If you are suffering from celiac disease, including gluten free foods in your diet may help relieve your symptoms. Celiac disease is an illness where the small intestine is harmed by a reaction to foods containing gluten. The damage prevents the body from deriving essential nutrients from any foods that are consumed. The result is malnutrition.
As licensed nutritionists will tell you, foods that include gluten trigger the reaction that causes celiac disease. Gluten-containing foods include wheat, rye, barley, malts, bulgur, matzo meal, farina, and triticale. There is some question whether oats are also a trigger. These grains are sometimes used as a food additive that is referred to on labels as dextrin. Anyone with celiac disease needs to avoid these foods in order to control their symptoms.
Food Industry Starting To Respond
As more people are diagnosed with this disease, the food industry has responded by offering an ever-increasing number of gluten-free products. Corn, potatoes, rice and tapioca are often substituted for foods containing gluten.
Every day, the gluten free foods section of grocery stores is being expanded and there are also many choices available on the Internet. Celiac sufferers can also find recipes that substitute safe foods in their favorite dishes. There are blogs and websites being created by those with the disease, designed to share the knowledge they have gained.
The most difficult part of accepting a gluten free diet is that bread cannot be consumed. This includes any type of bread product, such as bagels, pizza dough, doughnuts, and muffins. Cereal is another product that must be avoided in its traditional form. The good news, however, is that more companies are creating breads and cereals using rice or potato flour as their base.
Forgoing pasta is another difficult reality for celiac disease sufferers. But one can substitute rice noodles or spaghetti squash to get the satisfying feeling that pasta gives.
Understanding Food Labels
In order to adhere to gluten free diets, consumers must become educated in reading food labels and in knowing the various names for products containing gluten. Some gluten foods that need to be avoided include hydrolyzed vegetable protein, vegetable gum, soy sauce, and modified food starch. Often, such words as modified, food starch, emulsifier and stabilizer indicate that the product contains gluten. Commercially produced salad dressings, gravies, yogurts, and soups can all include gluten.
Gluten Free Foods
A gluten free food list would include meats, eggs, fish, milk, vegetables, potatoes, butter, rice, quinoa, soybeans, wine, beans, nuts, and buckwheat. A diet that includes only gluten free foods is much more healthy than a traditional diet. It includes mostly fresh, unprocessed foods and limits one’s exposure to additives. Adopting a diet based on gluten free foods can spark one’s creativity in the kitchen. Substituting gluten free products for one’s old favorites offers a chance to get everyone in the family eating a more healthy diet. Instead of using canned soups, sauces and salad dressings, one can incorporate fresh, seasonal herbs and vegetables from the garden or local farmers’ market into traditional family recipes.