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 Suspect you may have a gluten intolerance? Here’s what to look for and how to survive eating gluten free.
Gluten is a type of complex protein that occurs in four grains - wheat, rye, barley and oats. There are a huge number of foods which contain gluten since grain based foods make up a great majority of our diet. .jpg) So how do you survive if you need to cut gluten out of your diet? First of all – do you need to be gluten free? A number of people cut gluten out of their diet thinking it is unhealthy, however gluten only needs to be removed from the diet of people who have celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Coeliac disease is a permanent intolerance to dietary gluten, and can be triggered by eating wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats. Eating gluten causes damage to the finger-like ‘villi’, in the small intestine reducing their ability to absorb nutrients.
If a gluten free diet is not adhered to, serious damage can occur to the small intestine. Symptoms include diarrhea, weight loss and nutritional deficiencies.  On the other hand, gluten intolerance is not as severe. People with gluten intolerance experience discomfort after eating food containing gluten (whether that be from wheat, rye, barley or oats). Symptoms may include tummy upset and others such as fatigue, headache or irritability. Apart from reducing symptoms, there is little evidence to suggest that there are long term health benefits from removing gluten from your diet. The best bet if you think you may be intolerant is to see a doctor who will rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. So, if you need to remove gluten from your diet what do you need to look for and avoid?  Become an avid label reader
Gluten is added to a number of foods so the first thing you need to do is to start reading food labels. Labels are required to state if a food contains gluten or not. Also, ingredients barley, bulgar, couscous, durum wheat, farina, flour, kamut, oat, polenta, semolina, spelt, triticale are ones to look for as they contain gluten.
Become familiar with what foods are gluten free
A great resource for people with allergies is the Manufactured Food Database website. They have a large list of foods that are gluten free, right from takeaway foods to sauces and preserves.  What can you eat?
Foods containing corn, maize, potato, rice, soy or tapioca are suitable for people with Coeliac disease. Some people who are gluten intolerant can eat barley, oats and rye –as it seems that some gluten intolerant people are just intolerant to wheat. But those with Coeliac’s must avoid all of these. There are also a number of food ranges that are specifically gluten free, such as the Healtheries Simple range.
Dining out
Always let the waiter know that you have a food allergy. Learn about preparation techniques: you'll need to know whether the meat has been marinated in soy sauce, the meat has been floured before cooking, or the chips have been seasoned. It’s good to become as educated so you can avoid ingredients containing gluten. Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter lots of questions. Finally, always double check when your order arrives that they’ve followed your instructions. That way you’ll know you’ll be safe. Nicola, Nutritionist |
