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September 9, 2026 No Comments
Gluten and Fertility: Who Should Test, and Who Should Just Cut It Out
Most of the women I work with who have given up gluten did it on their own. Nobody told them to. They read something, or a friend mentioned it, or they got tired of feeling bloated by three in the afternoon and decided to try.
Almost none of them were tested first.
That one detail changes what their results can tell them, and I will come back to it.
But first, the question underneath all of it.
Does gluten actually affect your fertility?
Celiac disease is more common in women with unexplained infertility than in women without fertility problems, and it is very rarely screened for during a fertility workup. Most women reading this do not have celiac disease. Many of them still feel noticeably better without gluten. What you should do next depends on which of those describes you, and this guide walks through both.
I had a client who came to me because she had been experiencing a variety of random symptoms like rashes, eczema, and asthma since she was a child. She also had chronic stomach aches, chronic constipation, inability to lose weight, and the weirdest symptom of all: her lips would swell at random times, and the skin around her mouth was constantly cracking and breaking. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, but she knew her health was suffering.
As soon as she came to me I suspected gluten. I sent her for a celiac screen, tTG-IgA with a total IgA on the same draw, and it came back positive. She had been to several doctors over several years. Nobody had ever run it.
I advised her to remove all sources of gluten in entirety, as well as any refined “gluten-free” products (which are highly processed and often cross-contaminated with gluten). Within two weeks of removing all gluten, her rashes went away, the eczema disappeared, her chronic constipation was gone, she stopped needing her inhaler, her lips stopped swelling, her mood improved, she was FINALLY able to lose weight, her exercise stamina increased, on and on. The state of her health completely turned around.
She couldn’t believe that for most of her life, the majority of her health issues were linked to her consumption of gluten. She has strictly been avoiding gluten now for the last several years and says her “health is better than it’s ever been.”
Pretty amazing, right?
Here are some of the most common symptoms of gluten intolerance, but remember that even if you don’t show any of these symptoms, you may still be sensitive to gluten (more on that later):
In addition to a number of health benefits that can result from removing gluten from your diet, if you actually do have an intolerance, research shows that even if you don’t test positive for celiac disease, removing gluten from your diet can improve your fertility (and hormone) health.
In women with celiac disease, the research is reasonably clear: untreated celiac is associated with infertility, recurrent loss and preterm birth, and treatment is associated with better outcomes.
For women without celiac, I will be honest with you. The research on gluten and fertility is thin, and I am not going to tell you otherwise. What I can tell you is what I watch happen, over and over, when a woman takes it out properly for twelve weeks.
Gluten intolerance has been linked to altered estrogen levels, amenorrhea, infertility, and diminished ovarian reserve. Studies also show that following a gluten-free diet improves a woman’s ability to carry a pregnancy full-term, so if you’ve experienced multiple miscarriages, you definitely want to remove gluten from your diet.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease, meaning your body goes into attack-mode on things that shouldn’t be attacked—in this case your small intestine. Autoimmune diseases change your immune system’s ability to tolerate foreign cells (for example, your partner’s sperm or your potential baby, another reason that gluten may be the cause of infertility and multiple miscarriage). Additionally, celiac disease can cause a selenium deficiency, which is highly associated with hypothyroidism, a condition we know can interfere with getting pregnant.
Gluten sensitivity also contributes to inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation is a critical part of your immune system, and one way that your body heals itself. However, sometimes your body can overreact to perceived injury, causing chronic inflammation in the form of allergies, aches and pains, rashes, digestion problems, and (the longer it’s left untreated) a whole slew of other health issues.
One side affect of being in a chronic state of inflammation is that your body goes into super-protect-mode, and usually decides that it’s a very bad time to get pregnant. Your body thinks, “Famine! War! Bad time to get knocked up!” and then diverts precious resources away from the job of reproduction, and instead towards protecting you from the perceived threat of whatever’s causing the chaos in your immune system.
Worst of all, many people have something called “silent” celiac disease—they may not show any of the symptoms of gluten intolerance, except for infertility. The test itself is good. The problem is that it is hardly ever ordered during a fertility workup, it is often run without the total IgA it needs beside it, and it stops working entirely once gluten is out of the diet.
So while testing positive gives you a definite diagnosis, testing “normal” doesn’t mean you don’t have celiac.
Research suggests celiac disease is roughly five to six times more common in women with unexplained infertility than in women without fertility problems. It is worth saying that the evidence is not unanimous, and at least one review found no elevation at all. But the signal is strong enough that the question deserves asking.
I always tell my clients that it’s my job to give you all the tools in my toolbox that can potentially make a positive difference, so while I do suggest running lab tests for celiac disease (including checking for the common celiac genes HLADQ2 and HLADQ8 and gluten antibodies), even if tests come back negative, a fertility problem is, in and of itself, a possible sign of celiac.
If you’re experiencing infertility, especially unexplained infertility or recurrent loss, even if you don’t have any other symptoms of gluten intolerance, cutting out gluten makes sense just in case.
Let’s also talk about the impact that gluten has on the health of your gut bacteria, and in turn, your fertility.
When you have gluten intolerance, inflammation develops in the lining of the small intestine, resulting in compromised nutrient absorption, and leading to leaky gut (a condition where the intestines are chronically irritated). Just like chronic inflammation, a leaky gut puts your immune system in a constant state of “battle-ready.” If your body is inflamed and your gut is not working properly, this can prevent your digestive tract from absorbing critical nutrients. This includes protein, fats, zinc, vitamin D, iron, and selenium—all important for conception and a healthy pregnancy.
Gut dysbiosis, the term for when the microbiota in your gut become severely imbalanced, can be another consequence of gluten intolerance. Gut dysbiosis can not only prevent your body from absorbing critical nutrients, it can also damage the health of your vaginal microbiota. When your vaginal flora are out of balance, it creates an environment that is not healthy for sperm or for a fertilized egg to implant, causing issues with conception, implantation, and also with IVF success.
Even if you are able to get pregnant, imbalanced vaginal microbiota can be dangerous for pregnant women, increasing the risk of second-trimester miscarriage, preterm labor, and postpartum endometriosis. If you get regular vaginal infections, this is a sure sign that your vaginal flora is out of balance, and is another possible symptom of gluten intolerance.
Ready to give up your (gluten-containing) donuts yet?
The simplest way to heal your gut, and therefore optimize fertility, pregnancy and hormone health, is to follow the 4R program, which is what I use with my clients, because it simplifies the process and is easy to remember.
One thing before you remove anything.
The blood test for celiac disease only works while you are still eating gluten. The antibodies it measures are made in response to gluten, so once you take it out, they fall. Cut gluten and then test, and you get a result nobody can interpret. Not a negative. An unreadable one.
Most women reading this do not need the test. But if any of these describe you, ask your doctor for a celiac screen before you change how you eat.
| Test before you remove gluten if you have: | Why you should test: |
|---|---|
| Iron or ferritin that will not come up despite supplementing | The most common presentation in adult women, and the one most often answered with a bigger dose instead of a question |
| A first-degree relative with celiac | An accepted screening indication on its own |
| An existing autoimmune diagnosis, Hashimoto's especially | Autoimmune conditions cluster |
| Digestive symptoms you have already mentioned to a doctor | An accepted screening indication |
| Recurrent pregnancy los | Untreated celiac is associated with loss and preterm birth |
| B12, vitamin D or bone density low without a good explanation | Malabsorption pattern |
If none of these is you, you do not need the test. Alternatively, I recommend taking gluten out of your diet completely for twelve weeks and paying attention to what changes.
Remove all foods that irritate the gut, most importantly gluten. Check your pantry, refrigerator, and anything you choose to put in your mouth, and get rid of everything that lists ‘wheat flour’ (in any form) or the words ‘contains GLUTEN’ on the ingredient label.
This includes things like: bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, chips, baked goods, desserts, pretzels, granola, prepackaged sauces, salad dressings, marinades, etc. You’d be amazed at what gluten ends up in. The safest thing is to do is only buy and eat real, whole, organic foods that don’t have an ingredient label.
Remember that pre-made and packaged convenience foods, even when they’re labeled “gluten-free”, are still a not-so-great choice. Many of these products contain highly processed rice, corn, or potato flours, tons of added sugar, seed oils, and are often cross-contaminated with gluten anyway. Another sneaky place you might find gluten? Cosmetics! So check those labels too (and if you need guidance, read this).
Remove ALL of these gut-irritating foods from your diet:
This is where we add in digestive support to help your body properly break down, digest and assimilate the nutrients necessary for gut healing and immune support. If you experience bloating, gas, heartburn, loose stools, constipation, or feel like food is always “sitting in your stomach” after you eat, you will definitely benefit from adding in additional digestive support. You can try digestive enzymes, Betaine HCl, or 1 Tbs. of apple cider vinegar in water with your meals:
This is where we focus on re-establishing healthy bacteria in the gut, healing both your intestinal microbiome and your vaginal microbiome by eating plenty of naturally fermented foods like kombucha, kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, and kefir water, and taking a potent, high quality probiotic every single day.
My favorite probiotic is ProbioSpore. Start with 1 capsule daily and work up to 2 capsules daily over a 7 day period. Continue on 2 capsules per day.
In addition to rebuilding your intestinal and vaginal microbiota, you’ll also want to work on healing your gut lining. It’s important to make sure that you’re eating plenty of anti-inflammatory, gut healing foods to make sure that your body has access to critical nutrients at every meal.
Make sure you’re eating lots of these beneficial anti-inflammatory foods:
In addition, you can reduce gut inflammation and regulate hormone production with high quality, gut healing fats, like:
There are also some important supplements to take that are critical for gut healing:
The bottom line is that you need to be on a strict gluten free diet for at least 3 months, sometimes more, to really begin to notice the changes, and maximize the potential benefits.
You do not need a diagnosis for this to be worth doing.
I have watched this one for nearly twenty years, so let me tell you what it actually looks like.
Digestion moves first. Bloating, usually inside the first week or two.
Energy comes next, somewhere around week three or four, and it is rarely dramatic. It is more that the afternoon stops being something to get through.
Skin and headaches take longer. Four to six weeks, often.
Cycles are last, and they have to be. A cycle is reporting on the ninety days behind it, so one gluten-free month tells you very little. Two or three is when women start telling me their PMS is different, or the spotting stopped, or their period turned up without the two days of dread in front of it.
Most of these women do not have celiac disease. It does not seem to matter.
I cannot tell you the research on gluten and fertility in women without celiac is strong, because it isn’t. What I can tell you is what I watch happen, over and over, and that a body that feels better is not a small thing when you are trying to conceive.
Here’s how to do it so the answer means something.
Half in gives you the same problem as testing after you’ve quit. An unreadable result.
Gluten is in soy sauce, most oats, a lot of dressings, marinades and stock, and it shows up as a binder in some supplements and medications. A shared toaster counts. Twelve weeks of mostly is not twelve weeks.
Pick three specific things to track before you start. Your worst symptom, your energy at 3pm, and something about your cycle.
Write them down now, because in twelve weeks you will not remember accurately, and then you will have done the whole thing and still be guessing.
Then after the 12 weeks, read the changes honestly. If nothing changed, that is information too, and you get to stop spending attention on this one. That is a result, not a failed experiment.
And if something did change, you do not need a lab to confirm it. Feeling better is a finding.
Super Simple Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 ripe organic bananas
1 organic, pastured egg
1 heaping tbsp of raw almond butter + more for topping
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
High quality maple syrup (optional)
Directions:
If you’re trying to get pregnant and looking for a solution-based, comprehensive approach, read my complete guide: What’s Actually Preventing Pregnancy — and How to Fix It.
If you’ve been told everything looks normal but you’re still not pregnant, or you have a diagnosis like PCOS, endometriosis, or poor egg quality and nothing is working, there’s almost always something deeper that hasn’t been found yet.
Standard fertility testing rarely evaluates the factors that actually determine whether pregnancy happens: egg quality, ovulation quality, metabolic health, inflammation, nutrient status, and how your body responds to stress.
After nearly 20 years and over a thousand clients, I’ve found that most fertility struggles come down to a small number of hidden drivers preventing pregnancy. When those drivers are identified and addressed in the right order, the body responds.
That’s exactly what we uncover inside The Fertility Code, my 12-week, high-touch fertility program for women who are done guessing. We find what’s been missed and build a clear, personalized strategy around your body, your labs, and your history.
With 1:1 coaching, direct access between calls, lab reviews, evidence-based content, and structured accountability, you get expert eyes on your case so you can stop second-guessing and start moving forward with clarity.
Over 90% of the women I work with go on to conceive.
If you’re ready to finally understand what your body needs for a successful pregnancy and address what’s been missed, you can explore the program here → The Fertility Code.
Or schedule a free Fertility Strategy Call to see if the program is right for you.
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