Would a 2 week gluten binge be significantly damaging?
I was diagnosed with coeliac disease about 3 months ago. I have been on a gluten free diet since. Next year I have booked to do my lifelong dream trip of travelling to South Korea for 2 weeks. I have done lots of research into my options around eating gluten free in Korea and it seems as though it will be virtually impossible since coeliac isn’t massively understood there.
Like most coeliacs I have gone back and forth in my own mind saying “I won’t let this disease rule my life” and deciding to just eat whatever I want for the two weeks then return to eating gluten free post trip. The food was one of the major factors of my excitement to visit the country but due to the heavy use of soy sauce, wheat-based flours, gochujang (a red bean paste often containing wheat) and a significant lack of understanding around cross contamination, I fear I will be limited to rice and meat the whole time.
My main question is; has anyone been in a similar position and what approach was taken?
I have done lots of reading, including studies of people being given gluten for a week or two (Elli, L., Bascuñán, K., di Lernia, L. et al. Safety of occasional ingestion of gluten in patients with celiac disease: a real-life study. BMC Med 18, 42 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-1511-6) which state a portion of patients saw little to no intestinal damage whereas others did. Of course, like everything it is subjective, but I wanted to hear from other coeliacs about opinions on this dilemma.
Posted Sep 28, 2025, 1:42 PM UTC