Why some types of coffee should be avoided by those with Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, as they contain cross-reactive proteins that can trigger the same inflammatory response.
If you drink coffee and have gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease, be aware that this hot beverage can worsen symptoms.
Even bulletproof coffee can trigger problems.
There is a surprising connection between gluten and coffee that is, by and large, ignored by the health community.
This revelation holds ramifications for other autoimmune disorders as well.
The problem has nothing to do with caffeine, so decaf coffee would be included in this discussion.
In a nutshell, lab research has revealed that 10% of coffee is a protein that cross-reacts with gluten antibodies.
This means that if you are gluten sensitive or Celiac and are avoiding gluten-containing grains or perhaps have even gone completely grain-free…if you still drink coffee, there is a strong likelihood that the protein in the coffee is triggering the very same gluten-related health problems you are trying to avoid.
In other words, even if you think you are doing fine with your current gluten-free diet, it is very possible that skipping the coffee could take your health to the next level.
Symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity
Most people who are gluten sensitive don’t realize it because gastrointestinal problems like burping, gas, tummy upset, or toilet issues are the least common way for gluten issues to present themselves!
The most common symptoms of gluten sensitivity are actually migraines and other neurological issues – even MS!
Hormone and endocrine problems are another common way for gluten issues to manifest themselves.
How Coffee Triggers Autoimmunity
So what exactly happens when a gluten sensitive person eats gluten?
Folks with gluten antibodies react to any gluten in the diet by mounting an immune response.
This means that gluten is perceived by the body as an invader and the gluten antibodies attack the gluten itself trying to destroy it.
This gluten attack is an inflammatory response that can occur anywhere in the body and in any tissue or organ.
Here’s the real shocker I came across when researching the coffee/gluten connection:
According to Dr. David Clark DC, functional neurologist and endocrinologist:
There’s not a disease or health condition you can think of that does not have an association – in the research literature – with gluten sensitivity.
That’s a very strong statement!
In essence, if you are gluten sensitive in any way, shape or form, gluten antibodies have the potential to react to proteins in other foods, triggering an immune and inflammatory response.
The protein in coffee is the most common cross-reactor to gluten.
Because it is the protein in the coffee that is the trigger, switching to decaf coffee does not solve the problem.
Worst Types of Coffee for Gluten Sensitive/Celiacs
Is it possible to be gluten sensitive or Celiac and not cross-react to coffee?
Yes, it’s possible, but you may need to do some expensive lab testing to find out for sure. (1)
If you prefer not to shell out of your own pocket for this type of testing (insurance likely will not cover it), avoiding coffee is the easiest route to go! The good news is that skipping coffee saves adrenal health too!
If you choose to drink coffee anyway, research published in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences has identified the worst offenders for coffee cross-reactivity with gluten: (2)
- Instant coffee
- Preground coffee
The “Good Stuff”
According to Primal Body, Primal Mind author Nora Gedgaudas CNS, CNT, if you are gluten sensitive or Celiac, it is very important to drink the “good stuff” if you choose to drink coffee at all.
This means buying organic roasted coffee beans and grinding them yourself to make a cuppa at home!
Definitely skip the Starbucks drive-through and other coffee vendors where the quality is unknown or suspect.
References
(1) Cyrex Labs
(2) Cross-Reaction between Gliadin and Different Food and Tissue Antigens, Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
More Information
You Probably Need to Change WHEN You Drink Coffee
Coffee Enema
Morning Coffee Fix
Caffeine and Chronic Back Pain
Healthy Coffee Substitutes
This article sounds like fear mongering. I am celiac & been tested for about 90 other allergens as well. Coffee did not show up a problem and it doesn’t make me feel sick like so many foods/drinks. I wouldn’t worry. Flavored coffee on the other hand does have gluten so I avoid it.
I have been diagnosed with Celiac disease for 5 years now, & drink mug after mug of coffee every day. I drink specifically labeled coffee with specifically labeled cream & sugar. I’ve never had a problem with it. EVER. I’d go so far as to say that coffee makes me feel better when I’ve been contaminated.
Because Celiac disease has such an incredible array of symptoms, doctors & researchers are able to link it to any old thing. For those of you who have reactions to coffee, look into an allergy to the coffee beans themselves. If there is a link, I’ll believe it when I see the research!
We actually agree about engineered food and solid food introduction, I think we’re just defining things differently. By breastfeeding I mean exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, no supplementation of formula (which IS an “engineered” food and DOES damage the guts of babies). I doubt most of the people you mentioned were breastfed exclusively for 6 months and continued to have breastmilk as their staple food for the next year to year and a half. Very few people nowadays are fed that way, but it is how the human mammal is supposed to be fed. And I believe the future will tell us that many of our food related problems trace back to mammals not eating the way mammals bodies were meant to eat, whether that be at the infant stage or later.
I wonder how much of the gluten intolerance issue could be resolved if our culture got back to breastfeeding the way mammals are intended to. All this gut damage has to start somewhere, and I’m pretty positive it doesn’t start with a custom-made diet of breastmilk!
While I agree that some of that canned and powdered stuff is a bit scary when you read the ingredient list, I’d say you’d be hard pressed to find direct evidence that lack of breastfeeding is a key in the rise of gluten intolerance. Particularly because nearly everyone I know who ascribes to a gluten free diet due to intolerance or even celiac disease, myself included, were all breast fed.
They’ve done research on the age-appropriate introduction of foods for years now, and I think that has more to do with it than breastfeeding. There’s a lack of understanding amongst the general population that children have not developed the ability to eat certain foods until a certain age, so they give a 4 month old pieces of bread made with all kinds of “fortified” and extra (read: superfluous) ingredients or hand a 10 month old some peanut butter covered bread and then wonder why they aren’t feeling well… We live in an age of engineered foods. Sad but true. And infant bodies are not meant to ingest engineered foods so early. Plain and simple.
“If you never stopped drinking coffee when you went gluten free then you would never have stopped making gluten antibodies if you were cross reactive. Not everyone is cross reactive but it seems that the great majority are.”
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist’s last post: Gluten Issues or Celiac? Don’t Drink Coffee!
Why does it seem that the great majority are? What is the scientific basis for that statement- and this whole post, for that matter?
So I had IgG testing done and while gluten came back as a high level sensitivity for me, coffee did not. Does that mean I’m home free? Or is the testing you’re referring to something different? Thanks!!