What Really Happens When You Cheat On Your Gluten Free Diet

You may think all that happens when you cheat on your gluten free diet are a slew of temporary, unpleasant symptoms like stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea? Or, perhaps, you do not have any symptoms when you eat gluten which makes it even harder not to cheat. Nonetheless, there is more going on than temporary symptoms and they are serious to your body’s overall long-term health.

If you have celiac disease, you are playing the long game. There is no cure for celiac disease. You are stuck with it for the rest of your life, so , you need to take special care of your gut. No food, no matter how good it tastes, is worth damaging it. It may seem impossible to eat gluten free all the time, so it’s important to understand what really happens when you cheat and how you can mitigate that from happening.

It’s also important to understand the challenges in maintaining a 100%, 24/7, consistent gluten free diet. Being aware of your challenges will help you mitigate them.

Here are some of your challenges:

Scarcity – Gluten free food is unavailable to you and you are hungry!

False Information – You think or are told a food is gluten free but it is not.

Social Pressure – Eating food containing gluten to fit in or not be an inconvenience.

Desire – Wanting to eat a food containing gluten so much, you rationalize that it is ok just this once.

Cross contamination – Gluten free food is contaminated by food containing gluten.

Hidden gluten – Gluten hidden in foods or ingredients that are gluten free or appear to be gluten free.

These are legitimate real struggles you will face constantly eating gluten free. But it is possible to eat gluten free all the time, and Gluten Free the Way to Be is here to help you learn how to do it.! In our “Thriving Gluten Free Course,” you will learn in “Step 2 – Educate don’t Agitate,” the information you need to eat gluten free.

Your gut health is integral to the function of the rest of your body. It is your second brain. It controls your health, vitality, nutrients and how your body functions. You are literally fueling and feeding your body with what you eat. Your energy level, how you look and feel, cell growth, brain and heart health all depend on what you put in your mouth.

The knowledge you are damaging your gut and increasing the risk of developing other diseases when you cheat on your gluten free diet, can give you the motivation to stick to the diet no matter how difficult it may be.

Now, please understand that intentionally eating gluten and cheating on your gluten free diet are completely different from occasionally eating gluten accidently. If you are already eating a gluten free diet and accidently and infrequently eat gluten, the results may be painful symptoms associated with celiac disease but your body should be able to heal and repair and feel well again in a short period of time.

Damaging your gut:

Let’s look at what happens when you have celiac disease and cheat on your gluten free diet.

With celiac disease, what you eat affects the rest of your body, and the symptoms and severity are varied. The reasons for this are unknown but may depend on the individual’s age and immunological status, the amount or when the exposure to gluten occurred and the area where the gastrointestinal tract is affected (1).

Some of the symptoms of celiac disease may be: “(1) ‘Classical,’ affecting the digestive tract (e.g., abdominal bloating; cramping and pain; chronic diarrhea; vomiting; constipation) and resulting in gastrointestinal malabsorption; or (2) ‘atypical,’ affecting mainly other parts of the body (e.g., fatigue; irritability; behavior changes; bone or joint pain; tingling numbness in the legs; ulcers in the mouth; tooth discoloration or loss of enamel; itchy skin rash with blisters called dermatitis herpetiformis)” (1).

As a celiac, consuming gluten stimulates the production of antibodies and inflammatory cells. Your immune system responds abnormally and damages the mucosal tissue in your small intestinal wall. The tiny fingerlike “villi” that line the small intestinal wall, are blunted and unable to absorb nutrients from your food. “Over time, continued dietary exposure to gluten can destroy the intestinal villi of individuals with
celiac disease, leading to a lack of absorption of nutrients and a wide variety of other serious health problems” (1).

So consistently cheating on your gluten free diet, as a person with celiac disease, may not only damage your villi, it may destroy them. This means you may not be able to absorb any nutrients from your foods. This may cause major malabsorption issues. You are damaging those villi with each time you eat gluten and over time they may not grow back. You cannot take these villi for granted. You need to take care of your gut. Special care. Your gut is the organ you can control the most by what you feed it.

If the small intestine is impaired by gluten, various symptoms start to emerge. Many of the symptoms aren’t a big deal at first, but they worsen over time just like a drippy faucet will eventually cause great damage if left unattended.

Potential for Developing Other Diseases

Intentionally cheating or even consistent unknowingly ingestion of gluten not only damages your gut but can also lead to developing other diseases.

“For some individuals with celiac disease, failure to avoid consumption of gluten can lead to severe and sometimes life-threatening complications that can affect multiple organs of the body. Individuals with unmanaged celiac disease are at an increased risk of developing other serious medical conditions, such as … intestinal cancers, and both intestinal and extraintestinal non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas” (1).

The Celiac Foundation lists additional diseases that may develop. “Untreated celiac disease can lead to the development of other autoimmune disorders like type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis (MS), and many other conditions, including dermatitis herpetiformis (an itchy skin rash), anemia, osteoporosis, infertility and miscarriage, neurological conditions like epilepsy and migraines, short stature, heart disease, and intestinal cancers” (2).

These are serious diseases and the most important organ of all, the brain, can also be affected by untreated celiac disease. “One of the most important organs affected by impaired nutrition is the brain. You might experience forgetfulness, brain fog, and migraines at first, and all of it can lead to cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s (5).

Long term consumption of gluten will equate to long-term symptoms that worsen before they turn into even more serious issues and likely damage your body beyond repair.” (3).

So, this is much more than just dealing with symptoms when you cheat and eat gluten. There is damage done to your gut and organs every time you eat gluten and the potential for developing other diseases. Living with celiac disease is challenging enough. Why risk developing another disease when you can help prevent that from happening.

 
Dr. Amy Oxentenko teaches the importance of maintaining a gluten free diet, “Once gluten is removed from the diet, inflammation in the small intestine generally begins to lessen. Complete healing and regrowth of the villi may take several months to several years, so maintaining a gluten-free diet is vital for intestinal healing” (4). Because of the time it takes to heal the gut, it makes sense to avoid damaging the gut over and over again with gluten.

There are serious effects to cheating on your gluten free diet and knowing about them will help you have the willpower to prevent them. Gluten Free the Way to Be “Thriving Gluten Free Course” will help you learn how to cook, shop, eat on the go, avoid cross contamination and thrive! So, when you at your friend’s house for dinner or with your in-laws at a restaurant, you will be ready to know what questions to ask and how to be confident in sticking with your gluten free diet. You will be prepared to have food packed with you in case there isn’t gluten free food available on your road trip, or at the company luncheon. The “Thriving Gluten Free Course” will empower you.

The Silver Linings of Celiac Disease and Eating Gluten Free

Yes, there are always silver linings! We just have to look for them. What are the silver linings with celiac disease and eating gluten free?

  1. There is no medication or drugs involved with celiac disease. Hippocrates (n.d.) stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food!” And this is certainly the case with celiac disease. The therapy for celiac disease is eating gluten free 24/7. No medicine or drugs are required. This is huge because all drugs have some kind of side effects.
  2. Adhering to the gluten free diet can lead to healing of your gut. “Over time, strictly avoiding consumption of gluten can resolve the symptoms, mitigate and possibly reverse the damage, and reduce the associated health risks of celiac disease” (1). This is rewarding. This is what you want to have; a healthy gut!
  3. Increased health with proper nutrition will lead to physical energy and mental clarity. If you have your health, the world is your oyster to accomplish education, career, relationship, and self-improvement goals. You will be able to thrive and your potential is endless and unlimited.
  4. Eating healthy, unprocessed, whole foods will help your entire body be healthy. Your food limitations like most fast food, traditional beers, and processed foods will end up being your blessings. Those food options aren’t good for anyone’s body.

So you see that cheating on your gluten free diet opens you up to damaging your gut and the potential for developing other diseases. Cheating is not an option if you want a vibrant healthy life. Living gluten free is ultimately deciding what outcome you want and making it happen. It’s up to you.

Eating gluten free your entire life – 24×7 day in and day out is the choice for you. You’re worth it. Your health is worth it. Your life is worth it!

Gluten Free the Way to Be is here to help you have the tools and education to thrive gluten free! Let’s do this today. Enroll in the “Thriving Gluten Free Course” now!

  1. “Food Labeling; Gluten free labeling of foods.” Federal Register, The Daily Journal of the United States Government, 5 August 2013, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/08/05/2013-18813/food-labeling-gluten-free-labeling-of-foods
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