Because of our dependence in the Western diet on wheat, and to a lesser extent oats, barley and rye, gluten is contained in many of the foods commonly eaten.
What Ever Gluten Is It Must Be Tasty!
The hard part of cutting out gluten from the diet is that the alternatives do not taste and cook the same as wheat! Some gluten-free breads leave a nasty after-taste that even toasting the bread cannot help! Reading labels must become a part of shopping! Gluten can be a hidden ingredient in many common foods. Malt, glucose, food additives, and vitamin supplements may all contain gluten. Lipsticks and postage stamps too!
The Good News
Food manufacturers have tapped into the growing market for /?Tasty-Gluten-Free-Food&id=4314031" gluten-free foods . For those with a gluten sensitivity or those who want to reduce the intake of gluten, there has been an explosion of foods available in the past two years. Prices too have subsequently fallen. Restaurants are also increasingly offering modified choices.
More Good News
Because wheat flour is often an ingredient in pre-packaged cakes, biscuits and doughnuts, in reducing consumption of these and in increasing fruits and vegetables, intake of fats and sugars is thereby lowered. The subsequent positive side-effects of weight loss, reduced intake of harmful trans fats, and brighter skin help to balance the inconvenience!
Dietary Considerations
For those with Coeliac's Disease, dietary requirements include increasing:
- fibre-eg. rice, beans, peas, potatoes, lentils.
- iron-eg. eggs, chicken, seafood, green vegetables.
- folate-eg. orange juice, leafy green vegetables.
- B12-eg. eggs, milk, fish, meat.
- thiamine.
- Vitamin C-eg. citrus.
What To Eat Now?
Reducing or eliminating gluten from the diet may seem a daunting task, that ends with a bland variety of foods, but with the ever expanding choice of suitable foods, it's getting much easier! It's more a question now of learning new choices.
Road-testing lots of different products has uncovered several that make the transition smoother, and some of these have been included, to pass on the benefit of our trial and error!
Prices are generally higher than the equivalent products containing gluten but careful shopping can reduce this discrepancy.
