A Year of Legends: Best of 2024 at Dr. Kara Fitzgerald
This article was contributed by Michelle Gottfried, an intern with Dr. Fitzgerald. She is currently working on her Masters in Human Nutrition at the University of Bridgeport.
If you have Celiac Disease, or non-Celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), but are still having villi damage or residual symptoms, you may still be getting gluten exposure from hidden sources, including non-dietary sources. This comprehensive list will help you identify potential exposures that you weren’t aware of.
For those with Celiac Disease, complete avoidance of gluten is important. Some non-Celiac patients may also be sensitive enough that even tiny exposures are problematic.
Common foods you probably already know contain gluten:
- Barley
- Bulgur
- Couscous
- Kamut
- Oats (if not specifically gluten-free)
- Rye
- Semolina
- Spelt
- Triticale
- Wheat
- Wheat germ
Common foods that may contain hidden gluten:
- Artificial coffee creamer
- Beer
- Bouillon cubes
- Broth/stocks
- Candy
- Certain ground spices
- Certain veined cheeses
- Chewing gum
- Chips
- Cold cuts
- Flavored teas
- Flavored rice
- Fish sticks
- Flavored crackers
- French fries
- Gravies
- Hot dogs
- Imitation seafood
- Instant coffee and other instant hot drinks
- Ketchup
- Matzo flavor
- Mustard
- Mayonnaise
- Pasta side dishes
- Rice mixes
- Roasted nuts
- Soy sauce
- Salad dressing
- Seitan (wheat gluten, used in meat substitutes)
- Self-basting turkey
- Soy and teriyaki sauces
- Tinned baked beans
- Tomato sauces
- Vegetable cooking spray
- Veggie burgers
- Vodka
- Wine coolers
Ingredients to watch out for that may contain gluten:
- Artificial color
- Baking powder
- Barley extract or lipids
- Brown rice syrup
- Caramel color/flavoring (frequently made from barley)
- Citric acid (can be fermented from wheat, corn, molasses or beets)
- Coloring
- Dextrins (primarily corn and potato, but can come from wheat, rice, tapioca)
- Diglycerides
- Emulsifiers
- Enzymes
- Fermented grain extract
- Fat replacers
- Flavorings
- Food starch
- Gelatinized starch
- Glucose syrup
- Glycerides
- Hydrolysate
- Hydrolyzed malt extract
- Hydrolyzed oat flour or protein
- Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)
- Hydrolyzed soy protein
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
- Malt extract
- Maltodextrin (corn, wheat, potato, rice)
- Mustard powder (some contain gluten)
- Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
- Modified food starch (source is either corn or wheat)
- Natural juices
- Natural flavoring, fillers
- Peptide bonded glutamine (hydrolyzed wheat gluten)
- Rice malt (contains barley or Koji)
- Rice syrup (contains barley enzymes)
- Sulfonate
- Stabilizers
- Starch
- Triticum aestivum (common or bread wheat)
- Wheat starch
- Whey protein concentrate
- Whey sodium caseinate
- White vinegar or white grain vinegar
- Yeast extract
Does it matter if there is gluten in non-food items like cosmetics? Some argue that there is no risk unless the product goes into the mouth or an open sore, yet many accounts have been reported of negative reactions to products and upon further investigation have found that the product contained a derivative of gluten. It really depends on an individual’s degree of sensitivity. Some are more reactive than others and need to avoid any/all exposures. Others do not need to be quite so restrictive.
If you need to know how to avoid gluten in non-food items, here are some common items where gluten can be found and below is a list of common ingredients that may contain gluten.
Here is a link to Skins Matters list of Skincare brands whose entire ranges are gluten free (GF), wheat free (WF), dairy free (DF), nut free (NF), peanut free (PF) and/or sesame free (SF).
Non-food items that may contain gluten:
- Dental sealants
- Dental plastics (some)
- Glue on stamps and envelopes
- Hairspray
- Laundry detergent
- Lip balms
- Lotions
- Makeup
- Medications
- Mouthwash
- Playdough
- Shampoo
- Soap
- Sunscreens
- Toothpaste
- Low quality vitamins and supplements
Non-food item ingredients that may contain gluten:
- Amino peptide complex (from barley)
- Avena sativa (oat starch, extract, flour or oil
- Barley (extracts, lipids)
- Beta glucan (from oats)
- Cocodimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed
- Dextrin
- Fermented grain extract
- Hordeum distichon (barley extract)
- Hordeum vulgare (barley extract)
- Hydrolyzed wheat protein (HWP) also seen as wheat hydrolysate, enzyme-modified gluten or wheat peptides
- Phytosphingosine extract (fermented yeast)
- Pregelatinized starch (corn, wheat, potato, tapioca)
- Secale cereale (Rye)
- Sodium lauroyl oat amino acid
- Sodium starch glycolate (commonly potato, but has other starch sources)
- Stearidimoium (hydrolyzed wheat protein)
- Triticum vulgare (wheat germ oil)
- Tocopherol/vitamin E
- Wheat germ (extracts, glycerides, oil, protein)
- Xantham gum (may be derived from wheat)
- Yeast extract
Cross-Reactivity:
If you feel like you have successfully eliminated gluten from your diet and household items and are still experiencing gluten-associated symptoms, you may want to consider the following:
When you are gluten sensitive your body is creating antibodies against gluten. Those same antibodies can also recognize proteins in other foods that have similar structures and mimic the reaction they have to gluten. Which non-gluten foods you may react to will depend on the antibodies your body has formed against gluten. Not everyone will have a reaction to all of these foods (or any of them). This paper studied the cross reaction in the following foods and is a good place to start.
- Buckwheat
- Sorghum
- Millet
- Amaranth
- Quinoa
- Corn
- Rice
- Potato
- Hemp
- Teff
- Soy
- Milk (Alpha-Casein, Beta-Casein, Casomorphin, Butyrophilin, Whey Protein and whole milk)
- Chocolate
- Yeast
- Coffee (instant, latte, espresso, imported)
- Sesame
- Tapioca (a.k.a. cassava or yucca)
- Eggs
In those with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, increased intestinal permeability or ‘leaky gut’ is common. This can further aggravate the formation of food sensitivities. Healing an unhealthy gut may help alleviate some of these cross-reactions or sensitivities to gluten. See our blog for further reading on leaky gut and what you can do about it.
If you think there’s something missing from any of the lists above, let us know in the comments below!
19 Comments
Related posts
Dr Peter Osborne has done extensive research on glutens, yes glutens, not just gluten as there are hundreds of glutens in grains. All grains contain gluten not just the ones our government regards as gluten. Rice Corn Teff Oats and more. Gluten is in the seed of grasses.
Please interview Dr Osborne to get the full story. I cut out wheat barley and rye and improved but noticed I had the same reaction from corn as I did wheat. Rice and oats are bad as well. When I cut these out I improved more. If I hadn’t read Dr Osborne’s articles I’d still be in the dark.
Thanks Susan – it is helpful for folks to know that there are proteins in other grains that can cross-react with gluten. Glad you found the information that helped you. Warmly, DrKF
I have hashimotis and 2 genes heterozygous. Dr put me metholating. My b 12 is good why give me more plus folate can you give me any advice on effexor for anxiety depression after having accident fractured back and ankle thanks
Hi Debra, I can’t give medical advice via the Internet, but I would be happy to work with you to do a full assessment and get to the underlying causes of anxiety and depression. Inflammation and microbiome are two important areas that we consider, but there are other potential factors at play as well that would need to be evaluated. Warmly, DrKF
Very unhappy. Bought book. Turns out to be ebook in language/medical terminology that I cannot comprehend as I am not a practitioner. I asked for my money back and received no reply. Bad business!!!
Dear Marla,
I’m so sorry you feel like you’ve had a bad experience, and wholeheartedly apologize. I’ve checked with our support staff and I believe your refund has already gone through. We had a snow day at the clinic yesterday so it did take us a little over 24 business hours to respond.
The book is aimed at professionals and also consumers who have some basic understanding of methylation, but does include some scientific terminology. I do understand that it may not be right for everyone. Out of hundreds of sales, you’re our first refund!
I sincerely hope you’ll still find value in the other material we make available on methylation and beyond.
All my best,
DrKF
Recently I received test results back that my gluten numbers are off the charts, despite being gluten/dairy/night-shade/egg free for a year now. You list rice in the ‘cross-reactivity’ list…would this include wild rice?
Yes.
GREAT resource for clinicians and patients! Thanks Dr. Fitzgerald and Ms. Gottfried!
Please inform me of what else is left to eat?
Hi there! I know seeing that list can feel overwhelming at first, but there are actually hundreds of natural, whole foods that are completely gluten-free. Take for example vegetables – there are over a 1000 cultivated vegetable varieties across the world! Then there are nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, healthy fats such as olive oil and fresh animal produce such as eggs and fish. A simple rule of thumb is to go for minimally processed, single-ingredient foods. The closer they are to their natural form, the better.
A list of what I can still eat , ohplease,very limiting via this list gluten free
We understand it can feel limiting, but really there are so many alternatives! Our clinical team works hard to ensure our patients have a clear list of foods they CAN eat, along with recipes and store-bought alternatives for foods they miss. It’s such an important part of making dietary changes work. – Team DrKF
Something necessary for me was to have a completely gluten-free kitchen. I was living with a housemate who ate gluten-containing foods when my doctor recommended this, so I thought it would be impossible and I argued with the doc for six months! Of course I had my own dishes, my own silverware and cooking utensils, Kaylmy own pots and pans, my own dish towels, my own shelves in cupboards and frig…but somehow my housemate’s gluten got to me anyway. My doc said I could be getting gluten from the steam when my housemate cooked pasta, for one thing. But then my gluten-eating housemate was away for a few months and after he’d been gone 6 weeks, there was a dramatic improvement in my gut…right when my gut would have finally healed after no gluten exposure… So I told my doc she was right, and not long after that, I moved out and lived alone with a totally gluten-free kitchen…and then with my husband, who was willing to be gluten-free for my sake. (BTW, our dogs ate gluten-free food too.)
Thank you!