Why You Should Never Cheat on the Gluten-Free Diet

Gluten is tempting and incredibly hard to give up, leading many to cheat on the gluten-free diet. In this article, I explain why you should never cheat on a gluten-free diet and how doing so may cause more harm than good. This article may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.

Getting diagnosed with a gluten disorder – such as celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity – can feel like a punch in the gut. The only treatment option for gluten disorders is a strict, lifelong gluten-free diet. It’s all or nothing. No cheating.

Gluten is a sticky protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and sometimes oats, and it’s unfortunately found in the majority of packaged foods.

Millions of individuals with celiac disease and gluten sensitivities cannot eat gluten and are more likely to feel the daily physical and emotional burdens of the gluten-free diet.

While it might sound easy to go gluten-free, doing so in a world full of gluten is more complicated than it looks.

Most people with celiac disease would rather take a pill and eat gluten again rather than put in the exhaustive effort it takes to be fully gluten-free day in and day out.

I’ve been gluten-free for over ten years, and while it gets easier with time, it’s never easy.

Wherever I go, I’m reminded that I’m different. My journey is always more complicated, and finding gluten-free safe foods, or bringing a suitcase full of food on vacation, often feels more like a chore than an enjoyable time away from home.

While I realize that complaining about how hard it is to follow a strict gluten-free diet might sound like a first-world problem, for those of us in the thick of it who cannot eat gluten for medical reasons, the struggle, demands, and burdens that come with a gluten disorder are very real.

Knowing firsthand the difficulties of complying with the gluten-free diet, it’s no wonder that few people can do it. Researchers even found that 20-50% of celiac patients are not fully compliant with the gluten-free diet.

Below, I discuss what cheating on a gluten-free diet looks like, how it affects a person’s ability to heal, and the long-term repercussions of eating just a little gluten here and there.

What Does Cheating Look Like?

Cheating on a gluten-free diet can come in many forms, and I’ve had several clients with celiac disease who continue to eat gluten despite knowing the harm it’s doing to their bodies.

Below are some of the many excuses the gluten-free community uses to justify eating gluten despite having celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity:

• I’m not celiac so I can eat just a little gluten here and there.
• I’m just gluten intolerant, so I’m not worried about cross-contamination.
• I’m on a low-gluten diet.
• I have silent celiac so a bit of gluten doesn’t bother me.
• Gluten doesn’t bother me much, so I avoid it, but I’m not strict about it.
• I always eat gluten-free, but since it’s my birthday, I’ll eat the cake, just this once.
• I’m going on vacation. I’ll resume my diet when I return.
• I don’t mind if the French fries are cooked in a shared fryer. I’ll be fine.
• It’s okay. I’ll eat the lasagna even though it contains gluten. I’ll pick away the noodles.

Many of these excuses minimize the seriousness of a gluten-free diet; perhaps it’s done because someone doesn’t want to appear to be making a fuss, or they genuinely don’t think “just a little gluten” will hurt. Plus, resisting gluten’s temptation can feel like an impossible feat in a world full of gluten.

However, full compliance with a gluten-free diet is the number one predictor of long-term health outcomes.

Why Not Cheat?

Dr. Tom O’Bryan, a leading gluten-sensitivity doctor and author of the foreword to my book, says it only takes one small exposure to gluten to activate an immune system response in people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

In other words, even “just a bite” of gluten can and will trigger antibodies in the immune system.

For people with celiac disease, these antibodies attack the small intestine. For people with gluten sensitivity, these antibodies create inflammation at a genetically weak spot, whether it be the thyroid, skin, brain, joints, bones, reproductive system, etc.

Cheaters never win, and the following reasons can help a person better understand why cheating on a gluten-free diet is bad for their health.

Reason #1: You’ll Feel Awful

One of the worst side effects of cheating on the gluten-free diet is that it makes a person feel awful. That said, where and how a person feels awful can vary.

One person might experience painful bloating and embarrassing gas, while another might experience chronic joint pain, skin rashes, migraines, fatigue, etc.

Eating gluten causes me to bloat up like a balloon and urgently run to the bathroom to purge the offending protein. It also causes severe fatigue, acne, and my annoying geographic tongue to emerge. It’s not fun or pretty.

It’s important to note that more than 60 symptoms are connected to gluten disorders, and many of these symptoms have nothing to do with the gastrointestinal tract.

However, avoiding gluten and taking a gluten-free diet seriously can save a person from experiencing a slew of preventable symptoms and disorders.

A 2022 study by a leading autoimmunity doctor, Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, boasted an incredible headline. The headline of this study read The Gluten-Free Diet Can Ameliorate the Symptoms of Non-Celiac Autoimmune Diseases.”

The findings reveal that a reduction of symptoms occurred in 64.7 percent of autoimmune patients, again showing the undeniable link between autoimmune disease and gluten.

Reason #2: You May Die Early 

Not to sound sensational or dire, but it’s essential to know that the relative risk of death is higher in people with gluten sensitivity or celiac disease who don’t fully comply with the gluten-free diet.

A study published in 2001 in the Lancet followed celiac patients for more than 20 years and recorded their eating patterns.

Patients who ate gluten once per month, even if they didn’t feel bad after eating gluten, incurred a sixfold increase in the relative risk of death. What a high price to pay to eat wheat!

Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2009 examined 351,000 intestinal lining biopsies.

They found about 46,000 on the celiac disease spectrum, 29,000 with celiac disease, and 17,000 with early-stage celiac disease development (the period before the microvilli were completely worn down). Another 13,000 people in the study did not have positive bloodwork nor worn down microvilli but still had gluten sensitivity and inflammation.

The researchers concluded that people with celiac disease had a 39 percent increased risk of early mortality. In comparison, people with inflammation from gluten sensitivity had a 72 percent increased risk of premature death!

Why is the mortality rate higher for those with gluten sensitivity?

Some researchers speculate it’s because someone with celiac disease takes their gluten-free diet more seriously than someone with gluten sensitivity.

In other words, people with celiac disease who manage their condition via diet put their symptoms (i.e., inflammation) into remission, while people with gluten sensitivity who continue to eat gluten experience chronic inflammation.

Reason #3: You’ll Attract More Disease(s)

According to a study published in Gastroenterology, people with non-celiac wheat sensitivity (aka gluten sensitivity) have double the amount of elevated levels of antinuclear antibodies than those with celiac disease.

Antinuclear antibodies manifest themselves in autoimmune conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, scleroderma, polymyositis, etc.

In other words, continual exposure to gluten may cause a person to progress along the autoimmune spectrum. Gluten sensitivity may eventually (and will likely) turn into a full-blown, irreversible autoimmune disease!

According to Dr. O’Bryan, elevated antibodies could be traveling in the bloodstream and destroying tissue wherever the weak link in a person’s chain resides (small intestine, thyroid, joints, brain, etc.), making that person susceptible to a slew of autoimmune conditions.

Remember, research is starting to show that celiac disease is just one manifestation of wheat sensitivity, and there are hundreds of other autoimmune conditions that gluten may trigger. Only time will tell.

Reason #4: You’ll Elevate Your Cancer Risk

Gluten exposure in people with celiac disease damages the small intestine and prevents it from healing and functioning properly. This leaves celiac patients in a chronic state of nutrient depravity but also puts them at serious risk of lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people with celiac disease who incurred persistent intestinal damage had a higher risk of lymphoma than celiac patients whose intestines had healed.

In another study, researchers found that patients with celiac disease had an annual lymphoma risk of 67.9 per 100,000, a 2.81-fold increase compared with the general population risk of 24.2 per 100,000.

However, celiac patients with persistent villous atrophy (aka, damaged microvilli surrounding the small intestine) incurred a higher annual risk of lymphoma – 102.4 per 100,000 – compared with those with healed intestines, whose risk was much less at 31.5 per 100,000.

These findings suggest that intestinal healing should be the ultimate goal for celiac patients, and the intestinal lining cannot heal if its continually inflamed and assaulted by gluten.

The bottom line is that celiac disease can kill a person (over time) and may keep a person living in a state of morbidity (dying/suffering).

Reason #5: No One Will Take Your Disorder Seriously

It enrages me when someone tells their waiter they need a gluten-free meal, but then they take “just a sip” of their spouse’s beer or a “small bite” of their friend’s chocolate cake. Why? Cheating on a gluten-free diet makes it look like celiac disease or gluten intolerance aren’t serious or real disorders, and it puts the gluten-free community at risk of not being taken seriously too.

When I come along and insist on a gluten-free meal, that same waiter may not take my request seriously, thinking it’s okay for someone gluten-free to eat just a little gluten.

Furthermore, I’ve had many clients go gluten-free, recover and feel better, and then start eating gluten again, thinking they’ve been “cured.”

The truth is, there is no cure for celiac disease, and gluten intolerance is a lifelong affliction, too. Once someone goes back on gluten, the damage will reemerge, often with a vengeance.

Reason #6: You’ll Undo All Your Progress

I find it curious why someone would follow a gluten-free diet most of the time, only to undo all their hard work by eating a little gluten here and there.

When a person eats gluten, they undo all of their progress. A weak moment on the lips can lead to a catastrophic chain reaction inside the body.

Just as a person can say one wrong thing and destroy their reputation, eating just one bite of gluten can topple all progress and set back healing by weeks, months, and even years.  

How to Stay Gluten-Free Compliant

It takes a lot of physical and emotional willpower to be loyal to a gluten-free diet. However, it’s a do-or-die situation for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity who want to live a full, healthy life free from disease.

I want to live a long life and die quickly in the end. I don’t want to live in a state of dying and suffering for years like many people do these days.

Instead, I want to be healthy enough to care for myself until it’s time to say goodbye. I don’t want to become dependent on drugs and medical interventions to keep me alive but severely reduce my quality of life.

This is why staying gluten-free compliant is my top priority, and I want it to be a top priority for my fellow gluten-free warriors.

Below I share a few tips to help anyone struggling with their gluten-free diet:

(1) Plan Your Meals. Planning meals ensures a person knows exactly what they’re eating and will prevent them from getting so hungry that they’re willing to eat anything. Read my 9 Meal Planning Tips for People with Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivities.

(2) Eat the Majority of Meals at Home. People with gluten disorders should reduce their dependence on eating out and eat most of their meals at home. Eating at home lowers a person’s risk of getting accidentally glutened from gluten cross-contamination at a restaurant.

That said, I believe eating out is a normal human behavior. Don’t be afraid to eat out; do so with caution. My ebook, The Ultimate Guide to Eating Out Gluten Free, offers plenty of tips to help keep the gluten-free community safe without sacrificing a love of eating out.

(3) Focus on Nutrient-Dense, Naturally Gluten-Free Foods. Try eating as many nutrient-dense, naturally gluten-free foods as possible to avoid unwanted gluten. Read my list of naturally gluten-free foods and 200+ foods that are gluten-free and safe.

(4) Strategically Supplement. While eating a naturally gluten-free, whole foods-centered diet can help boost a person’s nutrient tank, supplementing will ensure they get the vital nutrients they need and fill in any missing nutrient gaps. This is especially important given that most gluten-free foods are not fortified with vitamins like their wheat-based counterparts.

Read my list of supplements for celiac disease and gluten intolerance and the benefits of probiotics.

(5) Learn to Cook and Bake. I didn’t know how to cook or bake when I first went gluten-free. I was overly dependent on take-out food and packaged foods. But then I started experimenting in the kitchen and realized how much I loved cooking and was actually good at it!

I cook healthy dinners for my family almost every night, and I even learned how to recreate childhood favorites like challah, pizza, Pop Tarts, and Goldfish.

(6) Keep Delicious Snacks on Hand at All Times. Always have healthy and fun gluten-free snacks to be prepared when hunger strikes. These are my favorite gluten-free brands and my favorite gluten-free snacks.

(7) Surround Yourself with Supportive People. “Break [gluten-free] bread” with those who would never ask their friends to compromise their gluten-free diet or pressure them to eat at places that make them uncomfortable. Use this newfound diet as an opportunity to make gluten-free friends and be with people striving to be healthy and GF-compliant too.

(8) Stay Strong. The gluten-free diet gets easier with time, albeit it’s never easy. Everyone has been given one body in this lifetime, and we all must do our best to care for it at all times.

Additional Articles

• 5 Dangers Associated with the Gluten-Free Diet
• What Happens If You Eat Gluten With Celiac Disease?
• What to Do When You Accidentally Eat Gluten – Home Remedies
• Crap, I Was Glutened! How Long Does It Take Gluten to Get Out of Your System?
• What is Celiac Disease?