August 21, 2025 • 12 mins
There’s a lot of information out there about living gluten-free – and unfortunately, not all of it is true. Some myths are harmless, but others can make life harder, cause confusion, or even put people’s health at risk.
Today, I’m busting 5 of the most common gluten-free myths I still hear all the time, even after more than a decade of living gluten-free myself.
Stick around until the end for my bonus tip – it’s the myth I believed when I was first diagnosed, and it made my gluten-free life a lot harder than it needed to be.
Come join us in our free Facebook Community, The Gluten Free Engineer.
It’s a space where you can connect with others living gluten-free, ask questions, swap tips and recipes, and get support from people who truly get it. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned gluten-free pro, you’ll feel right at home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
There's a lot of informationout there about living
gluten-free and, unfortunately,not all is true.
Some myths are harmless, butothers can make life harder,
cause confusion or even putpeople's health at risk.
Today, I'm busting five of themost common gluten-free myths I
(00:23):
still hear all the time, evenafter more than a decade of
living gluten-free myself.
Stick around to the end for mybonus tip.
It's a myth I believed when Iwas first diagnosed and it made
my gluten-free life a lot harderthan it needed to be.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
(00:45):
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
(01:06):
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today, we're talking about thefive common myths about living
gluten-free that I've run intofree.
(01:26):
That I've run into and theproblem with myths.
First of all, though, is thatmyths can come from outdated
research, misunderstandings ormarketing messaging that's
unclear and that causesconfusion in the industry.
They can make it harder for youto advocate for yourself and to
be understood by friends,family and restaurants.
I know I ran into this a lotbefore I figured out how to
really advocate for myself, andalso during those several years,
(01:47):
I felt like there was a periodof years there where being
gluten-free was looked at asbeing a fad and not as a health,
a reason to do it because ofyour health, and so it made it
really difficult to explain topeople that no, this is really
serious, you can't just messwith my food and it really needs
to be to people that, no, thisis really serious, you can't
just mess with my food and itreally needs to be super
gluten-free.
(02:07):
So the first myth that I raninto is that you can have a
cheat day even if you'regluten-free, and that is so
absolutely not true, especiallyfor celiacs and those with
gluten intolerance, and reallyfor those who choose to be
gluten-free too, it may causeissues in their bodies that are
super unpleasant, and we need tomake sure that people
(02:31):
understand that you can't have acheat day if you're celiac, for
sure you can't even have acheat crumb.
Like even the tiniest amount ofgluten can cause damage.
It may not cause symptoms.
Just because you don't get asymptom from a little tiny bite
or cross contact doesn't meanit's not causing damage in a
(02:52):
celiac.
And then for those with glutenintolerance or who choose to be
gluten-free, it can cause someserious symptoms or long-term
health complications that youknow are unpleasant.
You know, sometimes people aregluten-free because they have
some other autoimmune diseaseand it really helps keep that
(03:13):
other autoimmune disease incontrol, and so they don't want
to go down the route of thatautoimmune disease getting out
of control.
So that's some of the reasonswe need to make sure that we
aren't having a cheat day ifthat is something that our body
should not or cannot tolerate.
And then another thing that wasso frustrating when I first
(03:34):
started being gluten-free andtrying to learn how to do it was
that if it's labeledgluten-free it's always safe.
I couldn't tell you how manytimes I was, like you know,
feeling really good and then Iate something new and I was like
why do I feel funny?
And then like maybe a couple ofdays later I might try that new
thing again and I would be likewhy do I feel bad again?
(03:56):
And then I look at the labeland it would say that it was
processed in a facility thatprocessed the meat and I was
like, oh, I guess I can't havesomething that's not certified
gluten-free.
This was kind of early on, whenI was still very much learning
this, and there can be hiddengluten and cross-contact risks
in prepackaged foods and we wantto make sure that we're reading
(04:19):
the labels beyond thegluten-free logo.
We want to make sure if you'receliac or really need to be
strict, you need to have thatcertified gluten-free logo, not
just something that just saysgluten-free.
And if you are eating somethingthat's not technically
certified gluten-free, you'regoing to want to look at the
allergen statement to make sureit doesn't say processed in a
(04:40):
facility that also processeswheat, if you're very sensitive
and can't have small amounts ofgluten at all.
So myth number three is goinggluten-free is automatically
healthier, and this can be farfrom the truth If you were
eating processed foods beforegoing gluten-free and you
replace those processed foodswith gluten-free processed foods
.
You are helping yourself by nothaving the gluten, but you're
(05:03):
not helping yourself becauseyou're still eating the
processed foods.
Plus, usually gluten-freeprocessed foods don't have as
many vitamins and mineralsfortified in them, so you want
to be not directly replacingprocessed foods that are gluten
with processed that are notgluten for your entire life.
Maybe you do that in thebeginning as your transition.
(05:24):
Maybe you're new to gluten-freeand that's how you mentally
cope with it.
Maybe you're used to having,you know, that sandwich at lunch
, that pasta at dinner, so youwant to replace it directly with
a gluten-free equivalent, andthat's completely fine.
But I want to encourage you, ifyou're beyond the early stages
of being gluten-free, of tryingto switch some of those things
(05:46):
into a bit more natural things,less processed foods, because
our bodies are starving ofvitamins, minerals and nutrients
because we just Simply, as asociety anymore don't eat whole
foods nearly as much, and so Iwant to encourage you to make
sure that you're getting enoughwhole foods so that being
gluten-free is healthier for you.
(06:07):
We want to make sure that weare actually getting those
vitamins and minerals that weneed.
Now another myth that I ran intois that you can grow out of
celiac disease.
Celiac disease is lifelong,even when symptoms improve.
It is an autoimmune disease.
It's a genetic mutation thathappens in people and when that
(06:30):
mutation is turned on itgenerally it stays on.
I don't think I've ever read acase in my 12 or so more years
of researching this that it hasever turned back off.
It is something that is justlifelong.
So we want to be vigilant whilewe are being, while we are you
(06:50):
know when we're diagnosed withceliac and when we need to be
gluten-free we need to make surethat we aren't getting lazy and
getting those cross contactsbecause even if we don't have
symptoms, you can get damaged.
There's this really good articleand story I read, probably
seven years ago or so more aboutthe silent celiac and it was an
(07:11):
actual, real study on thisperson who was a silent celiac.
They thought their celiac wentaway because their symptoms went
away, and then they all of asudden started losing all this
weight.
They were having signs ofmalnourishment and went to the
doctor and they basically werehaving silent celiac.
They didn't have thetraditional symptoms of celiac
(07:34):
disease, yet their body wasgetting damaged, they weren't
absorbing the nutrients theyneeded and they were just kind
of withering away.
So we need to make sure, ifyou're celiac, to be diligent,
no matter whether you getsymptoms or not.
And then myth number five if itdoesn't upset your stomach, it's
fine.
And that's so far from thetruth.
(07:54):
There are so many non-digestivesymptoms like fatigue.
So many non-digestive symptomslike fatigue, migraines, joint
pain, skin rashes, mood changes.
Some of my kids, you know,don't get the digestive symptoms
first and they didn't even havethe digestive symptoms before
we found out they need to begluten-free.
They had these other symptomsand then, when we took them off
(08:16):
gluten, the digestive symptomsare way more obvious once they
got a little bit of glutenaccidentally.
But so non-digestive symptomscan be the only thing that you
have.
And that's kind of similar tothat silent celiac story I was
just talking about.
They didn't have any digestivesystems yet their body was being
damaged.
They were low on their vitamins, they were low in vitamin D,
(08:45):
you know.
Their hair and their nails werehaving trouble and long-term
damage can occur withoutimmediate stomach issues.
So let's recap the five myths.
The myth number one is you canhave a cheat day even if you're
gluten-free totally a myth.
If it's labeled gluten-free,it's always safe again, totally
a myth.
Going gluten-free isautomatically healthier Again,
totally a myth.
We need to focus on whole foodsas well.
You can grow out of celiacdisease was myth number four.
(09:08):
Completely not true.
It's something that, once it'son, it's on.
And myth number five if itdoesn't upset your stomach, it's
fine.
Completely not true as well.
And if this episode helped youfeel more confident in your
gluten-free choices, you'll lovethe extra tips and products
finds that I share in mygluten-free newsletter.
It's all about makinggluten-free life and living
(09:31):
easier, more enjoyable and lessconfusing.
Plus, I feature quite a few ofmy recipes that I'm putting up
very regularly.
Just go on over to theGluten-Free Engineer and sign up
on our newsletter so you nevermiss a tip that can simplify
your gluten-free life.
And then, before we wrap uptoday, I want to tell you that
(09:52):
myth.
I believed early on that a crumbor a tiny mountain gluten
couldn't possibly make me thatsick.
I thought that if I justavoided the obvious bread and
pasta and, you know, did adecent job of cross-contact
minimization, I'd be fine.
But what I didn't realize isthat with some of the celiac,
even the smallest, smallestamount of cross-contamination,
(10:15):
like a crumb from that cuttingboard or from that butter dish
or a sheared toaster or somebodywho had touched gluten and put
their hands in that you know bagof chips and then I got chips a
second can cause serioussymptoms and intestinal damage
is something I didn't realizeearly on and I thought I was a
(10:35):
little bit crazy.
But once I understood that Istarted taking extra steps at
home and when eating out andwith friends and it completely
changed how I felt from day today and I hope this bonus tip
helps you realize theseriousness of cross-contact,
especially if you are celiac.
(10:57):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the gluten-free
engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
(11:18):
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
(11:40):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
There's a lot of informationout there about living
gluten-free and, unfortunately,not all is true.
Some myths are harmless, butothers can make life harder,
cause confusion or even putpeople's health at risk.
Today, I'm busting five of themost common gluten-free myths I
(00:23):
still hear all the time, evenafter more than a decade of
living gluten-free myself.
Stick around to the end for mybonus tip.
It's a myth I believed when Iwas first diagnosed and it made
my gluten-free life a lot harderthan it needed to be.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
(00:45):
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
(01:06):
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show.
Today, we're talking about thefive common myths about living
gluten-free that I've run intofree.
(01:26):
That I've run into and theproblem with myths.
First of all, though, is thatmyths can come from outdated
research, misunderstandings ormarketing messaging that's
unclear and that causesconfusion in the industry.
They can make it harder for youto advocate for yourself and to
be understood by friends,family and restaurants.
I know I ran into this a lotbefore I figured out how to
really advocate for myself, andalso during those several years,
(01:47):
I felt like there was a periodof years there where being
gluten-free was looked at asbeing a fad and not as a health,
a reason to do it because ofyour health, and so it made it
really difficult to explain topeople that no, this is really
serious, you can't just messwith my food and it really needs
to be to people that, no, thisis really serious, you can't
just mess with my food and itreally needs to be super
gluten-free.
(02:07):
So the first myth that I raninto is that you can have a
cheat day even if you'regluten-free, and that is so
absolutely not true, especiallyfor celiacs and those with
gluten intolerance, and reallyfor those who choose to be
gluten-free too, it may causeissues in their bodies that are
super unpleasant, and we need tomake sure that people
(02:31):
understand that you can't have acheat day if you're celiac, for
sure you can't even have acheat crumb.
Like even the tiniest amount ofgluten can cause damage.
It may not cause symptoms.
Just because you don't get asymptom from a little tiny bite
or cross contact doesn't meanit's not causing damage in a
(02:52):
celiac.
And then for those with glutenintolerance or who choose to be
gluten-free, it can cause someserious symptoms or long-term
health complications that youknow are unpleasant.
You know, sometimes people aregluten-free because they have
some other autoimmune diseaseand it really helps keep that
(03:13):
other autoimmune disease incontrol, and so they don't want
to go down the route of thatautoimmune disease getting out
of control.
So that's some of the reasonswe need to make sure that we
aren't having a cheat day ifthat is something that our body
should not or cannot tolerate.
And then another thing that wasso frustrating when I first
(03:34):
started being gluten-free andtrying to learn how to do it was
that if it's labeledgluten-free it's always safe.
I couldn't tell you how manytimes I was, like you know,
feeling really good and then Iate something new and I was like
why do I feel funny?
And then like maybe a couple ofdays later I might try that new
thing again and I would be likewhy do I feel bad again?
(03:56):
And then I look at the labeland it would say that it was
processed in a facility thatprocessed the meat and I was
like, oh, I guess I can't havesomething that's not certified
gluten-free.
This was kind of early on, whenI was still very much learning
this, and there can be hiddengluten and cross-contact risks
in prepackaged foods and we wantto make sure that we're reading
(04:19):
the labels beyond thegluten-free logo.
We want to make sure if you'receliac or really need to be
strict, you need to have thatcertified gluten-free logo, not
just something that just saysgluten-free.
And if you are eating somethingthat's not technically
certified gluten-free, you'regoing to want to look at the
allergen statement to make sureit doesn't say processed in a
(04:40):
facility that also processeswheat, if you're very sensitive
and can't have small amounts ofgluten at all.
So myth number three is goinggluten-free is automatically
healthier, and this can be farfrom the truth If you were
eating processed foods beforegoing gluten-free and you
replace those processed foodswith gluten-free processed foods
.
You are helping yourself by nothaving the gluten, but you're
(05:03):
not helping yourself becauseyou're still eating the
processed foods.
Plus, usually gluten-freeprocessed foods don't have as
many vitamins and mineralsfortified in them, so you want
to be not directly replacingprocessed foods that are gluten
with processed that are notgluten for your entire life.
Maybe you do that in thebeginning as your transition.
(05:24):
Maybe you're new to gluten-freeand that's how you mentally
cope with it.
Maybe you're used to having,you know, that sandwich at lunch
, that pasta at dinner, so youwant to replace it directly with
a gluten-free equivalent, andthat's completely fine.
But I want to encourage you, ifyou're beyond the early stages
of being gluten-free, of tryingto switch some of those things
(05:46):
into a bit more natural things,less processed foods, because
our bodies are starving ofvitamins, minerals and nutrients
because we just Simply, as asociety anymore don't eat whole
foods nearly as much, and so Iwant to encourage you to make
sure that you're getting enoughwhole foods so that being
gluten-free is healthier for you.
(06:07):
We want to make sure that weare actually getting those
vitamins and minerals that weneed.
Now another myth that I ran intois that you can grow out of
celiac disease.
Celiac disease is lifelong,even when symptoms improve.
It is an autoimmune disease.
It's a genetic mutation thathappens in people and when that
(06:30):
mutation is turned on itgenerally it stays on.
I don't think I've ever read acase in my 12 or so more years
of researching this that it hasever turned back off.
It is something that is justlifelong.
So we want to be vigilant whilewe are being, while we are you
(06:50):
know when we're diagnosed withceliac and when we need to be
gluten-free we need to make surethat we aren't getting lazy and
getting those cross contactsbecause even if we don't have
symptoms, you can get damaged.
There's this really good articleand story I read, probably
seven years ago or so more aboutthe silent celiac and it was an
(07:11):
actual, real study on thisperson who was a silent celiac.
They thought their celiac wentaway because their symptoms went
away, and then they all of asudden started losing all this
weight.
They were having signs ofmalnourishment and went to the
doctor and they basically werehaving silent celiac.
They didn't have thetraditional symptoms of celiac
(07:34):
disease, yet their body wasgetting damaged, they weren't
absorbing the nutrients theyneeded and they were just kind
of withering away.
So we need to make sure, ifyou're celiac, to be diligent,
no matter whether you getsymptoms or not.
And then myth number five if itdoesn't upset your stomach, it's
fine.
And that's so far from thetruth.
(07:54):
There are so many non-digestivesymptoms like fatigue.
So many non-digestive symptomslike fatigue, migraines, joint
pain, skin rashes, mood changes.
Some of my kids, you know,don't get the digestive symptoms
first and they didn't even havethe digestive symptoms before
we found out they need to begluten-free.
They had these other symptomsand then, when we took them off
(08:16):
gluten, the digestive symptomsare way more obvious once they
got a little bit of glutenaccidentally.
But so non-digestive symptomscan be the only thing that you
have.
And that's kind of similar tothat silent celiac story I was
just talking about.
They didn't have any digestivesystems yet their body was being
damaged.
They were low on their vitamins, they were low in vitamin D,
(08:45):
you know.
Their hair and their nails werehaving trouble and long-term
damage can occur withoutimmediate stomach issues.
So let's recap the five myths.
The myth number one is you canhave a cheat day even if you're
gluten-free totally a myth.
If it's labeled gluten-free,it's always safe again, totally
a myth.
Going gluten-free isautomatically healthier Again,
totally a myth.
We need to focus on whole foodsas well.
You can grow out of celiacdisease was myth number four.
(09:08):
Completely not true.
It's something that, once it'son, it's on.
And myth number five if itdoesn't upset your stomach, it's
fine.
Completely not true as well.
And if this episode helped youfeel more confident in your
gluten-free choices, you'll lovethe extra tips and products
finds that I share in mygluten-free newsletter.
It's all about makinggluten-free life and living
(09:31):
easier, more enjoyable and lessconfusing.
Plus, I feature quite a few ofmy recipes that I'm putting up
very regularly.
Just go on over to theGluten-Free Engineer and sign up
on our newsletter so you nevermiss a tip that can simplify
your gluten-free life.
And then, before we wrap uptoday, I want to tell you that
(09:52):
myth.
I believed early on that a crumbor a tiny mountain gluten
couldn't possibly make me thatsick.
I thought that if I justavoided the obvious bread and
pasta and, you know, did adecent job of cross-contact
minimization, I'd be fine.
But what I didn't realize isthat with some of the celiac,
even the smallest, smallestamount of cross-contamination,
(10:15):
like a crumb from that cuttingboard or from that butter dish
or a sheared toaster or somebodywho had touched gluten and put
their hands in that you know bagof chips and then I got chips a
second can cause serioussymptoms and intestinal damage
is something I didn't realizeearly on and I thought I was a
(10:35):
little bit crazy.
But once I understood that Istarted taking extra steps at
home and when eating out andwith friends and it completely
changed how I felt from day today and I hope this bonus tip
helps you realize theseriousness of cross-contact,
especially if you are celiac.
(10:57):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the gluten-free
engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
(11:18):
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not provide amedical advice.
(11:40):
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
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