As anyone with celiac disease knows, gluten is everywhere. Gluten is sneaky, lurking in everyday foods and products and often hiding where you’d least expect it. One of those unexpected hideouts is in cosmetics. Gluten is often used as a binder to help ingredients stick together and to add moisture to products.
Adopting a gluten-free lifestyle is much more than making dietary changes. But when you know what to look for, it’s easy to avoid cosmetics and everyday toiletries that contain gluten.
“Lipstick, lip-gloss, mouthwash, toothpaste — they can all trigger a reaction in people with celiac disease,” says Alice Bast, founder and president of the National Founder for Celiac Awareness. “If you’re sensitive to gluten, you should be using gluten-free cosmetics and toiletries. Even if you don’t experience any symptoms, you could be doing damage on the inside.”
The jury is still out on whether gluten can be absorbed through the skin, but it can be ingested if a gluten-containing product like sunscreen, lotion, or lipstick touches the mouth or lips. Also, some people who have a wheat or grain allergy can develop skin reactions like rashes or blisters from products that contain gluten.
The following is a list of some of the ingredients in cosmetics that may include gluten:
- Avena sativa (oat) kernel flour
- Cyclodextrin
- Dextrin
- Dextrin palmitate
- Hydrolyzed malt extract, oat flour, vegetable protein, wheat flour, wheat gluten, wheat protein, and wheat starch
- Secale creale (rye) seed flour
- Triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract, germ oil, gluten, and starch
- Wheat amino acids, germ glycerides, and protein
- Yeast extract
Experts agree that if you have celiac disease, doesn’t hurt to err on the side of caution. Everyone is different — some people with celiac disease may be unaffected by products containing gluten while others may have reactions that range from hives and irritation to the gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac including bloating and diarrhea. Gluten-free cosmetics may help keep symptoms at bay. Talk to the trained staff at your natural products store about gluten-free cosmetics and toiletries.