An estimated two million Americans have celiac disease and are unable to digest gluten. However, did you know that even more people may benefit from a gluten-free diet? In fact, Dr. Mercola states that gluten sensitivities are an epidemic of hidden intolerance, so it’s not surprising that people feel so much better after taking it out of their diet. Just because you don’t have celiac disease doesn’t mean you aren’t sensitive or intolerant to gluten. Just listen to your body!
If you are feeling confused about what contains gluten and what does not, you are not alone. This is why this guide is going to help you. Most people are just as uncertain as you might be.
Gluten-Free Forever?
While eating gluten-free is not an absolute necessity for everyone, when you take a break from gluten this is often when you feel your absolute best regardless if you’ve been diagnosed as having celiac disease or not. Interestingly, clients I’ve worked with who have children with behavioural problems, autism and food sensitivities benefit immensely from a gluten-free diet.
Here’s what I suggest: Go gluten-free for 2 weeks, try out my recipes and evaluate how you feel. Personally, I eat gluten-free most of the time (and btw, I’m not celiac) and I feel my best when I avoid wheat. I can tell you of all my clients that I see, the ones who take a break from gluten have the best results including weight loss, increased energy, better mental clarity, improved skin and so on.
Source: http://www.healthnowmedical.com/info/gluten_foods.html
| Contains Gluten |  |
Gluten-free | ||
 |
|
|
||
|
Wheat
Wheat germ Wheat grass Rye Barley Bulgur Couscous Farina Graham flour |
Kamut
Matzo Seitan Semolina Spelt Triticale Oats* Oat bran* Oat fiber* |
|
Amaranth
Rice Corn Soy Potato Quinoa Tapioca Tef Beans |
Flax
Garfava Sorghum Millet Buckwheat Arrowroot Nut flours |
* controversial due to contamination
|
|
|
Beer is made from grains and thereby contains gluten. Most other alcohols such as scotch, rye, and vodkas while made from grains that are glutinous, are distilled, which removes the gluten thereby making them safe to consume. Do keep in mind that alcohol when mixed with gluten in food in the sensitive individual, seems to magnify the reaction and therefore should be avoided. Further, many people who have celiac disease or who are gluten sensitive have intestinal infections that creates a poor reaction to alcohol.
The key to understanding the gluten-free diet is to become a good ingredient label reader. Foods with labels that list the following ingredients are questionable and should NOT be consumed unless you can verify they do not contain or are not derived from prohibited grains. Remember you need to be gluten-free, not just wheat-free if you are going to follow this diet. In the past, many products said they were gluten-free while having questionable ingredients. The biggest problems people run into is “thinking” that a product “shouldn’t” contain gluten and thereby failing to read the label. Don’t be fooled and compromise your health – always read the ingredient list carefully. If in doubt, write to the company on-line. Most companies are very forthcoming with such information.
- Blue Cheese – check with the company; many are fine but not all.
- Bran
- Brown Rice Syrup (frequently made from barley)
- Caramel Color (infrequently made from barley)
- Dextrin (usually corn but may be derived from wheat)
- Dry roasted nuts – processing agents may contain wheat
- Emergen-C in raspberry and mixed berry flavors only, the other flavors are fine.
- Flour or Cereal Products
- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Vegetable Protein, Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP), Hydrolyzed Soy Protein or Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)- label will say “wheat”
- Malt or Malt Flavoring (usually made from barley)
- Malt Vinegar
- Modified Food Starch- label will say “wheat”
- Ricola cough drops
- Starch- label will say “wheat”
- Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids – wheat-free is available
Soy is considered an acceptable food for those who are gluten sensitive, however, as a nutritionist it is NOT a food I recommend unless you are consuming traditional soy foods such as tempeh, edamame, some types of miso. Do read the label as grains or wheat-containing soy sauce can be added to miso and tempeh.
Unfortunately soy has some negative characteristics. Soy foods are frequently genetically engineered plus are one of the most common sources of hidden gluten. Seitan and most soy-based veggie burgers contain “vital wheat gluten” – the ingredient that gives these foods the texture and taste of meat. Soy sauce contains wheat and many Asian dishes have added soy sauce. Wheat-free tamari is available however for when you cook at home. This is what I use for cooking and it’s delicious.
Further, despite being gluten-free, soy beans often provoke digestive bloating, gas and allergic symptoms. This may be a true allergy or an intolerance created by genetic engineering. Evaluate your tolerance to soy and if acceptable choose high-quality organic products (preferable fermented) and eat them in moderation.
Oats can be an area of confusion when trying to avoid gluten. Many companies are advertising oats as gluten-free. And there are some gluten free societies which will get quite impassioned when defending their ability to eat oats. Others don’t recommend oats due to the problem of unacceptable levels of contamination. Oat fields frequently have wheat or rye growing in them and therefore most oats, when assayed, show gluten contamination. And if the contamination doesn’t happen in the fields then it occurs in transport or at the manufacturing facility.
While we all agree that oats have a different protein from wheat, rye and barley and is therefore not classically gluten, in practicality when a gluten intolerant person consumes “regular” oats they often react to them the same as if they were consuming gluten due to contamination. So please only consume oats from a dedicated facility that guarantees they are gluten-free.
Fortunately there are some companies which recently started offering certified gluten-free oats. Bob’s Red Mill (bobsredmill.com), Creamhill Estates (creamhillestates.com) and Gluten-free Oats (glutenfreeoats.com) are all certified as gluten-free. Bob’s Red Mill is found most easily in healthfood stores and now even at major grocery stores.
I hope this guide has helped you figure what contains gluten and what does not. Check out my recipes page for many gluten-free delicious meals! This recipe is one of my favourites: http://joyoushealth.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/quinoa-makes-me-joyous-holistic-recipes-here/
Joy McCarthy, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Health Coach of Joyous Health, loves to inspire others to eat well, live well and be happy! Joy is the resident holistic nutritionist at 889 Yonge, a Yoga & Holistic Lifestyle Spa in Toronto. Joy consults in person, over the phone and via Skype. No matter where you live, you can change your life for the better just by changing your diet and eating right for you.
Book your complimentary appointment with Joy today.
Thank you so much for writing this post Joy! It has been immensely helpful! While I am not celiac either (my test result came back negative) I do believe that I have an intolerance to it and have been trying to cut it out of my diet. It is often overwhelming to discover everything gluten is in and leaves one questioning “what CAN I eat”?! Now I will arm myself with your information and be much happier and healthier because of it!
My pleasure Alana. There are so many options and great substitutes to gluten. I am glad this helps, thanks for writing!
What an absolutely fabulous post! Thank you so much for giving us the low-down and making it more understandable! I noticed our family favorite, Kamut, is in your “gluten” list and though you are correct, I wanted to point out that since it is an ancient wheat, there are some people with gluten intolerance that have been able to eat it safely. I just read that on their site when our family was thinking about trying it – I don’t know if it’s worth anything, but wanted to share none the less. Thanks again for breaking all of this down.
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed the post. You are absolutely right, many people can tolerate kamut, spelt and other ancient grains much better than wheat. However, if you have celiac disease then you definitely cannot eat kamut because it contains gluten. Therefore, if you are on a truly gluten-free diet, you should avoid all gluten. I’m like you though, I’m not 100% gluten free and I enjoy kamut toast with almond butter or hempseed butter often. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for those lists. My wife has also found that some products labeled as gluten free, have a note, that they have been tested to contain < 2 ppm (parts per million) with as serious as some people's reactions can be, I have to wonder if this small amount would effect them.
If your wife is truly are gluten-intolerant then I would avoid these products, better to be safe than sorry. Thank you for your comment!
If your wife is truly are gluten-intolerant then I would avoid these products, better to be safe than sorry. Thank you for your comment!
Great post Joy! Thanks for the clarifications and all of the useful info. I don’t know if I have celiac but I found, since seeing you and switching my flours to rice, quinoa, and nut flours I am way less bloated and I don’t feel as “heavy” after I eat. Thanks!
That’s great Candice, amazing what a little small change can do to your overall health isn’t it? i’m glad you are feeling less bloated!
Excellent guide Joy! I’ll be using this as a reference for my patients. Thanks for the hard/smart work!
Thank you for this
I’ve been looking at a lot of gluten free alternatives. I’ve never been tested, but there is a visible difference when I do eat gluten, so I’m sure I have an intolerance of some kind, even if it’s not very serious, I like to avoid it and have it only for treats(something that better be worth it, hehe).