What To Avoid When Gluten Free

Foods To Avoid For Celiac Disease

I wish the guidelines for avoiding gluten were as easy as telling you to stop eating wheat, barley, and rye flour. Thats part of what you need to do, but it is much more complicated than that. There are many hidden sources of gluten, and beyond that, some naturally gluten-free products can be cross-contaminated with gluten.

Here are lists of foods, ingredients and additives to avoid. Study this list carefully and refer to it often. Eventually, youll have the foods memorized.

COMMON FOODS THAT CONTAIN GLUTEN

• Barley
• Beer
• Blue cheese
• Bread flour
• Groats
• Kamut
• Malt
• Malt beverages
• Matzo
• Orzo
• Pasta
• Rye
• Seitan
• Soy sauce
• Spelt
• Teriyaki sauce
• Triticale

List Of Foods To Avoid

On a gluten-free diet, those with celiac disease must not ingest anything containing gluten. This includes foods, beverages, some medications, and even products like cosmetics.

Gluten is a protein that acts like glue to help foods hold their shape. It is mostly found in products containing the grains wheat, barley, rye, and triticale, but it can be used as a thickening agent or filler in certain packaged food products, like salad dressing, sauces, and soups.

As such, if you have celiac disease, it’s important to read the labels of any packaged products to ensure they don’t list gluten in the ingredients. Look for products that are third-party tested and certified gluten-free.

Ditch The Gluten Improve Your Health

• By Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

This just in: A new health myth has been taking the country by storm.

Perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit. After all, health fads especially diet fads have come and gone for decades. Some are more worthy than others. For example, I am impressed by the evidence supporting the Mediterranean diet as a healthy option. As each one of us is different, the “ideal diet” may not be the same for each person. But the interest and enthusiasm surrounding the gluten-free food movement in recent years has been remarkable. Not so long ago, relatively few people had ever heard of gluten. And it certainly wasn’t the “food movement” it has recently become.

If you’re considering limiting your consumption of gluten, you’re certainly not alone. But the question is: Will restricting the gluten you eat improve your health? And will it make you feel better? It’s appealing to think so.

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Why Do I Need To Avoid Oats

Research by our patron Dr Robert Anderson has shown that approximately one in five people with coeliac disease react to pure, uncontaminated oats.

Since we cannot determine who the one in five is, who reacts to pure oats and we know that gut damage can occur even without symptoms the advice of both Dr Anderson and Coeliac New Zealand is that oats should not be consumed.

The only exception is if you receive a gastroscopy/biopsy before commencing eating oats, and after you have been consuming them for a time. This is currently the only test that can say whether it is safe for you to consume oats on a gluten free diet. Talk to your Dr. about whether this could be right for you.

Once you start your gluten-free diet your symptoms should gradually improve and your gut will start to heal. It can take from 6 months to five years for your gut to fully heal.

Coeliacs need strict gluten-free diet for life. Eating even small amounts of gluten can trigger your immune system and cause your symptoms to return, so adherence to a coeliac-safe gluten free diet is important for long-term health.

Recognise the common sources of gluten and what to avoid and always check food labels to ensure the food you are consuming is gluten free. The allergywell.co.nz food finder can also be a helpful guide.

For People With A Wheat Allergy

A wheat allergy is a gluten related disorder, but its a little different than the rest.

With a wheat allergy, your body produces antibodies to all the proteins found in wheat.

This includes gluten, as well as gliadin, prolamin, and secalin.

Its symptoms include:

In extreme cases, it can lead to anaphylaxis, a life threatening reaction where your airway tightens and can even close up entirely.

The best way to manage this condition is to avoid wheat proteins including gluten entirely.

You may also need to carry an EpiPen in case of a reaction this is a device full of epinephrine, which can quickly and forcefully reopen your airways in case of anaphylaxis.

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Food Labelling And Gluten

All packaged foods have ingredient labels printed on the box, package or bottle. There are three methods of finding suitable foods by reading the labelling. These include looking for:

• foods carrying the Coeliac Australia Endorsement logo
• foods labelled gluten free’
• foods made for the general market that do not contain ingredients derived from gluten-containing grains.

Under mandatory labelling standards, all ingredients and food additives derived from wheat, rye, barley, or oats must be declared in the ingredient list of foods sold in Australia. The use of an allergen summary statement is also now mandatory gluten must be declared as Contains gluten, if present.

There is an Australian Food Standard for processed foods labelled gluten free. When foods labelled gluten free are tested there must be no detectable gluten.

How Do I Start A Gluten

Restaurants and other food services are adapting to a gluten-free diet at the speed of light. But you cant order out all the time . However, going gluten-free should be easy if you keep in mind a few things.

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Food Matters Safe Food You Can Eat

To end on a positive note I also made a list of Foods You Can Eat. Yes, you must learn the names of gluten containing foods but you also need to eat every day. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and eat well while you learn. Here are my tips during this time.

• Plan meals with naturally gluten free whole foods you love. How about steak, baked potato and fresh asparagus?
• Be adventurous! Try fruits and vegetables youve never tried before or dont often buy. Treat yourself.
• Cook using different methods that sound interesting to you. Ready for deep frying at home?

I use a seasonal approach to cooking so I enjoy produce at its best and naturally have variety built into my everyday meals. It takes time to learn to read labels but youve got to start somewhere. My list of naturally gluten free foods is to help you focus on what you can eat. This in turn will help you feel more positive about living gluten free.

The list isnt going to turn into dinner without a bit of effort but an adventurous spirit and love of food will take you far. Along with some butter and a little salt and pepper. Id love to hear in the comments below what you found helpful or what was confusing.

Whats All The Fuss About

For over 10,000 years, humans cultivated and ate gluten-filled crops without a problem. But ever since the industrialization of wheat flour, people started experiencing grain-related digestive issues.

In response, more and more people seek a practical gluten free-diet plan for beginners hence whythe demand for gluten-free products exploded in the past 30 years. For example, in 2018 alone, the US gluten-free market reached a value of a whopping $8.79 billion!

We dont yet know all the reasons behind it, butGrainstorm points to these potential culprits:

• Grain-selective flour technology

• Gluten Intolerance

• Wheat Allergy

Youve probably noticed that obesity is missing from this list of medical issues. Yet, this is no coincidence. Following a gluten-free diet plan to lose weight is medically proven to be effective at least partly.

Nevertheless, every individual is different and not everyone responds to a gluten-free diet the same way. Hence, the only way to find out whether this diet will aid your digestive tract or help lose some weight is to try it. Testing gluten-free eating will also allow you to self-diagnose an eventual gluten intolerance.

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There May Be An Association Between Gluten And Worsened Symptoms Of Autism And Autoimmune Disorders For Some People

A 2019 study divided 34 women with autoimmune thyroiditis into two groups. One group was put on a gluten-free diet for six months, while the other continued to eat gluten and have no dietary restrictions. Antibodies and other indicators of thyroid function were measured before and after the study. The researchers found that a gluten-free diet was beneficial for women with autoimmune thyroid disease. Now, are we sure that the difference was caused by the presence or absence of gluten? No, were not. It could have been some other factors in their diets including, for example, different levels of exposure to glyphosate or Reglone. But based on this study, Id say that anyone dealing with autoimmune thyroid disease may want to consider giving a gluten-free diet a try.

Some people have reported an improvement in autism behaviors when adhering to a gluten-free and casein-free diet. But the evidence is mixed, and many studies are small. For instance, a 2018 review of six randomized controlled trials involving 214 participants found little evidence that a gluten-free, casein-free diet had much impact on children with autism spectrum disorder. However, there are a sizable number of anecdotal reports from parents saying their children have seen improvements in behavior, social skills, and learning with a gluten-free diet. Whether this is primarily the result of the placebo effect, or would, in fact, stand up to the rigors of a well-designed study, remains to be seen.

To Manage Chronic Inflammation

Inflammation is the bodys natural response to fight infections, but when it gets out of hand it can become chronic and cause many health problems.

Many studies have shown that a gluten free diet can reduce inflammation and help repair the damage caused to the gut in people with celiac disease.

There is ongoing research into non celiac gluten sensitivity to understand whats triggering the reaction it might be the gluten itself, or a compound that commonly occurs alongside gluten.

Most often it starts with the early introduction of cereal grains, breads crackers, or any other grain products.

Prior to 18 months of age, children dont make the necessary enzymes to break down and digest grain products.

Regardless of the cause, however, removing gluten from your diet can help manage your symptoms.

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Why Are Doctors Against A Gluten

If youre diagnosed with celiac disease, youll have to stay on a gluten-free diet even after you feel well because eating gluten can damage the small intestine, cause nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition, keep the immune system from working properly, and make it hard for the body to fight infections.

Related Guidance On Gluten Detection Methodologies

Currently, the most commonly used methods to detect the presence of gluten are ELISA-based methods, which use antibodies to detect proteins or specific parts of proteins . In general, these methods are sensitive and specific to the analytes they target and can detect gluten in a wide variety of foods. However, these methods may have difficulty detecting and/or quantifying proteins that have been hydrolyzed, fragmented or otherwise structurally altered, since the antibody will no longer react in the same manner if the epitopes have changed significantly.

However, based on the most recent assessment conducted by Health Canada, methods using the Mendez antibodies allow for the detection and quantification of gluten in processed foods. Health Canada will continue to assess analytical methods that are specific to the detection and quantification of gluten in processed foods and will provide further guidance on the applicability of these methods.

Health Canada is continually monitoring the latest scientific evidence on Celiac disease and gluten detection methodologies, and will update its guidance if and when it is required as new information becomes available.

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Recent Advances In The Knowledge Base About Gluten Intolerance And Celiac Disease

Individuals affected by Celiac disease have been shown to be capable of tolerating a small amount of gluten in their diet. The amount of gluten to which a person with Celiac disease can be exposed before the gluten will have a negative impact on their health is often referred to as a “threshold level”. The types of studies required to estimate threshold levels are demanding on study participants, given they require invasive diagnostic procedures to look for signs of intestinal damage. For this reason only a small number of these studies have been conducted usually with a limited number of participants.

Health Canada has conducted exposure estimationsFootnote 4 to gluten from grain-containing foods and foods with grain-derived ingredients , taking into consideration the various rates of food consumption by different sex and age groups. These estimates have concluded that if gluten was present at levels not exceeding 20ppm , exposure to gluten would remain below 10 mg per day for all age groups studied. As individuals with celiac disease tend to consume even fewer servings of grain-based products, these estimates further demonstrate that even if all foods labelled as gluten-free food contained 20 ppm gluten, the majority of people with Celiac disease would still be protected . This assessment will be made available in the peer reviewed scientific literature.

Is Banana Boat Sunscreen Gluten Free

Maybe. Banana Boat isnt forthright in sharing whether or not its products contain gluten, but it does say on its website, We do not add to our products common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, dairy or gluten.

When a company says its products do not contain gluten ingredients, I generally feel comfortable with them because it means they havent independently tested the products to ensure they contain less than 20 ppm per the FDA gluten-free labeling guidelines.

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More Strategies For A Gluten

Here are ideas to better make the transition to a gluten-free diet:

• These include cooking utensils, cutting boards, forks, knives, and spoons.

• When eating out, if youre not sure about the ingredients in a particular dish, ask the chef how the food was prepared. You can also ask whether a gluten-free menu is available. Most restaurants have a website where you can review the menu in advance.

• Ask your pharmacist if any of your medicines contain wheat or a wheat byproduct. Gluten is used as an additive in many products from medicines to lipstick. Manufacturers can provide a list of ingredients on request if they are not named on the product. Many herbals, vitamins, supplements, and probiotics contain gluten.

• Watch your portion sizes. Gluten-free foods may be safe and good for you, but they’re not calorie-free.

If you still feel symptoms on your gluten-free diet, double check that you’re not still consuming small amounts of gluten hidden in sauces, salad dressings, and canned soups or through additives, such as modified food starch, preservatives, and stabilizers made with wheat. Even some medicines can contain gluten. Tablets and capsules can be sources of gluten contamination. The risk of your medicines containing gluten is very small but, if you are concerned, you should discuss this with your healthcare provider.