Gluten in Medications?

Gluten in Medications?

Are your medications giving you gluten exposure?

Those with gluten sensitivities are well versed in checking the ingredient and allergen lists on foods to avoid anything that could “gluten” them, but have you thought about the medications and supplements as potential contamination vessels? 

Medications are required by the FDA to have a list of active and inactive ingredients. This does not include listing common allergens in the product or the source of the ingredients. According to the FDA website, “The FDA encourages drug manufacturers to have accurate information on the sources of their ingredients available so they can respond to questions from the public and health care providers.” Since this is an encouragement rather than a requirement, not all medications are upfront about their sources. 

While wheat and other gluten-containing grains are not commonly used as active ingredients in medications, wheat starch is sometimes used as an inactive ingredient. Generally, this would be used as the binder or absorbent for the medication. The top ingredients in medications to watch for are as follows: starch, pre-gelatinized starch, dextrimaltose, dextrin, dextrates, cyclodextrins, and sodium starch glycolate. We have discussed wheat starch in another article as something that can be made both safe and not safe for gluten-sensitive individuals. If an unpurified wheat product is used, there is potential for gluten exposure. 

There are sources that claim that some blood pressure medications as well as Advil products contain gluten; however, it is important to note that in response to the claims that wheat starch is present in some medications, the FDA estimates that this contributes less than 0.5 mg of gluten per unit of an oral drug product. 

Example from DailyMed

The majority of medications don’t contain gluten, though there are some that may contain trace amounts. For the most up-to-date information about ingredients in medications, we recommend checking out the DailyMed and MedlinePlus websites. These websites have large databases of medications and their ingredients. Your best resource will always be your medical team - always make your doctor and pharmacist aware of your allergies and sensitivities so that they can help.