I've been wheat free for over 25 years, but recently testing positive for IgA so went gluten-free...wheat free was easy compared to this.

This may sound like a silly question but there has got to be something that kills the affect of gluten and makes it harmless to us. Is it heat? Is it a chemical? What?

Is there research on this or does anyone know off hand?

Thank you for any input.

Well, it depends on whose opinion you get, but the general consensus is that there is no way to neutralize the effects of gluten on the body at the present time. Yesterday, someone posted about using a pill or something that claims to neutralize gluten. You take it at each meal like a pill for lactose intolerance. I would very highly discourage that you take such a pill, but can view the discussion here: http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/index.php?s...=30&#entry24743

Of course, there's research being done, most notably at Stanford....here are a few articles I found while searching this site:

Future enzyme treatment for celiacs -- Nov. 28, 2004

Stanford team discovers cause of celiac and starts searching for cure -- September 30, 2002

Australian researches start working on vaccine for celiac -- October 29, 2002

Discovery may lead to first medical treatment of celiac -- February 26, 2003

Gene Therapy for celiac disease -- May 29, 2003

Oxford research may lead to cure for celiac disease -- June 25, 2001

Those are a few...if you want to zero in on any issue or specific research attempt, just make a search of your own.

There was a little talk recently of cures/pills, etc. in this post:http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/index.php?s...t=0&#entry24495

-Coulter

Gluten's not alive so you can't "kill" it. Of course its sturcture can be destroyed at a high enough heat and probably by chemicals, but then it would also be inedible.

richard

Nope, not yet. I responded in the thread about the enzymes, but it's a subsegment of the gluten molecule that bothers us, and breaking that down is tricky. They're working on it, but like other protein allergies, no, there isn't something to render it harmless yet.

Thank you Coulter, Richard and Tiffany,

Coulter, sounds like the commercial Gluten-enzyme someone mentioned using in an earlier discussion is simply a hyped up digestive enzyme being pawned off as one for Celiacs. I wouldn't buy it either, even though I do use digestive enzymes and probiotics with every meal for my IBS....also an antispasmodic when needed.

---Off the subject at hand a little...while I'm digressing on the subject of IBS, and having been on an IBS board for nearly 2 years, it seems to me the symptoms of illness are identical for both gluten intolerance and IBS... some are diarrhea prone and others constipation prone and some alternate...(in the IBS community studies show it's about a third of each). Some underweight, some overweight, and abdominal pain for almost all. It makes me wonder how many have both, or how many IBS sufferers are really gluten intolerant and don't know it yet.--

Thanks for taking time to post all the threads Coulter....many of them I had read...but some were new.

If we find a cure, or a substance to take to negate the affects of the protein on the intestines, that would be wonderful..however, I think it will take some time....It's just not a popular disease like AIDS or even diabetes, so doesn't get the attention, let alone the bucks for research.................a shame.

I suppose my main focus was that around the subject of cooking heat destroying gluten...whether it be in a toaster or frying or boiling or baking pan. Obviously the gluten would have to be reduced to a charcoal state before it could be rendered harmless, or am I all washed up on this...
BUT if it is true..at what temperature is does the gluten then become harmless?
I'm a bit overwhelmed at the entire cross contamination issue since for 25 years I was only allergic to wheat and only had to worry about not consuming enough to induce hives or esophageal spasms. Now, it's an issue of not consuming even the most minuscule amount of gluten from different sources.

Thanks to you all for you help so that I may understand the situation better.
Kandee

I don't know that it's been determined the temperature that's needed to break down the particular set of amino acids that form the portion of the gluten molecule that bothers our immune system. The temperature required for breakdown would be dependent on the chemical structure. Someone may have estimates, but I don't know what it is.

In thinking this out, the temperatures of deep fat frying even isn't high enough as celiacs cannot eat fried chicken using wheat bread crumbs...so obviously the wheat/oat/barley/rye would have to be burned into a crisp to render it useless and what would be the fun of eating burned gluten anyway? At that point it wouldn't be edible.

My mom in law thought that if she cooked gluten breaded chicken at a high temperature the heat would "kill" the gluten. This was her own theory and she's 83 years old with dementia. She was trying to convince her celiac son to eat her food.

In one way that's pretty funny, but in another it seemed perfectly logical to her.
My 98 year old MIL actually understood it fairly well when I tryed to explain it to her. I was amazed.

Ok, let's assume gluten is harmless if reduced to a charcoal state, then doesn't that mean that all the burned crumbs at the bottom of a toaster would be too?

And how does one make an old toaster safe for gluten free bread if it was once used for standard wheat bread? Doesn't the residue from being exposed to contant high heat eventually kill off the gluten?
I ask this because I have an old...and I mean really old, like one of the first ones made, toaster that makes awesome even toast and is only a one slicer. It's been unused for years and I'd like to use it for me and let the (new) standard toaster be used for wheat bread for the other family members. I did dedicate one slot to me in the new toaster until I could see that at the very top and bottom crumbs could come from the reg. bread into the other slot I dedicated for gluten-free bread.
Any thoughts on this or should I just not risk it and just buy a cheapy toaster just for me?

Thanks,
Kandee