Is Honey Gluten-Free and Safe for Someone With Celiac Disease?

Honey is popular as a spread and sweetener. Honey is gluten-free as long as it is not contaminated with gluten during processing.

Honeybees make honey from flowers of various plants. It is popular as a spread and sweetener with many foods. Honey is in use in traditional medicine for many ailments. Most people can eat honey without problems. But if you have celiac disease, you should be cautious about all foods. Is honey gluten-free, and can you safely have it if you have celiac disease?

Honey bees are only attracted to flowering plants. Wheat, barley, and rye are the crops that contain gluten. These plants produce no flowers, and honey bees don't go near them. Honey bees are not attracted to grains and do not come into contact with gluten in nature. As a result, pure honey has no gluten.

But honey obtained from the honeycomb is processed. This is to remove debris, wax, and other matter. Honey is also heated, which destroys mold spores and other organisms. If the processing plant also handles other food products, contamination of honey with gluten is possible.

Honey is an energy food, besides being delicious. A 100-gram portion of honey provides:

• Energy: 304 calories
• Protein: 0.3 grams
• Total fat: none
• Carbohydrates: 82.4 grams
• Glucose: 35.8 grams
• Fructose: 40.9 grams
• Galactose: 3.1 grams
• Sucrose: 0.89 grams
• Maltose: 1.44 grams

Honey also contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium. It also has small amounts of vitamins. Most of the nutrition in honey is energy-generating carbohydrates. Almost all carbohydrates in honey are monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, and galactose) which the intestines can absorb without any digestive process. 

Honey is rich in phenolic, flavonoid, and carotenoid compounds with potent antioxidant activity. These bioactive molecules combat free radicals and reactive oxygen species. This property of honey protects you from degenerative diseases like heart disease and metabolic disease. It also slows aging.

Celiac disease is a chronic disorder caused by your immune system attacking your small intestine. The small intestines carry out a major part of digesting and absorbing food. You may have abdominal pain, bloating, tiredness, weight loss, indigestion, and diarrhea. The disease is triggered by eating food containing gluten, which is naturally present in barley, wheat, and rye. Common foods like bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, cakes, and sauces contain gluten.

Celiac disease is also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. You must completely avoid gluten in your food. This is a lifelong restriction. Celiac disease can cause long-term problems if you continue to eat gluten. You might have complications related to other systems and organs besides intestinal damage.

Osteoporosis

Bones need calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients to remain strong. Intestines damaged by celiac disease can't absorb these nutrients. As the calcium level in your blood falls, your body manages it by taking calcium from bones. Bones become weak and brittle, and you may have fractures easily. Vitamin D and calcium supplements are valuable.

Anemia

Your body needs iron, folate, and vitamin B12, among other nutrients, to make red blood cells. Intestinal damage caused by celiac disease prevents the absorption of these crucial nutrients and causes anemia.

Bowel cancer and lymphoma.

These cancers are rare but life-threatening. People with celiac disease are at higher risk for developing these cancers. Avoiding gluten in your diet reduces the risk. Another rare malignancy is adenocarcinoma, a cancer of the small intestine.

Pregnancy complications

If your celiac disease is not well-controlled, pregnancy complications are possible. Your baby might be born premature or with low birth weight.

Malnutrition

If your intestines are damaged, you can't absorb the nutrients in your food adequately. You might have weight loss, anemia, and other deficiency disorders. Children can experience a slowing of growth and remain short.

If your intestines are severely damaged, you may not be able to absorb nutrients even on a gluten-free diet. This condition is called refractory celiac disease. Your doctor may give you intravenous nutrition and other specialized treatment.

Gluten sensitivity is a different condition. You may have abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence (gas), and fatigue, similar to celiac disease. But this condition does not damage the intestines.

Wheat allergy is a type of food allergy. Like celiac disease, your immune system reacts to wheat. You may have itchy eyes, a stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and breathing difficulty in this condition. This condition also causes no intestinal damage.

Both these conditions also require you to avoid gluten. Unlike celiac disease, you won't have intestinal damage by consuming gluten, but gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy symptoms are unpleasant. 

Honey is made by honey bees and is gluten-free. You can safely eat pure honey. You won't have any flare-ups of celiac disease. But honey that has been contaminated with gluten-containing foods is dangerous. Such a situation is called cross-contact. Cross-contact may only insert tiny amounts of gluten into the honey. Such cross-contact can happen wherever honey is prepared, processed, packed, or served. You may have no symptoms, but your intestines will be progressively damaged.

Cross-contact can happen at a food processing facility. If the plant handles gluten-containing foods, honey processed there can absorb minute amounts of gluten. Wheat flour, rye flour, or barley products produce tiny particles during drying. In a processing plant or warehouse, these gluten-loaded particles will circulate. These particles are too small to be seen and will contaminate other products such as honey.

Other sources of cross-contact are in your home:

• Food preparation surfaces
• Strainers and colanders
• Shared utensils
• Deep fryers
• Toasters, ovens, and air fryers

About three million Americans live with celiac disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had regulations in place since 2014 about gluten-free labeling. Any such labels on foods should be truthful and consistent. In 2017, gluten-free food samples were tested. All but 1 of 702 were compliant and did not contain gluten. When shopping, you can look for honey with gluten-free labeling to safely include this food in your diet.

Several foods like eggs, fruits, and vegetables are naturally gluten-free. Gluten-free labeling isn't mandatory. Many gluten-free foods are not labeled, so. 

Celiac disease is a lifelong condition. You must be vigilant to avoid eating gluten-containing and even gluten-contaminated foods. Even minute amounts of gluten can cause progressive intestinal damage. A healthy lifestyle, dietary changes to avoid gluten, and regular medical care improves your health. Pure, uncontaminated honey is gluten-free, and you can safely consume it.