Gluten free--how strict do we need to be?

Diet is everything for me. I'm cold turkey.

I think the only way to really tell is by doing an allergy test and a blood test for CD57 cells. If both of those are OK then you should be OK with small amount of gluten. If you have an actual allergy then I would say none of it is OK. People here may have more understanding of gluten chemistry but this is what my lame lyme (should I say ehrlichiotic?) mind remembers...

I found that the longer that I have been gluten-free, the more sensitive I am to it. Now, the smallest amount of gluten will trigger my sensitivity.

Thank you all for responding!

Problem with a gluten free diet for me is snacking. I'll eat a gluten free meals... then in between I have a hard time finding something in the pantry. Do any of you have any good ideas? I know added sugar isn't good. Is fruit sugars...even raisins? I'm a thin fellow and it's hard to keep my weight if I'm not constantly eating...Always been that way...my metabolism must be crazy high. I read somewhere that peanuts in general aren't good but does that include almonds etc? I even seen that rice and corn isn't great when trying to detox....lol....what in the heck are we supposed to eat!

@concepts,

Some good snacks are popcorn, rice crackers, carrots with hummus, celery with almond butter, (peanuts tend to have more mold/fungus then almonds), hard boiled eggs

If you are thin I recommend homemade protein shakes - rice protein powder, cocoa, almond butter, coconut milk, some honey.

And also - beef bone broths, with the fat. It really helped me keep on weight during treatment. I'm back to my usual weight which is a whopping 100 lbs :)

Grains and Nuts can block absorption of vital nutrients.

"Vital wheat gluten" is added to bread to maintain a better structure and texture. The yeast and bacteria in dough, neutralizes the gluten as the bread rises. The longer the dough rises, the less gluten will be in your bread upon consumption. In modern commercial bread production, most bakeries rise dough for only a few minutes, leaving much of the gluten in your bread. Gluten is difficult for the stomach to break down.
Grains and Nuts both contain enzyme inhibitors and naturally occurring phytic acid, tannins and goitrogens. All of which can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc in the intestinal tract blocking absorption of those nutrients. Consuming large amounts of grains can improve colon transit time at first, but over time it can lead to IBS and many other digestive complications. But soaking your grains, bran and nuts neutralizes a large portion of phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors and encourages the production of beneficial enzymes increasing the amount of available vitamins, especially B vitamins. It also breaks down GLUTEN and other difficult to digest proteins into simpler structures making them easier to absorb.
Soaking can be tedious but well worth it to increase instead of block vitamin absorption and block toxic substances.
This is my opinion based on research and is not intended to treat or diagnose any illness. I do hope that this is useful to someone. It has helped me tremendously to learn about the science of nutrition.

cleonova-I am also Catholic and have been continuing to receive communion. I asked a friend of mine and he said that at his church they have the GF host. Wonder if this tiny bit of gluten would hurt or not too?

Like Roots R., I soak nuts for the same reason. I use almonds, walnuts, or pecans mostly. I soak them in salt water and then put them in my dehydrator on a low heat until they are dry and crispy. It's hard to find raw almonds, though, since they started pasteurizing them. Cashews can't be soaked though, but I don't recall the reason right now.

Sourdough breads are easier to digest too, but people still can't have that if they have a gluten problem.

People who are highly sensitive to gluten can't have any. I know of a few who were extremely sensitive and couldn't be around it at all. One person had to claim a part of her kitchen as her own, because if there were any breadcrumbs or a little flour, she would react if she just touched them. There aren't many like that, though.

I get gluten free rice crackers and they're good with most anything, nut butter, cheese, thinly sliced meats, etc. There are a lot of gluten free items in stores now, especially in natural foods strores. Recipe sites have gluten free recipes. You can make things out of non gluten flours. Buckwheat is my favorite to use, but now I'm using coconut flour more. Here are just a few recipes ;) www.freecoconutrecipes.com/gluten_free_recipes.htm There are rice pastas that are good. Tinkyada is the brand I get.

Many of the gluten free baked goods use gums and other things in them that I don't feel are a good idea to eat a lot of, but people do. I have a gluten free bread recipe that is pretty good and it didn't call for the gums (like guar gum).

People do mashed cauliflower as a substitute for potatoes. Here's a recipe, www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/mashed-cauliflower