The only treatment for coeliac disease is to follow a strict gluten free diet. According to the NHS, ‘you must stop eating all sources of gluten for life. Your symptoms will return if you eat foods containing gluten, and it will cause long-term damage to your health’.

But how strict do you have to be with your gluten free diet? Is it even possible to completely avoid gluten? And what happens if you accidentally ingest gluten?

How strict do you have to be?

The simple answer is that your gluten free diet has to be as strict as possible, with no exceptions. As the NHS explains, even a small amount of gluten, such as a spoonful of pasta, can lead to very unpleasant symptoms. More importantly, eating gluten regularly puts you at greater risk of long-term damage to the gut, along with complications such as osteoporosis

To follow a strict gluten free diet, you not only have to avoid any foods that you know contain gluten, but also avoid foods that may have been contaminated during manufacture, or that have been subject to cross-contamination during storage or preparation. Studies^(1,2) have also shown that cross contamination alone can result in gluten consumption of 5mg to 50mg of gluten per day from what is thought to be gluten free food.

Is it possible to avoid gluten altogether?

Unfortunately, there are many products that contain gluten when you might not expect it, for example some types of processed meats, soft drinks (made from barley) and sauces. That’s why it’s important to always read the label to look for gluten, and gluten containing ingredients such as wheat, rye and barley.

By law, all packaged food products that include gluten-containing ingredients, in any amount, must clearly highlight this within the ingredients list. Take extra care when eating non-prepacked food in café’s and delis etc. This information will still be available, but you may need to ask your server.

What happens if you consume gluten by accident?

Eating even a small amount of gluten can cause a range of symptoms, including diarrhoea and stomach pains. These symptoms may take a little while to appear, but they can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

Whilst consuming a small amount of gluten by accident is unlikely to cause any harm, it’s really important that you identify this and take precautions to prevent further expose to gluten in future.

It’s also important to understand that while consuming a small amount of gluten may not cause you any symptoms, it may still be damaging your intestine. For this reason, you simply cannot risk having a ‘little bit’ of gluten, even if you don’t feel any negative effects.

Being strict with your gluten free diet is the only way to be sure that you are not harming your gut and risking long term damage.

While avoiding ‘all sources of gluten for life’ may seem like a daunting prospect, the good news is that Glutafin are right here to support your gluten free diet, from breakfast right through to supper time. Our range of simple gluten free recipes, using our own gluten free ingredients, will make following a strict gluten free diet so much easier, and tastier.

¹ Collin P., Thorell L., Kaukinen K., Mäki M. The safe threshold for gluten contamination in gluten-free products. Can trace amounts be accepted in the treatment of coeliac disease? Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 2004;19:1277–1283. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2004.01961.x. Link

² Hischenhuber C., Crevel R., Jarry B., Mäki M., Moneret-Vautrin D.A., Romano A., Troncone R., Ward R. Review article: Safe amounts of gluten for patients with wheat allergy or coeliac disease. Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 2006;23:559–575. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2006.02768.x. Link

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