Picture the scene.

You’re on a first date, and things are going well.

There’s sparks flying, and your date has not only sought to understand your celiac disease, but they’ve found a place for food that can cater properly for you, leaving you safe in the knowledge that your food will be prepared safely and properly.

But wait, the date is going better than you expected – you’re clicking and you’re really surprised to find that you want to pursue a second date. Let’s be real: you’re already picturing your futures together, the house you’ll buy, the wedding day, your future children, growing old together…

And then they’re leaning in, and so are you. But as your lips are little but a hair’s breadth away, you panic and turn your head.

As their lips hit your ear you wonder, could the pizza they ate get me sick?

Believe it or not, many people with celiac disease find themselves incredibly anxious about this exact situation: whether their condition will be affected by something their partner ate, when they share a kiss.

And given the often painful and explosive repercussions of consuming gluten, those suffering from celiac disease are understandably cautious, since the condition can only be healed if a strict, gluten-free diet is followed. Especially since, even when symptom-free, ingestion of gluten can still cause intestinal damage to sufferers.

According to new research from Dr Anne Lee from Colombia University, their anxieties are well-placed, but a little overcautious.

That’s thanks to her project, which will soon be presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2025, which concludes that a glass of water before that tender kiss is all that a couple needs to be safe.

Dr Lee’s research was based in empathy for the tribulations that celiac sufferers have throughout their daily lives, as she explained in a statement:

“Everyone worries about whether gluten is getting into their food at a restaurant, but no one really looked at what happens when you kiss afterwards. The advice we gave about kissing and celiac disease was based on precaution and assumptions. We were using our best judgment. I felt it was important to do research to see if there was any actual risk.”

To tackle the issue once and for all, Lee and her team studied ten couples in which only one member had celiac disease. Across two sessions, the non-celiac partner consumed a gluten-rich snack before kissing their partner for ten seconds.

The variable? How they behaved immediately before the kiss. In the first session, they waited five minutes after eating before kissing; in the second they drank water before their kiss.

Regardless, the transference of gluten from the non-celiac to celiac partner was very little, though still present in a minute quantity of 20 parts per million, considered a safe level in line with gluten-free products. And for the researchers, this is reassuring, as Dr Lee continued:

“For clinicians, we can now say to patients, ‘You don’t have to go to extreme measures.’ Patients with celiac disease can be more relaxed, knowing that the risk of gluten cross-contact through kissing a partner who has consumed gluten can be brought down to safe levels if food is followed by a small glass of water.”

So it’s good news for celiac sufferers: you don’t need to hold back from that kiss any longer.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.