Recovering from accidental gluten exposure.

 When a person with celiac disease consumes gluten, the immune system recognizes gluten protein as a foreign invader and begins producing antibodies to fight it. Unfortunately, healthy cells are damaged in the process – particularly the villi lining the small intestine. When they are damaged by autoimmune activity, their function becomes impaired. It is this damage to the villi and the resulting malabsorption of nutrients that contributes to some of the long-term symptoms. Anyone who has been ‘glutened’ knows it only takes a teeny tiny bit of the stuff to make you feel absolutely miserable as it is painful both physically and emotionally. Accidental gluten ingestion can trigger a severe reaction and some very unpleasant symptoms. For those with positive celiac disease it may take years for complete healing of the small intestine after gluten exposure, although "outward symptoms" may resolve sooner. No matter how careful we are with reading labels and asking questions at restaurants you can fall prey to accidental gluten ingestion any time. But the more you educate yourself and the more careful you are, the less likely it is to happen.

There is no magic remedy to immediately stop the symptoms, but listed below are the methods I use to alleviate D’s reaction to gluten and speed up the healing process.

To start the day it is always a glass of Luke warm water. Staying hydrated is very important, extra fluids will help flush your system as well. Avoid caffeine or sodas, just plain water. This helps cool inflammation and mobilize toxins out of your body.

A bowl full of papaya is the first thing to eat, it contains an enzyme called papain, known for its benefits in treating indigestion and gastrointestinal diseases and also relieving gas. Pineapple, passion fruit and pomegranate  also have enzymes that aide digestion.

In addition to drinking regular water, I give him coconut water and lemonade throughout the day. Coconut water and lemonade starts the hydration process and naturally replaces electrolytes.

All the meals that day are light like poha for breakfast, yellow rice and curd for lunch and moong dal and rice again in Dinner. Not even gluten free chapatti or GF bread for him that day as they are not easy to digest. Avoid dairy and anything artificial.

I make sure he took complete rest as body will need time to heal.

Taking probiotics will help to reestablish the balance of healthy bacteria in your gut and L-glutamine is an amino acid that is beneficial for gut repair. Curd can do all the good to the stomach and Yakult is his favorite and healthy too.

When recovering from a glutening, the absolute best thing to do is listen to your own body and do what makes you feel better. Hope these tips will help you manage and recover from cross contamination swiftly and you start to feel better.