Things you might not think of containing gluten‏

When you go on a gluten-free diet and are beginning the learning process of what you can and cannot eat, you might not think of things that don't present an obvious reason to contain gluten. Below are a few of those items I had to learn about on my own.

  1. Toothpaste  ̶̶  Crest, Colgate and Aquafresh claim to be gluten free; Sensodyne does not guarantee that it is gluten free.

  2. Gum on envelops and stamps

  3. Communion wafers  ̶̶   and don't drink wine from a communal cup either. All those lips touching that cup are glutened with communion wafers and God knows what else.

  4. Broth/soup  ̶̶  unless you make it yourself or use a specifically gluten-free brand such as Pacific or Trader Joe’s

  5. Imitation crab  ̶̶  has wheat in it

  6. Soy sauce and teriyaki sauce  ̶̶  both have wheat in them

  7. A kiss  ̶̶  if the person you’re kissing has been drinking beer or eating gluten-filled foods

  8. Semen  ̶̶  he is what he eats, and you may react to exposure to his bodily fluids

  9. Lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm  ̶̶  Carmex guarantees its products are GF. Lots of lipsticks claim to be GF but I don’t have a lot of information on this.

10. Chocolate  ̶̶  if it comes from a facility that dusts their conveyor belts with flour to keep it from sticking

11. Vitamins, herbal supplements and medications  ̶̶  prescription and over-the-counter

12. Rice prepared by someone other than you  ̶̶  people (and restaurants) often cook rice with broth, which is usually not gluten free 

13. Processed meats/sandwich meats

14. Condiments, seasonings and salad dressings

15. Ice cream (some brands)

16. Potato chips (some brands) 

17. Anything fried in the same vat of grease as foods with gluten  ̶̶  e.g. corn chips at almost any Mexican restaurant

18. Dishwashing detergent  ̶̶  this one I just learned about. It never occurred to me that my detergent might contain gluten.

Some people are more sensitive to gluten than others, so some folks may not be affected by some of the items listed above, while others might be struggling to figure out why they keep having reactions even when they believe they’re totally avoiding gluten. You just have to determine what you can and cannot tolerate.

What if Kurt Cobain had stopped eating gluten?

Could a gluten-free diet have saved Kurt Cobain? I don't know. But I was just wondering, what if he had known about gluten? What if he had tried going gluten free? What if a gluten-free diet could have saved him. He might not have been so depressed and hopeless. He might not have been so tortured. 

Even before he started using heroin, Cobain was sickly and skinny (suspiciously symptomatic of celiac disease). He threw up often, especially when he was nervous or stressed out. Concert tours were physically and emotionally exhausting for him, and at least once (that I know of) he literally had a nervous breakdown during a show and threatened to commit suicide right there in front of the audience. 

Anyone who struggles with gluten sensitivity and has gone on a gluten-free diet has probably noticed there is a direct correlation between gluten consumption and bouts of depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues, in addition to the gastrological difficulties. The pressures of fame and grueling concert tours would have done me in too before I went gluten free. 

I think a gluten-free diet would have helped him feel better and possibly could have saved his life. I may be wrong. I didn't know him personally, so who's to say. Just my own personal theory. 

Kurt Cobain was the front man for the musical group Nirvana. He suffered from illness and depression most of his life and in the last few years of his life struggled with heroin addiction. He died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head, April 5, 1994 at the age of 27.