Avoiding Gluten

     

1. Always read labels on packaged foods. Avoid ingredients such as flour-based binders and fillers and modified starch. Be suspicious of any labels that specifies "other flours" because they are likely to include at least some wheta derriviatives. Beer is made from barley and should be avoided, along with malted drinks.
2. Outside the home, order only plain foods, such as broiled fish or meat, steamed vegetables, and baked potato-all without any sauces or dressing. Even communion wafers contain some gluten. However, gluten-free wafers are now available; just need to check with your pastor.

Contrary to popular belief, people with celilac disease, can eat pasta, bread and other baked products, but they must look for gluten-free items, such as rice pasta and baked goods made with corn, rice potato, or soy flours. Gluten-free flour is now available. In general, it is better to prepare most foods at home to assure a healthy diet without risking exposure to gluten. It was once believed that oats also contained the offending gliadin protein, but some analyses have shown that they do not. Thus, doctors are now allowing patients to experiment with oat products; if they provoke symtoms, however, differentiate between pure oats and oat products that have been contaminated with wheats; care must be taken to avoid the latter. Take for instance when a person with celiac disease first starts a gluten-free diet, the body's healing response time may take several weeks or months. This is because the time it takes for the lining of the digestive system to regrow. However, the immune system will remember gluten, and any further ingestion of gluten can cause prolonged damage.