More people are adopting a gluten-free diet. People who have celiac disease must eat a diet free of gluten to avoid health problems, but other people eliminate gluten from their diet because it makes them feel better or because they believe it makes it easier to control their weight. There is evidence that up to 6% of people who don’t have celiac disease are “gluten sensitive,” meaning they can experience digestive symptoms, fatigue or headaches when they eat foods that contain gluten. So there are people who will feel better on a gluten-free diet even if they don’t have celiac disease.
Gluten-Free: Grains You Can and Can’t Eat
Eating a gluten-free diet has become easier to do because of the increased focus on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, but knowing what you can eat and what you can’t is still challenging. Most people with celiac disease are already aware that they can’t eat wheat in any of its forms including semolina, spelt, faro, kamut, bulgur, and durum. They also need to avoid rye, barley and triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye. Oats may be safe, but they’re sometimes contaminated with wheat unless you buy them from a manufacturer that guarantees they’re free of gluten. Look for oats that are certified as gluten-free.
This doesn’t mean people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity can’t enjoy grains. Gluten-free grains including buckwheat, amaranth, millet, corn, quinoa, sorghum, rice, and teff are all acceptable options and provide a good source of fiber. This is important since one of the problems with going gluten-free is the lack of dietary fiber.
The Importance of Reading Labels
Unless a packaged product is labeled gluten-free, you’ll need to carefully read the entire list of ingredients, checking for ingredients that contain gluten. If the label shows that a product contains oat flour, malt, barley malt, malt vinegar, soy sauce, bran, duram or spelt, put it back on the shelf. Wheat and gluten can hide under many names, so print out a list of ingredients to avoid.
Gluten can “hide” in foods you wouldn’t suspect like canned meat, soup, yogurt, salad dressings, pickles, beverage mixes, broth mixes, and condiments. Read labels on everything you buy. Keep in mind that manufacturers sometimes change their products or add new ingredients.
The easiest way to avoid gluten is to eat more whole foods and choose products that are labeled gluten-free. To earn such a label, a food must contain 20 parts per million or less of gluten and have no unacceptable grains like wheat, barley or rye. Read the label to ensure the product was made in a wheat-free facility to avoid the risk of cross-contamination. Some foods are naturally free of gluten including fruits and vegetables that aren’t coated with a gluten-containing resin, milk, eggs, butter, tree nuts, peanuts, lentils, and fish.
Going Gluten-Free Increases Awareness
One positive aspect of going gluten-free is it forces you to read labels. In doing so, you become more aware of the many chemicals, food additives, and preservatives that are in packaged foods. That can help you make healthier food choices overall.
The Bottom Line?
If you practice a gluten-free lifestyle, choose more whole foods that are naturally free of gluten, and when you buy packaged products, look for ones that are labeled gluten-free. Understand the many names that wheat and gluten can hide under and read labels carefully.
References:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “A Glimpse at ‘Gluten-Free’ Food Labeling”
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