This post, 10 Gluten-Free Diet Mistakes You’re Probably Making, contains affiliate links.
If you’re following a gluten-free diet, like me, chances are you’re making a few mistakes that might be sabotaging your chances of fully benefiting from the lifestyle change.
Implementing a gluten-free diet is tough, but sticking to it is tougher. While it gets easier with time, it’s a constant challenge in the lives of the 20+ million of us living a gluten-free lifestyle.
For me, the gluten-free diet has been life changing. I’m finally healthy and I put my celiac disease symptoms into remission.
The gluten-free diet has helped me rid of my painful bloating, embarrassing gas, weird geographic tongue, cold sores and canker sores, unexplained red bumps on my arms (keratosis pilaris), dark circles under my eyes, and bouts of low energy.
Related Reading: 60 Symptoms of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
Once I learned I had celiac disease, and that the gluten-free diet was my magical cure, I was all in!
However, it’s not so easy for most people to go gluten-free, especially if they’ve never received a clear cut diagnosis. (Please make sure you get tested for celiac disease BEFORE ditching gluten as you must be eating gluten to get accurate test results. Learn more about getting tested for celiac disease in this article.)
Instead, many people go gluten-free as a test. They try it and see if it helps with their XYZ symptoms. If it does, great, if not, they give up. Sound familiar?
What most people don’t realize is that the gluten-free diet must be implemented perfectly; there’s no room for mistakes, and there’s certainly no room eating a little gluten here and there.
Related Reading: Don’t Cheat On Your Gluten-Free Diet
To err is human, however, such errors may be holding you back from fully healing and benefiting from the gluten-free diet. The truth is, if you want to be successful at eating gluten-free, you must be strictly gluten-free. Not even a crumb.
Top 10 Gluten-Free Diet Mistakes
I put together this list of the top 10 gluten-free diet mistakes to show you some of the most common errors I see people making when it comes to the gluten-free diet. If you think the gluten-free diet isn’t working for you, this list may reveal why.
1. Assuming Something is Gluten-Free Because It Looks Gluten-Free
For many years, I had no idea that licorice was not gluten-free. It looks like it should be, right? This is why you should always remember that looks can be deceiving. The very FIRST ingredient in licorice is wheat flour! I’m not kidding.
Remember, hidden gluten is found in things like chicken broth, seasonings, BBQ sauces and salad dressings. Just because it looks gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s gluten-free.
Related Reading: 10 Surprise Products that Contain Gluten
2. Assuming a Gluten-Free Menu Actually Means a Restaurant Knows Gluten-Free
Many people, including those in the restaurant industry, do not understand what “gluten-free” really means. I had a server once tell me I couldn’t eat a dish because it had rice in it (rice is gluten-free) and then another server insisted that farro was gluten-free (it’s not).
Never take your server’s word.
Instead, ask questions about what’s in the dish, how it’s seasoned and ask your server to check ingredient labels and discuss your “allergy” with the manager and whomever is preparing your food.
Always be on the lookout for cross contamination too – this is the biggest gluten-free diet saboteur. The more questions you ask, the more likely you’ll get a safe meal.
Another way to become more certain whether or not your meal is gluten-free is to test it with a Nima Sensor. A Nima Sensor is a portable device that allows you to test your food for gluten. I’ve tested 20 popular restaurants for hidden gluten using this gluten detecting device.
Related Reading: 13 Things You Need to Know about the Nima Sensor
3. Stocking Up On Gluten-Free Packaged Foods
Gluten-free packaged foods are often loaded with sugars, inflammatory oils, corn and soy products, and all sorts of other white refined grains and starches. Just because it’s labeled “gluten-free” doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
In fact, loading up on packaged gluten-free foods will most likely keep you sick and cause weight gain too. If you really want to heal your body from the ravages caused by gluten, it’s time to clean up your entire diet, not just take out the gluten.
This is something I learned only after being gluten-free for several years. I share the story of how I put my celiac disease into remission and finally healed my body in this article, How I Healed Myself from Celiac Disease.
4. Thinking a Little Gluten Won’t Hurt
Think again! Even a little gluten can undo all the progress you’ve made. Don’t do it!
If you have celiac disease, even a little gluten will launch an autoimmune attack in your body. And if you suffer from non-celiac gluten sensitivity or a gluten intolerance, a little gluten will fire up the inflammatory flames in your tummy. All the symptoms you’ve worked hard at repairing will suddenly reemerge. Remember, eating “just a little” gluten CAN hurt you. It’s. Just. Not. Worth. It.
Related Reading: How Do I Know If I’m Gluten Intolerant?
Remember, eating even a little gluten puts you at a MUCH higher risk of accumulating other autoimmune diseases, cancer and early death. In fact, people with celiac disease live long than those with “just” a gluten sensitivity. Why? Because people with celiac disease take their diet much more seriously and are much less likely to cheat. Read more about it in this article.
5. Not Properly Investigating a Product for Gluten
Gluten goes by many names so it’s important that you do your due diligence when shopping at the grocery store. I’ve created a cheat sheet that lists 100 Alternatives Names for Gluten, which is a handy tool for uncovering alternative names for gluten in packaged foods.
Related Reading: Is It Gluten-Free? Decoding 20 of the Most Confusing Ingredients and Products
The best way to avoid gluten, however, is to eat as naturally gluten-free foods as possible. Load up on lean meats, fatty fishes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds. Always be mindful (and ask loads of questions) about how your food was prepared before digging in.
6. Not Vetting Beauty Products for Gluten
Research indicates that shampoos and beauty products that contain gluten cannot be absorbed by the skin and therefore won’t harm someone with celiac disease. This means you can touch gluten; you just can’t eat it (although you should definitely wash your hands after touching gluten).
However, if there is a risk of ingesting the product, such as the case in lipsticks, lip balms, lotions and hand sanitizers, then you must use products that do not contain gluten.
Related Reading: Is Your Lip Balm Gluten-Free? The Complete Scoop on Which Lip Balms are (and are NOT) Gluten-Free
I recommend using only lipsticks, beauty and cosmetics that are certified gluten-free – just to be safe.
A lipstick and lip balm brand that is certified gluten-free and I personally recommend is Red Apple Lipstick. This stuff is the best. You can get smooth and moisturizing lipstick and lip glosses that are 100% gluten-free and come in a variety of colors too.(Personal favs are the Ruby Glass lipgloss and the Paris lipstick with almond oil.)
7. Not Understanding the Risks of Cross Contamination
Your food cannot touch gluten, period.
This means you can’t pick the croutons off your salad or remove the bun from your burger and be okay.
It means your food can’t be handled or cooked on the same surface as something that contains gluten and your pizza can’t touch the same surface in the oven a gluten-containing pizza.
It also means your fries can’t be fried in the same fryer as the breaded chicken fingers, nor your gluten-free bread toasted in a toaster used to toast regular bread.
Remember, if you want to be truly gluten-free, and give this diet a fair shake, your food must be thoughtfully cooked and served in an environment completely free from gluten contamination.
Related Reading: How Cross Contamination Can Sabotage Your Gluten-Free Meal
8. Not Keeping Your Food Separate
You can get cross contamination in your home too, so it’s important to keep your food separate from the pack.
Things like tubs of butter, peanut butter and jelly jars, toaster ovens, waffle irons and colanders are home to itty-bitty bits of gluten. Someone may dip their knife in the tub of butter, spread it on their gluteny bread, and then dip the knife in the tub of butter again, leaving gluten bits behind.
Keep your food separate and labeled in your house. What if someone made a sandwich, didn’t wash their hands, then dipped their hands in your bag of potato chips. Risky business if you ask me!
I recommend storing your food clearly labeled on the top shelf of the pantry. This keeps it out of sight and deters the risk of gluten-containing cereal or other products from spilling over into your gluten-free food. Here are more tips to setting up your kitchen to be a gluten-free safe zone.
Product Recommendation: Sharing a toaster? Use these protective toaster bags when toasting your gluten-free bread.
9. Giving Up Because It’s Not Working
This is a BIG one!
So many people give up on their gluten-free diet without giving it a fair shake. They may go gluten-free for a week and feel no different. Duh, you’ve been damaging your body for 20+ years and you’re giving up on repairing it after just one week?!?
Give the gluten-free diet a fair shake. It can takes months, even years, to reverse disease in your body. It might also take the gluten-free diet AND another lifestyle change to manage your symptoms completely, too.
For example, if you’re simply swapping gluten-free pizza for regular pizza, or gluten-free donuts for regular donuts, how are you really cleaning up your diet? A product bearing the gluten-free label does not automatically mean it’s good for you. I cannot stress this enough.
I recommend you limit your consumption of sugar, avoid these so-called health foods that aren’t really healthy, check for other food sensitivities (and read what happened when I took a food sensitivity test), and greatly increase your intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, and maybe even try juicing to flood your body with vital nutrients. Working towards repairing your gut health and taking high-quality probiotics can help too.
Remember, it will more likely than not take more than just eliminating gluten from your diet to reclaim your health.
10. Not Getting Help From an Expert
So many people try to be gluten-free and fail. It’s often because they don’t know how to maintain the gluten-free diet for the long haul and/or they lack support from someone who can truly help them.
Working with a health and/or nutrition professional not will only help you jumpstart your gluten-free diet, but also it will help you learn techniques and tricks for maintaining your gluten-free diet for life.
If you’re looking for someone to help you transition to a gluten-free diet, connect the dots between your diet and health, and/or help you learn how to maintain your gluten-free diet on a day-to-day basis, please consider working with me. I’m a health and nutrition coach – and I happen to have celiac disease too. I am uniquely qualified to help you as I know the challenges you’re facing day-in and day-out.
Your Turn
What mistakes have you seen people making when it comes to following a gluten-free diet? Please share in the comments below. 👇
Additional Reads
Please take a moment to read some of my other top articles:
ooh I have a long list, as a very sensitive celiac. I agree with many comments here (soy sauce, kissing someone who as ingested grain or beer, etc).
medications can have hidden gluten or corn (an inflammatory food which bothers me).
caramel color can contain gluten or corn and it’s in a TON of food and bev. I avoid all colas and ginger ale due to caramel color and read all food labels. maltodxtrine can also be an issue.
I also avoid all grain alcohol, even though it’s supposedly GF due to distillation, but I still feel extremely sick if I drink it.
wood in the kitchen, such as spoons or cutting boards. wood can adsorb the gluten and expose you later, even if you’ve washed the item. we use plastic, metal, or marble in our house. sponges can also be a problem if they’ve touched gluten.
I’ll just add: if you’re going to a group meal (like Thanksgiving), every single person must wash their hands after touching gluten. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched someone contaminate something GF because they didn’t wash their hands. I started bringing my own plated meal to heat up at these gatherings, but that can lead to tensions, so be prepared if you go this route.
Yes soy is hard to avoid too Ug.
I’m not only gluten free but soy free and can’t believe how many products have soy, it’s very hard to avoid. Reading EVERY label is so hard but worth it to feel good.
I was diagnosed a little over 3 years ago with celiac and these are all good pointers.
My biggest “a ha” food that I never would have thought had gluten was fake crab that’s used in sushi! Also called crab salad. But it’s not crab. It’s white fish that is mechanically pressed together, bonded with flour, and colored. Gross when you think about it. Sashimi and nigiri for me now. Or I order special rolls without the K – rab (my nickname for fake crab) and ANY sauce that is brown isn’t allowed on the roll. Because the other big who knew was that soy sauce is made from wheat. So any brown sauce is suspect and for good reason. Thank goodness for Tamari! I make a lot of GF Asian inspired recipes and have been pretty successful replicating all my old favorites.
Bottled water?!? Oh man!!
Great tips! It was so hard for us when first going gluten free because you’re right – who would guess that licorice has gluten…or lipstick and other makeup? I’ve even seen bottled water with gluten it in from the flavoring. There’s a need for lots of caution.
If you are truly celiac then the above comments should be redundant to you. You need to read every single ingredient before it enters your mouth. Gluten free is not a diet fad, it’s a medical condition. Know your facts.
I’m so sorry you’re going through that. Sounds like you need to nurture your gut health with probiotics, anti inflammatory foods, no gluten, and low to no sugar. Could also be candida or h pylori. Hugs to you.
I have been sick for a year and I mean really sick. It all started after an antibiotic induced gut infection. I was told it’s IBS and take the over counter peppermint pill. Never worked. It has gotten so bad I would be in bed after I ate and during the afternoon. I’ve just now figured out what is wrong I want to thank for your blog and insight into a debilitating sickness. I don’t know if I have Celiac, my guess is I have serious gluten intilerance.
So much to learn!
Again thank you so much!!!!
I would like you and others to know that Shampoos, cream etc can effect someone with celiac diease. I get a rash all over my body if gluten is in my shampoo and other products.
I sometimes get rashes on the inside of my wrists from touching bread etc.
Washing after touching gluten is SO important.
Thank you for the rest of the information
Yes that is a good addition to the list!
Love this list! A other thing for people to consider is drinking after someone, especially kids who could have glutinous crumbs on their mouth! (Even kissing your significant other after eating could pose harm ?)