Gluten Free Information

If you have Coeliac disease or have been on a gluten free diet for a while this blog post may not offer too much new information but hopefully you will enjoy trying out the recipe below. If you have recently been diagnosed with gluten intolerance or Ceoliac disease or have friends who are gluten intolerant you are sure to find some useful information in this blog.

When I had my belief confirmed that I was gluten intolerant I found it very easy to adapt my diet as making the change to a gluten free diet is simpler than you think. There are a few things you need to watch out for and then the rest will come easily. The purpose of this blog is to make it easier for you.

Very often people who find out they have Coeliac disease have been born with the disease and often don’t find out until their health is in a poor state. Early signs of gluten intolerance can been seen through intestinal bloating and cramping. My symptoms were more subtle and I suffered from dizziness which came at any time of the day. Eating gluten was not allowing my small intestine to work properly and the essential nutrients I needed from food were not being absorbed. Continuing to eat gluten when actually intolerant or having Coeliac disease can cause leaky gut syndrome which results in a large number of illnesses.

If you are unsure on whether you are gluten intolerant you can easily check for yourself by eliminating gluten from your diet for a good thirty days. If you find you are not getting intestinal problems and feeling healthier you may be gluten intolerant. Sometimes gluten intolerance and Ceoliac disease go undetected by blood tests so relying on them alone is not always wise.

There appears to be more gluten intolerance in the world since the 1950’s and more increasingly in the last decade. Some studies show that it is because people are eating more products that contain gluten and others that the varieties of wheat used have changed to combat pests etc. and those wheat strains are harder on the digestive system.

Whatever the reason I know I feel infinitely better when I stick to a gluten free diet. The main products I had to change were pasta and bread. Bread was the easy one as it didn’t play a big role in my diet and my once a week pasta dish got replaced with gluten free pasta. These days there are lots of different varieties of gluten free pasta so you are sure to find one you like. Pastry is also a difficult one for people who are used to eating pies. I just use quinoa as a pie topping these days as gluten free pastry takes quite a lot of making. I then found that the rest of what I was eating was actually gluten free.

Below is a list of grains you can’t eat, grains you can eat and a list of ingredients that may contain gluten as well as some suggestions on how to make a gluten free diet easy to follow and then a lovely recipe.

Grains that contain gluten, avoid these completely

Wheat- any type and including cous cous and semolina

Rye

Spelt

Barley

Kamut

Oats

Grains that you can eat

Rice

Buckwheat

Millet

Quinoa

Amaranth

Corn

Chick pea flour

Products that may contain gluten

The lists of the grains you can and can’t eat make it easy. Where it becomes more difficult though is that many pre packaged goods contain gluten. Food manufacturers are becoming more savvy now and omitting them but not all so you do really need to check all your labels.

Soy sauce (I suggest buying gluten free tamari anyway- much healthier)

Bottled sauces, mayonnaise, dressings, mustards, curry pastes

Potato chips and other snacks, even rice crackers

Soya and rice milks

Chocolate

Pre made cakes

Baking powders

Biscuits

Stock cubes

Some cornflour and baking powder contain gluten

Asafoetida

Pre made spice mixes

Making a Gluten Free Diet easy to follow

It is my intention to make gluten free easy but maybe by now you are tearing your hair out thinking what can I eat or what can I cook for my gluten free friends.

It is easier than it looks, by following the points I make below you can't go wrong.

Avoid gluten bread, pasta, pizza and pies- eat gluten free bread if you like but do check the labels- many have sugar and lots of heavy rice products
Eat healthy grains instead.
Quinoa
Millet
Amaranth
buckwheat
Avoid Pre packaged things even that say they are gluten free (as they contain a lot of sugar.)
Use tamari instead of soy sauce.
Use organic gluten free Australian Herb salt instead of stock cubes.
Many of the meals that you already make are probably gluten free for example
Rice and curry (if the curry is made from scratch)
Stirfry (if using tamari, and fresh herbs)
Potato and vegetable dishes
Egg dishes
Home made pasta sauces served with millet, rice or quinoa
Roast, BBQ or steamed veg
Use besan flour in savoury recipes that call for flour.
Use rice crumbs instead of bread crumbs.
Use quinoa instead of cous cous.
All of my recipes in both books are gluten free and all of the recipes in my blog posts and on facebook are gluten free. There are many gluten free recipes on the net now, stick to the simple ones.
Make your own gluten free cakes and raw desserts- they are easier than you think and you can regulate the amount of sugar that goes into them. The ones in my cook book and raw food book are divine.
And one last thing, you do need to be careful when you eat out- avoid anything that is put in the deep fryer as a gluten product may have been fried before whatever it is that you are ordering.
And a great start for tonight’s dinner is to make the below recipe. Eat it with a simple salad or steamed vegetables.