatrics states that one out of every 33 children in the United States may have this disease.
Despite some diagnostic differences, celiac disease appears to share many of the causes of other food allergies, including genetic susceptibility (particularly to people from northern and central Europe and northwest India), enzyme deficiency, and intestinal permeability. Children who are not breast-fed and who are introduced to cow’s milk early are at higher risk than other children for developing celiac disease. Additionally, celiac patients also tend to become lactose deficient, leading to lactose intolerance; they also frequently develop multiple food allergies, due to leaky gut.
Celiac disease has also been linked to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, thyroid problems, and hives. Women with celiac disease are at a higher risk for experiencing reproductive problems, including infertility, miscarriage, and low-weight-infant births. Celiac disease is also implicated in bone loss and osteoporosis. In one recent study, 86 newly diagnosed celiac disease patients were placed on a gluten-free diet for one year. These patients, including postmenopausal women, showed a significant improvement in bone mineral density and bone metabolism compared to the control group that did not undergo the elimination diet.
When it comes to gluten free diets, there are two reasons to be on one, with one being more extreme than the other. I am of course talking about the difference between Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity. While researching the difference between the two, I ran across this post and figured I would share with you:
What is the difference between celiac sprue and gluten sensitivity?
Gluten sensitivity implies that a person’s immune system is intolerant of gluten in the diet and is forming antibodies or displaying some other evidence of an inflammatory reaction. When these reactions cause small intestinal damage visible on a biopsy, the syndrome has been called celiac sprue, celiac disease, or gluten sensitive enteropathy. (Nontropical sprue and idiopathic steatorrhea are other terms that have been used for this disorder in the past.) The clinical definition of celiac sprue also usually requires that there is clinical and/or pathologic improvement following a gluten-free diet.In the past, celiac sprue could only be diagnosed after somebody developed certain symptoms like diarrhea, weight loss, or growth failure in children. A biopsy would be performed and if abnormal and typical of celiac sprue, and if a gluten free diet brought resolution of diarrhea, weight gain, or growth, only then would a diagnosis of celiac sprue be made. However, recent advances in diagnostic screening tests and application of these tests to people at heightened risk or to general populations have allowed detection of celiac sprue, sometimes even before damage to villi has occurred. This latter scenario is often called gluten sensitivity.
