Would a coeliac 'cheat'?

[Ninjawannabee]

Would a coeliac eat a big plateful of gnocchi, knowing they contain gluten, casually because 'I sometimes cheat'?

I had lunch with someone who did just this. I cooked the gnocchi, after telling them what I was cooking and offering them some. After one forkful they asked if it contained gluten as they're gluten free. I confirmed it did, jumped up horrified to put a potato in the microwave for them instead (rather thrown together at the last minute lunch) and they said not to bother as they often cheat. They shouldn't really because they're coeliac, but they sometimes do.

This isn't someone who is in any way gluten intolerant is it? I don't know any coeliacs except a child at nursery who I don't know very well, but I know one adult who is gluten intolerant and he is on the loo for days if he has a speck of gluten.

Fair enjoy to avoid gluten if you want, but why use the word coeliac? Or am I totally wrong and my friend is a massive drama llama?

You’d be pretty silly to cheat as an actual coeliac, as it will cause your body permanent damage.

My MIL and SIL are both coeliac and ‘cheating’ would cause vomiting and diarrhoea at best, hospitalisation at worst. I hate trendy gluten-avoiders as they make restaurants think everyone on a gluten-free diet is just a faddy eater. For some people avoiding gluten is a medical necessity.

It can be exhausting having to explain to everyone who generously offers you food about being coeliac, and sometimes coeliacs just want to be normal and don't want to make a fuss. So they eat the gluten and pay later.
I would not eat a whole plate of gluten gnocchi as I have low pain threshold and life is too busy in general to have a day(s) off in bed to recover.
I think your friend is the opposite of a drama llama, and their desire to eat yummy gnocchi rather than baked potato, and not make a fuss, outweighed the down side, or they are asymptomatic, or recently diagnosed and not aware of the affects, which are more dramatic once the gf diet is established.
You are a good friend offering the potato and I would have taken it.

It seems there is more of a spectrum of effects than I realised, thanks for sharing