Gluten has been blamed for various health complaints, but cutting it out can be tricky. Here are a few easy steps to guide you for going gluten free.
Gluten, a pesky protein found in wheat, rye and barley, is the latest scapegoat for everything from big bellies and heart disease to diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Before you give up your freshly baked croissants and beloved pasta dinners though, you’d probably like to know whether there’s any truth to these claims.
As it turns out, even if you’re not allergic to gluten, chances are that you’re sensitive to it. The only questions that remain are, how sensitive are you and why should you care? Gluten acts as an anti nutrient, irritating and inflaming your gut lining. This unsticks the glue that holds your intestinal cells together, making your gut leaky.
A leaky gut allows all sorts of usually banned substances into your bloodstream, including illness-inducing bugs and allergy-causing proteins. These troublesome molecules may increase your chances of getting sick and promote generalized inflammation (an immune response that is good in moderation, but damaging in excess).
Scientists believe that inflammation may seriously increase your risk of getting heart disease; diabetes; autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus; and even Alzheimer’s.
The jury is still out on whether gluten makes you fat, but considering its apparent aggravating effects on obesity-related conditions like heart disease and diabetes, it’s probably best to play it safe and at least reduce your gluten consumption, if not cut it out completely. Give up gluten in 5 steps
Avoid the big three: wheat, rye and barley
This isn’t as easy as avoiding bread, pasta and barley soup. These grains may take many other names or forms. Durum or graham flour, semolina, farina, khorasan wheat, spelt, bulgur, bran and couscous are all forms of wheat.
Oats don’t contain gluten, but they’re often contaminated with gluten during processing in facilities that process one of the big three gluten- containing grains. So, it’s probably best to avoid oats as well, unless the packaging specifically says that it’s gluten-free.
Become a gluten detective
Gluten is hidden in many unexpected places: medications and supplements (look for the word starch on labels), beverages (malt drinks like Horlicks or beer contain barley), gravies, sauces, condiments, spreads, deli meats, pre-packaged meals, convenience foods and sweet treats. The more processed the food, the more likely it ¡s to have gluten hidden in it somewhere.
Educate yourself. You’ll need to get to know the many names for gluten-containing ingredients in order to avoid them. Learn to read labels. Additives or thickeners may also contain gluten (eg. dextrin [usually made from corn, but sometimes made from wheat], some flavourings, modified food starch and unidentified sources of hydrolyzed protein).
Go the whole food route
Gluten-free convenience foods may seem like the perfect way to save time and compensate for the sudden loss of your dietary favourites. A word of caution though: packaged gluten-free foods are usually very processed, full of sugar and low in other nutrients.
If you focus on eating wholefoods as much as possible, you’re less likely to encounter secret gluten-containing ingredients. Plus, you’re likely to benefit from many healthy spin-off effects.
Know which foods you can eat
Fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, beans, dairy, nuts, seeds, oils and butter are all allowed. Carbohydrate-rich foods that don’t contain gluten include arrowroot, amaranth, buckwheat, flax, corn (maize), legume flours (garbanzo, chickpea, lentil, pea), millet, nut flours (almond, hazelnut, pecan), quinoa, rice, rice bran, potato starch, potato flour, sweet potato flour, sago, seed flours (sesame), sorghum, soya and tapioca.
Many of these may sound foreign to you. So if you’re serious about going gluten-free, you’ll need to open your mind and learn to experiment with new foods and flavours. Google gluten-free recipes or invest in a gluten-free cookbook
and get creative!
Be prepared
A bit of planning can be the difference between success and failure. If you’re severely gluten intolerant you’ll need to store and prepare your gluten-free food away from gluten-containing items.
Keep healthy gluten-free snacks on hand, so you don’t turn to forbidden foods. Plan for social occasions or eating out. Be prepared for criticism and try to get your family and friends’ support and understanding by making it clear to them how important this is to you.
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