Gluten-sensitive also affected by coffee???

[littlest birds]

I recently read several items stating that coffee causes some sort of reaction for people who are gluten-sensitive.  Has anyone else heard of this research?

I have been a heavy coffee drinker for a long time and often feel I'd be better off giving it up.  Recently I have been having just one cup of coffee in the afternoon, and drinking teas the rest of the time.  Now I am worried since I also discovered I was not only sensitive to but also allergic to wheat recently and am avoiding all gluten.  I fear coffee could be affecting me in more ways than I thought and that I shouldn't even drink one cup.

How seriously should I take this research?  Are there certain symptoms that might indicate a problem with coffee?  Or should anyone avoiding gluten avoid coffee too?

[AngelBee]

I know it affects blood sugar as coffee causes issues for my hypoglycemia. Not sure about gluten sensitivity though.

[ColoradoKaren]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease 8 years ago and within a couple years I started finding many foods I am allergic to that I was never allegic to before. Recently I, too, am finding a problem with coffee and tea. It doesn't seem to be the caffeine as I can drink a soda that has caffeine in it and not have any problem. So now I am down to suspecting the tanins...I feel like I'm constantly in full detective mode!

[adalau]

Look up Cyrex labs & read about it on adventuresofaglutenfreemom blog. Coffee has over 600 proteins in it. So some gluten sensitive people's bodies mistakenly identify some of those coffee proteins as gluten. It's called cross reactivity. It's a real problem for some. You could try eliminating it for a period of time then adding it back. Or Cyrex labs offers a test. But IMO elimination and a challenge test/reintroduction is the gold standard.

[mumkimum]

This is interesting - I've never run across that association between coffee/gluten myself.

I have noticed, just personally, that as I've had more issues in the past few years if overdoing it with breads/gluten (which now makes me ill - though there are a few other likely factors to it, I just try to keep breads to a minimum for myself), I've also ended up with more issues overdoing it with coffee as well -- and have worked at keeping both more moderate than I used to.  

I've also tried to make sure I give myself several days without coffee from time to time too (usually switching to tea which will at least help avoid caffeine withdrawal issues).  I'm probably a heavy coffee drinker too , so, not my favorite thing to do but I notice it helps.  

I've found french pressed coffee bothers me less overall (whether because I have to work to make it more often, so I drink less coffee - or because it's more satisfying, or includes more oils, etc. that perhaps help with handling the coffee in general.).  I've also come across the thought that adding cardamom to your coffee helps with all that excessive caffeine.  So, that might be of interest if you're worried or trying to cut back a bit (plus it's delicious - I just add a cracked pod or 2 with my ground coffee).      

[littlest birds]

Thank you! The cardamom sounds so delicious!  I might as well try that as long as I haven't quit yet.

I love coffee so much but I have been "altered" by it constantly for about 15 years.  It seems to sap my energy and also contributes to my tendency toward impatience and irritability.  I am trying not to drink it but not trying hard enough.  I find wheat so easy to resist--it's not even tempting to me.  But I think quitting coffee is harder than quitting smoking cigarettes!  Maybe this is because it is less scary so it is easier to hop off the wagon.

[meemee]

i am sensitive to some glutens. like processed gluten yeah. not fresh gluten. i react to orowheat, but not to the fresh wheat bread from the local bakery.

but i have ALWAYS reacted to coffee. till i realised something.

i cannot drink more than 4 ounces at a time. anything above 4 ounces and i am gone. half a cup i can handle. 

however i also react to alcohol. dont have the alcohol gene so alcohol makes me sick and throw up.

coffee for me is a great bedtime drink. because when i drink more than half a cup i become tired and sleepy. not just tired and sleepy but EXHAUSTED. i need to lay down NOW.

wow. i did not know about teh coffee and cardamom connection. that makes total sense to me. all teh traditional coffee drinking countries in africa and middle east drink cardamom coffee like chai. 

http://www.motherearthliving.com/cooking-methods/arabic-coffee.aspx

http://coffeetea.about.com/od/hotcoffee/r/arabian.htm

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/61/Arabic_Coffee45349.shtml