According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat, barley and rye.
When I was 14, my mother went to a specialist and was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. She was warned that it is often genetic, and soon my siblings and I all tested and were positive. It has been an ongoing battle against Gluten in my family ever since. Everything needed to change, our fridge, kitchenware and, of course, our food. But, even after all of that, the symptoms persisted. A hard truth became evident; Gluten is used in a large number of everyday products that I would never have expected. Here are a few that truly caught me by surprise.
- Shampoo and Conditioner. I always had flaky scalp skin, occasional sores, and overall itchiness. I knew there was just something wrong but couldn’t figure it out, so I let it go. But it turns out the reason behind this was the gluten hidden in my shampoo! Once I switched my scalp and hair was much healthier, but it was hard to figure out which brands to use. Acure and Pura d’or have multiple gluten free lines.
- Medication. I get migraines and was using walmart’s version of advil called Equate, for years. About five years ago I realised that they contained gluten ans switched. Several other medications have gluten as an ingredient and even some vaccinations. It’s so important to check the ingredients and labels if you are sensitive and even googling to see what experiences other gluten-free people have had.
- Pet Food. Okay, I know, this seems obvious. However, I had no idea that the gluten in my cats food was affecting me until I traced a rash on my hand to when I refilled my cat’s bowl! Now, I only feed gluten-containing foods to my kitties when it isn’t in my bedroom and I don’t have to touch it.
- Makeup. This one made a lot of sense when I realized. I tried to get into makeup in middle school but it made me so itchy and my eyelids very red. Discovering that my concealer, eyeliner and eyeshadows all contained gluten was so helpful, and since then I have made sure to buy all gluten free skincare. (although this is not an easy task by any means)
- Pickles. Some Pickles use malt beer and vinegar to pickle and most beer is made using gluten. I don’t like pickles but my brother learned the hard way that he needs to read every single label, even those on his pickles. He tried a new brand and was sick for days, but at least it’s something he will never forget again!
- Hot Chocolate. This was pretty devastating since I love hot chocolate. Since Gluten is a binding protein, it is used in many pre packaged items and through cross contamination this gluten can very easily get into pre packaged hot chocolate pouches.
- Recycled Utensils and Plates. Unfortunately, recycled paper plates and even recycled utensils can very often contain gluten. The items they are recycled from are sometimes other food items or packages which at one time contained gluten and this will contaminate the new recycled materials.
Truthfully, If you have celiac disease it’s probably already second nature to check ingredients. But I wish I had known this information earlier on in my celiacs journey so hopefully someone else will benefit from it!
(https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/what-is-gluten/)
(https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/what-is-gluten/sources-of-gluten/ )