I don’t like the phrasing of this conclusion. While I do think its okay to risk some amount of cross contamination once in a while, there are certain risks you should not take from a risk/benefit analysis standpoint. For example, I will never eat gluten free pizza that is prepared in the same area as normal pizza, or eat anything that comes from the same fryer as gluten containing foods. On the other hand I will eat at Chipotle, even though some cross contamination could occur. Also, I base a lot of my judgement on the conversation with the waiter or reviews on Find Me GlutenFree.
I have not experienced strong symptoms from accidentally being exposed to gluten, but when I was diagnosed, my intestinal damage was assessed at Marsh IIIC. As far as I am aware, there seems to be no clear correlation between sensitivity and any other metrics.
On another point, avoiding long-term inflamation seems key in minimizing negative health outcomes. That means, its less harmful to accidentally eat a medium dose of gluten every once in a while compared to being exposed to trace amounts a lot.
Ouch, I hope your intestine has recovered since your diagnosis.
To be clear, when I say sensitivity I mean “how reactive is your immune system to gluten” rather than “do you feel gastrointestinal symptoms when you eat gluten”. The correlation between the severity of symtoms (both obvious and non-obvious symptoms) is weaker than you would expect but it seem to me there still is one.
In your comment you describe 3 scenarios: (1) Risk of cross contamination (Chipotle) (2) Known cross contamination (fryer and pizza prep) (3) Accidental medium dose of gluten
You are happy to accept (1), but you say celiacs “should not take” (2). I agree the risk is higher in (2), but the heart of my conclusion is that for some people (like myself), the additional risk is negligible and the benefit is significant. With the caveat that I need to check reality on “the additional risk is negligible” by measuring my immune system response.
If my lifestyle includes (1), (2), and unavoidably (3), but if my blood tests show normal antibodies (plus possibly another intestine inflammation check to be doubly sure), I think that (2) is a risk that’s ok for me to keep taking.
Of course, it can be true at the same time that (2) is not worth it for you.
On the last point, I agree that avoiding long-term inflammation is important. But I don’t think it necessarily follows that infrequent (3) causes less inflammation than a lot of (2). Maybe a low dose slips under the radar and doesn’t trigger a reaction. Maybe a moderate dose reaches a threshold and makes your immune system hit the button and keeps the antibodies pumping for a while.
This seems to be the main issue in this discussion. Especially if one does not experience strong symptoms, its hard to determine what effect different levels and duration of exposure have on ones body.
IgA and IgG seem to be good indicators, but their correlation to cancer and other risk factors is poorly understood. Also, I personally am getting tested once a year for those metrics, but that would be not nearly enough to check my response to specific restaurant visits I am doing.
I don’t like the phrasing of this conclusion. While I do think its okay to risk some amount of cross contamination once in a while, there are certain risks you should not take from a risk/benefit analysis standpoint. For example, I will never eat gluten free pizza that is prepared in the same area as normal pizza, or eat anything that comes from the same fryer as gluten containing foods. On the other hand I will eat at Chipotle, even though some cross contamination could occur. Also, I base a lot of my judgement on the conversation with the waiter or reviews on Find Me GlutenFree.
I have not experienced strong symptoms from accidentally being exposed to gluten, but when I was diagnosed, my intestinal damage was assessed at Marsh IIIC. As far as I am aware, there seems to be no clear correlation between sensitivity and any other metrics.
On another point, avoiding long-term inflamation seems key in minimizing negative health outcomes. That means, its less harmful to accidentally eat a medium dose of gluten every once in a while compared to being exposed to trace amounts a lot.
Ouch, I hope your intestine has recovered since your diagnosis.
To be clear, when I say sensitivity I mean “how reactive is your immune system to gluten” rather than “do you feel gastrointestinal symptoms when you eat gluten”. The correlation between the severity of symtoms (both obvious and non-obvious symptoms) is weaker than you would expect but it seem to me there still is one.
In your comment you describe 3 scenarios:
(1) Risk of cross contamination (Chipotle)
(2) Known cross contamination (fryer and pizza prep)
(3) Accidental medium dose of gluten
You are happy to accept (1), but you say celiacs “should not take” (2). I agree the risk is higher in (2), but the heart of my conclusion is that for some people (like myself), the additional risk is negligible and the benefit is significant. With the caveat that I need to check reality on “the additional risk is negligible” by measuring my immune system response.
If my lifestyle includes (1), (2), and unavoidably (3), but if my blood tests show normal antibodies (plus possibly another intestine inflammation check to be doubly sure), I think that (2) is a risk that’s ok for me to keep taking.
Of course, it can be true at the same time that (2) is not worth it for you.
On the last point, I agree that avoiding long-term inflammation is important. But I don’t think it necessarily follows that infrequent (3) causes less inflammation than a lot of (2). Maybe a low dose slips under the radar and doesn’t trigger a reaction. Maybe a moderate dose reaches a threshold and makes your immune system hit the button and keeps the antibodies pumping for a while.
This seems to be the main issue in this discussion. Especially if one does not experience strong symptoms, its hard to determine what effect different levels and duration of exposure have on ones body.
IgA and IgG seem to be good indicators, but their correlation to cancer and other risk factors is poorly understood. Also, I personally am getting tested once a year for those metrics, but that would be not nearly enough to check my response to specific restaurant visits I am doing.