Gluten in Your Cosmetics?
Written by Four Green Steps.com
So you've already given up regular bread and beer but truly avoiding celiac disease could mean being extra selective when choosing cosmetics. Researchers have recently warned that while gluten is required to be listed as an ingredient in foods containing it, many cosmetics contain no such warning.
"Lipsticks and powders and foundations are probably the ones we worry about most, and you really never see ingredient lists on those products," says Prakash, who helped conduct the research. She and her colleagues surveyed the websites of 10 leading makeup companies, Prakash says, and found that "none actually provided any information on products that contained gluten."
An estimated 2 million people in the United States have celiac disease. When these people consume gluten, their immune system attacks structures (known as villi) that line the small intestine and are crucial for absorbing nutrients from food. Symptoms can include diarrhea, bloating, weight loss, fatigue, and joint pain. The only way to treat celiac disease is to avoid eating gluten.
At the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, Prakash and her colleagues presented a case report on a 28-year-old woman with celiac disease who had successfully controlled her symptoms for several years by restricting the amount of gluten in her diet. After starting to use a new body lotion, however, the woman developed an itchy, blistering rash on her arms, as well as abdominal bloating and diarrhea-all of which disappeared once she stopped using the lotion
