How Much Gluten Is Too Much?

Article from About.com:

Question: How much gluten is too much?

Answer: The amount of tolerable gluten varies among people with celiac disease. In general, research has suggested that a daily gluten intake of less than 10 milligrams (mg) is unlikely to cause significant damage to the intestines in most people with celiac disease (although these small amounts could still be enough to make a person feel unwell).

To put that into perspective, a dime weighs about 2,200 mg (2.2 g). Tricia Thompson, RD, an authority on celiac disease, explains that a one-ounce slice of regular white bread has approximately 3,515 mg of gluten, or 351 times the maximum daily amount that’s safe for celiacs. So basically, a crumb is too much.

However, this does not mean you can go cut a slice of bread into 350 little crumbs and then eat one, because even if you're otherwise gluten-free, odds are good that you're still getting at least some gluten every day anyway. In most parts of the world, regulations say that to be labeled gluten-free, a product can contain up to 20 parts per million of gluten (equivalent to about 20 mg per kilo). As Tricia Thompson points out, even a slice of gluten-free bread contains a little over 1/2 mg of gluten.

_Sources:

_{Akobeng AK, Thomas AG. Systematic review: tolerable amount of gluten for people with coeliac disease. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2008;27:1044-1052.}

_{Thompson, T. Gluten: Is It Okay to Have a Little Bit? [Accessed August 22, 2009] http://www.diet.com/dietblogs/read_blog.php?title=Gluten%3A+Is+It+OK+To+Have+A+Little+Bit%3F&blid=13481}