I read lots of studies about celiac disease. Sometimes in the lab doesn’t match or even correlate with real life. When in the lab vs real life don’t match, I look deeper. Let’s talk about some places where real life vs. in the lab don’t match…..

”Sourdough bread made with wheat flour is gluten free and safe for celiac patients.” Nope. A study from 2008 says that long fermented gluten containing grains will reduce the gluten content to “celiac safe” levels. Next a whole bunch of manufacturers started creating breads that used this method and began touting their bread as gluten free. Beyond Celiac says sourdough bread made with wheat flour is not safe. https://www.beyondceliac.org/gluten-free-diet/is-it-gluten-free/sourdough-bread/

For me, leaving sourdough bread made with gluten containing grains behind is just one more thing added to the list that I will not consume. I’ve already mourned losing gluten from my life, so adding this to the list is no big deal.

In 2023 American College of Gastroenterology says that oats are safe and recommended consumption of gluten free oats for celiac disease patients. They also said a small portion of celiac patients may have immune reactions similar to gluten consumption. Link to recommendations from 2023. https://www.guidelinecentral.com/guideline/12960/ Living in the real world, finding truly gluten free oats is challenging. Testing oats over and over again Gluten Free Watchdog found most oats to not meet FDA’s threshold for gluten free labeling. https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/gluten-free-watchdog-cannot-recommend-any-brand-of-gluten-free-oats/

I will eat purity protocol oats on rare occasions. Oats are not a standard part of my diet.

Then there are the things that fly in the face of everything I know to be true about cross contamination. This study from 2018 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X22087440) discusses common kitchen cross contamination sources. The study conclusion states, “Overly restrictive recommendations for avoiding cross-contamination that are not based on evidence do not seem helpful for CeD patients.” To be honest, there isn’t much real world information in studying cross contamination. So, celiac patients sort of made it up as we went along.

I have a mixed gluten and non-gluten kitchen. Anything that touches gluten goes into the dishwasher and I have stainless steel cookware.

Bottom line, celiac disease management requires thought and research not just blind adherence to the latest trend.