Gluten Allergy | Gluten Free Diet | Gluten and Kissing | Allergy

Gluten Allergy and Kissing

by Allergy Guy

If you have a gluten allergy or celiac disease, then avoiding small amounts of gluten is essential. You even have to watch out for gluten contamination when kissing.

The amount of gluten you might expose to yourself when kissing might seem tiny, even trivial, and for some people this may be so, but for others it could really ruin your day, week or month.

If you have celiac disease, or a gluten allergy and are very sensitive, you must maintain a strict gluten-free diet.  It would be a mistake to take the word “diet” too literally.  It is not just what you eat that you have to watch out for, but any gluten that may cross your lips. And what kind of gluten cross contamination could be more direct than from one lip to another?

This does not mean that you should never kiss anyone.  First of all, we are primarily talking about kissing on the lips. If someone you love (or whatever) just ate a sandwich or a pastry, they are very likely to have crumbs on and around their lips, and of course gluten in their mouth, at least for some period of time that could be seconds or hours.

One would not expect to find gluten on their cheeks or forehead, although who knows, if you know someone who is really that messy an eater, you may have to watch out for gluten-containing crumbs in those places too.

In general, if someone has been eating some gluten-laden snack recently, like bread or pastries or donuts or whatever, you are safest not to kiss them on the lips, until after they have washed their face and brushed their teeth.

In case this sounds like it’s going too far, I read about one case where some members of the household ate wheat and were cross-contaminating the toothpaste, which made the celiac in the household ill. This isn’t the sort of thing that comes naturally to mind.

And of course if you are passionately in love with someone, you aren’t too likely to worry about crumbs on their face or in their mouth.

And yet you have to get into the habit of avoiding all gluten, and that includes contaminated lips and mouths.

Gluten-Free Kissing and The Gluten Habits of Others

So what happens if the one you love is a dedicated consumer of gluten? Especially in new relationships, you may feel awkward about telling them you can’t kiss them after they have eaten gluten, or worry that they might not like you as much.

If they really love you, they’ll watch out for you.  If they don’t, then they aren’t right for you and you and your dietary needs.

Have you had experiences with crumbs and kissing?  How do you manage your gluten free diet when it seems to rub love the wrong way?

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Mary March 11, 2013 at 16:57

I read this and my mind is blown. I don’t have a boyfriend at this moment, but I am seeing someone and I wonder how he will feel about me after reading this.

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2 Allergy Guy March 11, 2013 at 22:14

How so? how might he feel about you? Are you allergic to gluten? And you’re worried how he’ll react if he wants to kiss you after eating toast?
If that’s the case, see it as a test. If he can’t deal with that, he’s not much of a man, and you should drop him.

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3 Allergy Guy October 18, 2011 at 23:01

My girlfriend is completely understanding about this, but she usually forgets. When I indicate worry about crumbs on her lips, she offers me her cheek. I miss her lips those times, but her understanding does make me feel loved. Lucky for me she isn’t much of a wheat consumer.

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