Gluten is a protein that makes the dough firm, soft and tender.
You can find it in wheat, barley, oats, and rye. But that’s all products.
It is also added to carbohydrate-rich foods like ketchup and other sauces (including soy), yogurts, ice cream, sausages, instant coffee, cheese, sweets, frozen vegetables, fries, and even vitamins in capsules and tablets.
Healthy people do not care about gluten, but some cannot tolerate it genetically: there are only 0.5-1% of them. Their immunity recognizes this protein as foreign and attacks it.
As a result, not only gluten is hit, but also the walls of the small intestine, the brain, heart, and joints can suffer.
You say that the world is completely crazy about gluten free diets, and now gluten free hysteria has reached to the cosmetics too?
Okay, everything is clear with food, but what we have to do with cosmetic products?
We, too, became interested in this issue and decided to find out how things are and are the gluten-containing cosmetics.
Is it dangerous, and for whom?
We could not leave these issues unattended, as many cosmetics manufacturers began to put the mark GF (Gluten Free) at their package to convince buyers of the complete absence of gluten in the product. And this trend is gaining popularity along with panic around gluten.
The fashion for a gluten free diet appeared relatively in connection with a number of increase of people with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and increased sensitivity to gluten. It is not the pasta and oatmeal with white bread that are blamed for this, but the companies who add gluten to products where it really does not fit: sweets, sauces, sausages, dairy products, pastes and so on.
As a result, a person consumes gluten, without even knowing about it, and the amount of gluten in the diet seriously exceeds the recommended one. This increases the risk of developing celiac disease or hypersensitivity to gluten.
And if a person is already sick, then he has to be attentive to all the formulas, including cosmetics.
Gluten free skin care products
So, let’s be honest right away: for most of the people, gluten free cosmetics are not dangerous.
Are you sick with celiac disease?
Do you have any symptoms of gluten sensitivity? Then take your time to get rid of your favorite products. They will not cause you any harm. Whatever the advertisement says.
Do celiacs need gluten free cosmetics?
To get started, you need to figure out, Is there gluten in skin care products?
It is unlikely that you will find the word “gluten” among the components, but you can find gluten, wheat seedlings, ingredients based on rye, malt, or barley.
The second point that is important for understanding: what kind of cosmetics is dangerous for people with hypersensitivity to gluten. In reality, not all products.
A cream for legs or hands with gluten components in the product may not affect the state of health of a person with celiac disease in any way for one simple reason: gluten molecules are too large to penetrate the skin through the pores.
There is no study that confirms the dangerous effects on the skin of celiac disease patients.
Third, most important – what then causes a real threat?
What skin care should be is gluten free?
These are products that enter the mucous membranes and can be accidentally eaten:
- lipsticks, balms and lip glosses
- toothpaste
- sprays
In other words, all that was there is a risk of inhaling or swallowing can cause an unpleasant reaction for people with gluten intolerance.
Companies pay special attention to children’s cosmetics for babies with celiac disease. In this case, the entire line of products may be marked “gluten free skin care.”
By the way, if you have open sores on your skin, applying gluten-containing products to them can be dangerous.
Although the risk is low, why take the risk?
The fashion for gluten free diets has spawned many myths around gluten and laid the foundation for companies marketing tricks.
But we don’t have to buy them at all.
Gluten can be dangerous, but not for everyone.
If you have any doubts about this, begin with a visit to the doctor, and then you can make a decision about your favorite skin cream.
