Gluten Free Foods

Gluten is a protein found mainly in wheat, rye, barley, malts etc. It is popularly used as a food additive in the form of flavoring and stabilizing. Consuming gluten free foods are particularly important to people that suffer from Celiac disease, gluten intolerance or dermatitis herpetiformis. Patients with celiac disease will suffer injuries to the lining of the intestines if gluten is consumed. This can then lead to weight loss, bloating, abdominal cramps and mineral deficiencies. Therefore it is important for these patients to eliminate gluten from their daily diets giving time for the linings of the intestine to heal.

People tend to become depressed that they are left with having to fore-go their favorite foods due celiac disease of gluten intolerance. However that’s not the case as the list of gluten free foods is quite long with more being introduced into the market. Vegetables such as avocado, beans, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, pumpkin, spinach and watercress are just a handful of gluten free foods vegetables available for consumption in the market. Fruits too are natural and therefore are classified as gluten free foods and include a long list of which apples, bananas, lemons, mangoes, oranges, pineapples, strawberries and raspberries are the most popular.

Many of us love a good steak or our daily share of meat. Meat and poultry are naturally gluten free foods. However it is important to remember that they should not be cooked or mixed with oil that was used to cook breaded items. So long as the cooking methods and accompanying ingredients are gluten free, the following types of meat are considered gluten free foods: beef, buffalo, chicken, duck, goat, goose, lamb, pork, rabbit, turkey, quail, veal and venison.

Eggs and most dairy products are also gluten free foods. If you are following a diet that is gluten free you can safely consume butter (but check for any additives that contain gluten), cheese (except for blue cheese), milk, yoghurt (plain and unflavored) and eggs.

The trickiest part in gluten free foods comes when you have to pick grains and flours. Since bread, pasta, and other products produced out of wheat, barley, rye and oats contain gluten, you need to be extra careful in picking grains and flours. However items made from the following grains and flours are considered gluten free foods: brown rice flour, corn flour, flaxseed, rice, rice flour, soy flour, corn meal, buckwheat, cottonseed, almond flour etc.