“How long does it take for gluten to leave your system? I know repairing the damage takes a while but was wondering how long it stays in your system for?”
This question has been asked a lot and I got this particular one through yesterday. I asked Dr Peter Osborne at the Gluten Free Society for our first-ever ‘Expert Response’ to share with you. Here is his reply:
“The half life for gluten antibodies is typically 3-4 months. Thus is would take at least that long for gluten to be purged from the system. This also depends on other factors, such as:
1. The health of the individual – for example, if a person has gluten induced liver or kidney disease (a common manifestation of gluten induced damage) the purging process would most likely take longer.
2. The presence of trace gluten in the diet. Even small amounts can perpetuate the production of gluten antibodies and inflammation.
3. Dehydration – many people are chronically dehydrated. Reduced water volume will lead to reduced detoxification capabilities and reduced gluten clearance time.
4. Constipation – reduces gut transit time. The bowels should move 1-2 times per day. Gluten commonly causes gastroparesis and constipation. To effectively remove gluten from the body, one needs to promote a healthy bowel movement. Increasing fresh fruit and vegetable is the most effective way to do this.
Supplements to speed up this process – Max digest, helps break down gluten peptides and aids in the health digestion of macronutrients. UltraImmune IgG helps remove toxic peptides from the gut lining and reduces immune stress. Biotic Defense – helps to recolonize the normal bacterial flora.”
So, he reckons it will take 3-4 months at least for gluten to come out of your system and that’s if you have made certain there is none getting in from hidden or accidental sources and other systems and organs are capable of it. That’s why sorting the gut and liver out at least is a big part of the initial therapy once you’re on the TGF diet.
That’s not to say, though, that you can’t feel symptomatically better a lot quicker. My personal experience, and that of the first few of my TGF patients, has been symptom relief within 24-48 hours in some cases.
My own swelling in the throat disappeared in 24 hours, thank goodness. Another patient suggested brain fog and fatigue lifted substantially within the same time frame, and most people’s bowel movements have changed within the first few days to detox types (yellowy, mushy, greeny – yum!) as if the body has breathed a sigh of relief and started to finally clear the system and begin the healing process.
One important note with regard to the supplements Dr Osborne mentions: he is sending me the labels shortly so that I can assess them using the same process I have used for others. If they are indeed suitable (and they should be coming from Dr Osborne so I have high hopes!), I will let you know. Meantime, stick to the supplements recommended in the Supplements Special Report for now. If you want to try them, you can buy direct from the Gluten Free Society site.
Meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Osborne for taking the time to give us his response to that question.
Micki Rose is a natural health consultant and writer specialising in allergy and intolerance. She has used knowledge gained as a sufferer herself and 20+ years in clinical practice to create this specialist gluten site.
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Hi, if the half-life is 3-4 months, then gluten antibodies will only drop to 50% in that time (that’s what a half-life is – the time it takes for the thing to reduce by half). So if you wait 5 half-lives, they will drop to 1/32 of the original amount, i.e. about 3% of the original amount. That’s 15-20 months, at which point they’re still as high as 3% of the initial amount! This implies it will take much much longer than 3-4 months for the gluten to clear the system. Does this chime with your experience?
I was free of the worst brain fog about one week after stopping gluten, though for the first three days or so I was what can only be described as raving – talking very fast and intensely in half-sentences and feeling very like I was staring gimlet-eyed at the world. If I do have gluten now, I find I’m feeling very sad for a few days afterwards. One time I was missing proper rye bread so much that I had pumpernickel, and that was the result.
Your post about the gluten antibody half-life has given me pause for thought – if it takes so long to get them out of the body, then it’s much greater motivation to avoid them completely, e.g. when visiting family at holiday times.
Nice website, thanks for all the info.
Thanks Gillian, nice response. You are quite right and yes it does chime with my experience in that most patients feel dramatically better but not quite right even after quite a few months. I think where Dr Osborne says ‘at least’ 3-4 months, he is spot on and is also right that it varies from person to person. It’s the cross-contamination that’s the real bug-bear, isn’t it, though? One study proved that just a piece of communion wafer the size of 1/16th of your little fingernail regularly was enough to prevent someone with Marsh 4 (severe) coeliac disease from healing! Rather puts the occasional slip into perspective, doesn’t it?!
The other thing to note, of course, is that people off traditional gluten grains may also not be getting well because they are still consuming other glutens in supposedly ‘safe’ grains, which is the point of this website.
Glad you are feeling much improved, then. Sounds like you had a bit of withdrawal in those first few days. And thanks for your kind comments on the site, glad to help and thank you for sharing some of your experiences and thoughts, much appreciated.
There is no reason to think that the persistence of gluten will be the same as that of antibodies (which are designed to be very stable in the bloodstream). In any case, very little gluten will even reach the bloodstream, since it is broken down into peptides, and peptides are typically cleared rapidly.
The important point is that the intestinal damage in celiac disease can take months or years to heal fully. Antibodies are a poor indicator of healing (and also are a poor indicator of compliance with a gluten-free diet).
Thanks for that comment, Peter. I would agree that antibodies are an unreliable way to test but they are so relied upon. Frustrating!
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well what about a young child? I just put my kids on a gluten free diet,since their systems are so much smaller than that of an adult would it take less time for the gluten to disperse?
Usually does, yes, Jen, in my clinical experience anyway. They are so much more cellularly active than us! Hope it helps.
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I am seeing some improvements after one week gluten free, I did notice however that after eating something with trace gluten (something that came in contact with gluten) symptoms reappeared over night. Is this normal? I was told that surely after a week my system would be free of gluten and what I was experiencing isn’t gluten related at all.
Absolutely normal, it takes a long time to get gluten out of your system, Caroline, but any exposure, however tiny, after 7-10 days without having any is enough to set off symptoms again and they will usually be acute but temporary. That’s intolerance for you. Classic. Hope you feel better soon,