ARTICLE - Should a Whole Family Knock Out Gluten for One Celiac Member?

I recently joined the American Dietetic Association (ADA) as a student member(!!) and they send me these amazing daily newsletters with health and nutrition articles. This one came in the newsletter today.

Read the full article from The Daily Telegraph in Australia here

Here's the question: If one member of your family has Celiac (or a gluten intolerance), should the whole family cut out gluten?

It's not as easy to answer as you think. It is definitely easier and cheaper to cook one meal for dinner. When I was younger, my dad would make 3 meals a night: one for me (the vegetarian), one for my mom (the lactose-intolerant), and one for him and my brother, who fortunately would eat anything. Cooking multiple meals is a pain in the butt, especially when you've got gluten-filled mixed with gluten-free. It works for some meals like burgers, but 9 times out of 10 I would choose to keep it all simple and gluten free.

But that doesn't mean your whole kitchen has to be a gluten free zone. Those that can eat gluten should. There are many vitamins and nutrients present in wheat and barley that are difficult to replace. It's totally fine to make the non-gf family members some pancakes for breakfast, a sandwich on wheat bread, or some cookies for a dessert treat. Just be sensitive to keeping your "glutard" safe!

Here's how you can successfully keep a mixed gluten kitchen without accidentally glutinating someone:

- Keep the toaster oven a gluten free one. Fully clean it out so your gluten free family member can put their toast right on the rack! Put all gluten-filled foods in tin foil. Suck it up.
- Don't leave gluten-filled foods open on the counter or in the pantry. Wrap them up to avoid crumbs contaminating something else.
- Be mindful of utensils. If you are scooping peanut butter/jelly/mayo/etc onto gluten-filled bread, scoop and fling it onto the bread; do not touch the knife to the bread until you are done dipping it into the jar. You don't want to contaminate the jar with bread crumbs.
- Do a good job washing dishes (if you do them by hand... like me). Don't leave any gluten behind.
- Don't take your grimy, glutiney hands and go touching everything in the house. Wash them first.
- If you have gluteny leftovers, label them in the fridge. I like to put a sticky note with a skull and wheat  crossbones on them (see above). That way everyone knows that there is danger inside.

*** Note: gluten intolerance is a spectrum, and everyone has a different level of intolerance to the stuff. While I write here that you can put a piece of gluten-filled bread on some foil in the toaster and it's ok, that doesn't mean that this is safe for everyone. You know best how sensitive you are, so be cautious.


What do you think? If you live in a mixed-gluten household, how do you handle preparing meals and keeping your gluten-free family members safe?