How you may be coming into contact with gluten without knowing, from a seasoned Celiac
Are you following a gluten free diet but, feel like you may still be eating it in small amounts? Many people, especially those who are new to this diet, have so many run-ins with gluten that they are not even aware of. There are so many ways that this happens. In this article, I will be discussing some of the ways that I have personally learned make me come into contact with gluten. I will tell you how I have fixed these mistakes as well. Read to find out if you can relate!
How do I know if I’ve accidentally eaten gluten?
Symptoms vary depending on how bad your sensitivity is. People with celiac may have much worse reactions to gluten contamination than people who just have sensitivities. As a person with Celiac Disease, I have had to listen my body to understand when I feel unwell after a meal. I am not a healthcare professional, so I will not be going into too much detail about the health aspect of it. My blog is all from the perspective of a Celiac continually learning how to be gluten free. It is always best to seek professional help if you are in any type of discomfort or pain.
Exposure in your own home
There are a few ways you could be coming into contact with gluten in your own home. The most likely possibility is if you live with others who do eat gluten, and there are some precautions that are not being taken. The second possibility is you live in a completely gluten free environment, but you may be purchasing items that you do not realize contain small amounts of gluten.
You may still be eating foods that actually contain gluten or you are eating things that have been cross contaminated. Cross contamination or cross contact as it relates to gluten means that something gluten free is coming into contact with gluten, making it no longer gluten free. This is actually a huge issue that many gluten free eaters are not aware of. As soon as I began to really pay attention to this issue, I felt so much better.
Living with others who eat gluten
When figuring out how the people you live with could be contributing to your accidentally gluten eating, I would first think about cookware and appliances.
Toasters
Are you toasting your gluten free bread in a toaster that is also used for regular bread? That is a major source of gluten contamination. Once you put your gluten free bread in that toaster, it is no longer completely gluten free. Remember, gluten is a protein and it cannot just be burned away in a heated device. Even crumbs of gluten are still enough to cause contamination.
Oven
Next, think about the oven. It is a popular practice to put a frozen pizza directly on the oven rack to get that nice crisp. But hold on. If you are doing this and live with people who are putting their gluten containing pizza on that same rack, you are exposing yourself to gluten! Make sure to place your pizza on a clean pan before cooking or decide with the others about who gets to put their pizza directly on the oven rack.
Air Fryers
Let’s talk about air fryers. These amazing devices that have become so popular! They are commonly used by putting the food directly into the chamber. So, what is the issue here? You may have guessed it. If you are sharing an air fryer in this way with people who are putting gluten containing food in, it is no longer a safe gluten free area. Luckily, they make air fryer liners that look similar to giant cupcake liners. I recommend that everyone uses air fryer liners when putting their food in. It decreases the likelihood of gluten contamination and also makes for easier clean up!
Double Dipping
Another source of cross contamination is SO often missed. I am talking about dips, spreads, etc.
Imagine someone using a knife to spread butter on their delicious gluten containing bread. They then go back into the butter with the knife to get more. Oh no! Now they have contaminated the butter with gluten since crumbs always stick to the knife and then end up back in the butter. This same thought pattern can be used when thinking of peanut butter, jelly, mayonnaise, and anything else that is double dipped into after coming into contact with gluten food.
Foods you are eating
It’s possible that the accidental gluten is simply in the specific foods you are eating.
“processed on shared equipment with wheat” or something similar on food labels
It can be so tricky to eat gluten free. Some foods that you assume would have no reason to contain gluten may in a sneaky way. If you read the packaging of any food, it will tell you what the item was processed or manufactured on shared equipment with. Many times, this happens to be wheat. There is no way for you to know how much wheat the food came into contact with, or if it came into contact at all. For that reason, it is best to steer clear of foods with this label on the packaging. This is only one example of reading your food labels. Learn how to read them https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/gluten-free-foods/label-reading-the-fda/
Some common foods that include the wheat warning are nuts, seeds, chocolate, granola, or other processed snacks. Be sure to read your labels!
Yeast Extract
Yeast extract is a frustrating one. This is something I and others did not learn about gluten free eating until years after starting on this diet and what frankly, I am still unsure of. The issue with yeast extract is that there are many foods that are labeled gluten free, but still contain it. Yeast extract is sometimes gluten free. The makers of the yeast extract are not required to note the sources of it. Therefore, many times barley or wheat are in it. I am still unsure of why foods can be labeled gluten free when they contain this ingredient. However, I personally have noticed a difference when I stopped eating foods with it. Make sure to read the ingredients of a product. Do not assume that it is gluten free just because the label says so.
Are you eating at the right restaurants?
As a gluten free eater, you may have to seek out places that are especially conscious of allergies and food sensitivities. I have been to many restaurants where they have a “GF” next to an item that is totally not “GF” due to contamination. For this reason, I have decided to only eat at a few restaurants that ask about allergies and take special precautions like having a separate area of the kitchen where the gluten free stuff is prepared. I have an article on tips when dining gluten free that you can read here https://carolinasrecipes.com/gluten-free-dining-tips/.
Conclusion
Following a gluten free diet can be more difficult than it seems. After years of being gluten free, I was still getting little bits of gluten in my diet without knowing! Hopefully this article gave you some insight on how to spot little sources of gluten contamination. More on all things gluten free at http://linasglutenfree.com.