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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Question: &amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;Is coffee gluten-free? And if it&amp;amp;#39;s gluten-free, then why does it seem to bother me so much?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Answer:\u00A0&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;This is a tricky question.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Plain&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; coffee should be gluten-free to very low levels, assuming it hasn&amp;amp;#39;t been &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/gluten-cross-contamination-562485&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;cross-contaminated by gluten&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; (we&amp;amp;#39;ll consider flavored coffees in a minute). However, lots of people who follow the &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/the-gluten-free-diet-562662&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;gluten-free diet&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; report gastrointestinal symptoms from coffee.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;So what&amp;amp;#39;s going on?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Well, coffee can be really hard on your digestive system. Regular coffee contains caffeine, which can lead fairly quickly to a bad case of the runs, especially if you&amp;amp;#39;re newly diagnosed with &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/what-is-celiac-disease-563183&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;celiac disease&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; or non-celiac\u00A0&amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/gluten-sensitivity-562959&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot;&amp;gt;gluten sensitivity&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; and your system is still irritated.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In fact, some people with irritable bowel syndrome report that plain &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/top-trigger-foods-for-ibs-1945021&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;5&amp;quot;&amp;gt;caffeinated coffee triggers IBS symptoms&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, and I&amp;amp;#39;ve seen a few reports from some IBS sufferers who say even decaf coffee (which does contain a tiny amount of caffeine) causes problems. (Here&amp;amp;#39;s more on IBS, celiac disease, and gluten sensitivity: &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/gluten-vs-irritable-bowel-syndrome-562696&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;6&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Is It Celiac Disease, Gluten Sensitivity or IBS?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;If you&amp;amp;#39;re new to the gluten-free diet, you might not be able to tell the difference yet between your &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/what-does-it-feel-like-when-you-get-glutened-562469&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;7&amp;quot;&amp;gt;symptoms when you eat gluten&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;\u00A0and other digestive maladies (such as a bad reaction to caffeine). You might want to consider cutting back on your coffee consumption for a while to see if that helps with your symptoms.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Yes, It Could Be Gluten in Your Coffee&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Of course, it&amp;amp;#39;s also possible that you are, in fact, reacting to gluten in your coffee. Even plain coffee beans can be cross-contaminated if they&amp;amp;#39;re processed &amp;lt;a data-inlink=&amp;quot;SMQa9ZoJ3rUMHC_bvIxzTg&amp;amp;#61;&amp;amp;#61;&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/shared-facility-or-equipment-is-it-safe-562780&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;8&amp;quot;&amp;gt;in a shared facility&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; or on equipment that also processes &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/how-to-identify-gluten-on-food-labels-562666&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;9&amp;quot;&amp;gt;gluten-containing ingredients&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;When you add creamer products and sugar to the mix, your odds of a gluten can rise substantially (for example, powdered creamers can contain gluten, especially if they&amp;amp;#39;re flavored). I also know of one person who got glutened by a sugar bowl that, unbeknownst to her, had been contaminated with a flour-coated spoon during baking.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;If you&amp;amp;#39;re getting symptoms from your plain coffee (and especially if you&amp;amp;#39;re pretty certain those symptoms stem from gluten ingestion and not just coffee drinking), rule out the creamer and cross-contamination from your sweeteners first.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;At that point, if things haven&amp;amp;#39;t improved, you may need to switch coffee brands. You also may want to consider buying plain coffee beans and grinding them yourself \u2014 ground coffee offers more of a chance for cross-contamination at the factory level, simply because it&amp;amp;#39;s more processed.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;What About Flavored Coffee - Is That Gluten-Free?&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Coffee beans or ground coffee that you buy pre-flavored (those yummy-sounding flavors like chocolate hazelnut and almond toffee crunch) are likely to be considered gluten-free, and may even be labeled &amp;amp;#34;gluten-free.&amp;amp;#34;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;But that&amp;amp;#39;s not the end of the story.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Coffee flavorings generally are made with a proprietary blend of &amp;amp;#34;natural flavors.&amp;amp;#34; Despite a well-justified fear of that term on labels (since it can hide gluten-containing ingredients, most commonly &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/does-barley-contain-gluten-562844&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;10&amp;quot;&amp;gt;barley&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;-based flavorings), it appears we don&amp;amp;#39;t need to worry about &amp;amp;#34;natural flavors&amp;amp;#34; in this context \u2014 those used in coffee are rarely, if ever, derived from gluten grains.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;However, many coffee flavorings have an alcohol base ... and that alcohol typically &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;is&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; derived from grains, including gluten grains.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The conventional wisdom among some (but not all) celiac disease and gluten sensitivity experts are that distillation removes &amp;lt;a data-inlink=&amp;quot;O2z-7HArHpJYimxAnzxGtg&amp;amp;#61;&amp;amp;#61;&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/what-is-gluten-562670&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;11&amp;quot;&amp;gt;the gluten protein&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; from the alcohol, and so alcohol is considered gluten-free even if it&amp;amp;#39;s derived from gluten grains. (Read more on this: &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/gluten-free-alcoholic-beverages-562661&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;12&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Is Alcohol Gluten-Free?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;However, &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;many&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; people experience gluten reactions to distilled grains.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The amount of grain-based alcohol in flavored coffee is minuscule \u2014 even if there was some residual gluten left in that alcohol, it would register way below the &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/what-does-parts-per-million-mean-562490&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;13&amp;quot;&amp;gt;20 parts per million&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;\u00A0which is generally considered &amp;amp;#34;gluten-free.&amp;amp;#34; But a minuscule amount is all it takes for some of us to react (see: &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/how-much-gluten-can-make-me-sick-562489&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;14&amp;quot;&amp;gt;How Much Gluten Can Make Me Sick?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; for more information).&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;If you do fine with flavored coffees, that&amp;amp;#39;s great. But I&amp;amp;#39;d exercise caution if you haven&amp;amp;#39;t tried them before, especially if you tend to react to gluten-based distilled alcoholic beverages or seem particularly sensitive to trace gluten. You also might consider making your own flavored coffees at home, using alcohol-free flavoring (I&amp;amp;#39;ve done this myself with Singing Dog Alcohol-Free Vanilla Flavoring).&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;There&amp;amp;#39;s no reason you can&amp;amp;#39;t enjoy a decent cup or two of java (even flavored) while following the gluten-free diet, providing you take a few precautions (you can even go to Starbucks if you follow my &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/which-starbucks-products-are-gluten-free-562718&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;15&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Starbucks Gluten-Free Guide&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;). Just pay attention to your body, and be prepared to make some changes to your coffee habit if that java doesn&amp;amp;#39;t seem to be agreeing with you.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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