I have Celiac Disease. When we come in contact with gluten it is not an immediate allergy attack like most food allergies. It is a systemic allergy response where the immune system begins to destroy the intestines and for 20% of Celiacs like me also the lymph system. A single exposure can cause symptoms and damage to happne for several days to several months and damage can happen internally even if no symptoms are present. For every 1 patient dx'd with Celiac they are fidning there is another 80 who have celiac and have not been tested because symptoms can mimic other illnesses and some poeple may only have a minor bout of diarrhea now and then. I had symptoms for 20 years before a doctor finally caught it and began testing. Bloodwork turned out negative because I also had another aotoimmune disease called Selective IgA Deficiency so no matter how much gluten I was exposed to the tests would always be negative because I lack the ability to produce those antibodies so biopsies were needed. Biopsies came back positive in several spots. Celiac can also cause stomach and intestinal cancer and lymphoma if untreated. The only cure for Celiac Disease is to maintain a STRICT gluten free lifestyle, not just diet because gluten can also be found in playdough, sheetrock, shampoo, laundry soap, cosmetics, fabric softener, medications, and lots more. Grains that contain gluten are wheat, rye, barley, kamut, spelt, and triticale. If a chef prepares a truly gluten free meal and the server just served bread to the previous customer and did not wash his/her hands well afterwards then s/he just contaminated the Celiac's plate. You can NEVER remove gluten from a wood surface so ALL cooking utensils cannot contain or touch wood because it takes 900*F to kill the gluten proteins and that kinda makes charcoal. Cast iron and other porous cooking utensils must go in the self clean cycle of an oven (which happens to reach 900-950*F). Bleach and hand sanitizer do NOT affect gluten. Plastics and nonstick surfaces with the tiniest scratches can harbor gluten proteins contaminating future meals. Gluten spores will remain airborns for 24-48 hours contaminating work surfaces. The FDA claims 20mg of gluten daily )about 1/8 tsp flour) to be safe for most Celiacs but many will react with as little as 1mg daily. Coooking with gluten free ingredients is not enough, you also need a gluten free environment in order to serve a gluten free meal.
For me we know within 4-8 hours I have been glutened. I will have abdominal cramping, diarrhea, asthma, acid reflux, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, hands/feet numbness/tingling, my skin itches and burns, I get a rash on my face accompanied by tiny boils, extreme fatique (sometimes requiring 20 hours of sleep a day for several days), a lot of muscle pain and stiffness, headaches and migraines, coughing, fever, and other symptoms. My symptoms will last 3 days for a teeny tiny minute exposure and up to several weeks for a larger exposure.
