Question by Lewis: What happens to one’s body when he eats gluten-free products without having celiac?
It was my birthday yesterday, however I have friends who are gluten-intolerant and so we made a gluten-free cake for them. Basically I did not eat anything but this cake yesterday, and today my stool (pardon the upcoming description) is bright green and runny. I’m wondering if this is at all related.
Best answer:
Answer by Shauna
Could be. Gluten free foods are simply free from three grains out of an entire family of foods. So there is nothing inherently damaging about that. It would be like saying you are eating a meal that is free from carrots, peas, and potatoes – three veggies out of the vegetable family. Seriously, that’s not going to do anything to you.
However, many gluten free products, when they are trying to mimic the texture of wheat products, add a lot of ingredients that don’t agree with everyone. The most common are the gums – xanthan gum, arabic gum, guar gum. These are in gluten free products in much higher amounts than you would find in other foods, and they’ve been shown to cause tummy and bowel problems in some people. They’d be the most likely culprit.
Other possibilities would be ingredients you don’t usually eat, like some of the alternative grains like millet or sorghum. Or, again, other products that you don’t usually eat in large amounts, like tapioca starch – that’s another one that can zap people’s tummies.
I’d check the ingredients on the cake and take note, honestly, because some of these products have been showing up in more and more OTHER products that aren’t gluten free. Wouldn’t hurt to have a heads up for yourself that you have an issue with something there, you know?
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