Is A Little Gluten Ever Alright?

[szl-mom]

My 11 month old son was just diagnosed with celiac disease. We are waiting on test results for my other two children - who are much less symptomatic and eat an absolutely ridiculous amount of gluten.

I am so new to this, and I am just wondering if it is ever possible for some people to be mildly gluten intolerant and able to tolerate small amounts without negative consequences. I certainly would never experiment with my 11 month old twins as they are not able to tell me about how they feel, etc. But in my older child, could it be possible that he might be able to tolerate a little cheating once in a while, if I would monitor his symptoms and reaction to foods?

This is probably a very naive question, but I am just feeling so overwhelmed. I think at-home eating will be no problem (I realize there are so many gluten-free options available) but am I thinking of things like birthday parties, trips to friends houses, etc, --can people with celiac disease ever indulge just a BIT?

Thanks,

Jen

[lovegrov]

If your child has celiac disease, all the experts recommend strict adherence. Some people probably do react more than others, but science truly has no idea how much causes damage. And watching for obvious reactions doesn't necessarily tell if something is going wrong inside (silent damage). Your child will make enough mistakes and get enough through accidental contamination without eating it on purpose.

richard

[tarnalberry]

Nope. It's a chemical reaction in the body - an immune system molecule sees a gluten molecule and goes off on it's merry way attacking the villi. Your child may or may not experience outward symptoms from a very small amount of gluten, but there's no reason to intentially risk it.

[mommida]

I reccomend the book Kids with Celiac Disease by Danna Korn.

There are a lot of helpful hints about gluten free substitions and dealing with social aspects. One micron of gluten ( a crumb ) can cause a reaction.

Never intentenally ingest gluten.

Mixed messages will confuse your children about how serious this diet is. There will be accidental exposures, we live in a gluten world.

Laura