| Welcome to
Gluten Free Tips
| |
Wheat Free Diet
If you have been advised to follow a wheat free diet you will probably start to question whether there is anything in the normal Western diets that you can eat! Relax, people with coeliac condition who need to follow a gluten free diet have, by default, been following a wheat free diet for years. Gluten, the protein which they need to avoid, is commonly found in several grains including rye, oats, barley and wheat.
The main problem shared by people who need to have a wheat free diet is food labeling. Unfortunately the manufacturers use a variety of terms to describe the same products and food ingredients, you will also come to learn that some terms can be ambiguous.
Modified starch can be a good guy or a bad guy for the wheat free diet. Starch can be made from several different products and is only to be avoided if the underlying component is extracted from wheat.
Mono sodium glutinate (MSG) contains gluten and something as innocent as soy sauce can contain wheat as a thickener. Some varieties of oven chips are coated in wheat to ensure that they have a golden appearance on cooking.
To truly exclude wheat from your diet you need to scrutinise the food labels to check what food products they contain. Also make sure that you regularly inspect the labels as manufacturers have a habit of changing ingredients due to seasonality or lower-priced components becoming available. The fact that your TV dinner was wheat free last week is no guarantee that it will be wheat free in one months time.
To be successful and follow a wheat free diet you will also need to be prepared to include some different staple foods in your diet. Rice is safe and comes in many varieties and textures. Supermarkets are now stocking many gluten-free flours and prepared packages for making speciality breads and cakes.
Wheat and gluten free meals can be healthy if you adopt the right approach. Fruit and vegetables contain no wheat at all so stock up on these, there should be no problem in meeting your five and day target if you apply your mind to it.
At first you will feel that excluding wheat from your diet is a real challenge, after a while you will wonder what all the fuss was about. After all you're trying to exclude wheat because it made you feel unwell so persevere and prosper on on a wheat free diet.
|
|
|
Gluten Free Tips #1
Advise the chief. When you go to a restaurant or when you go to a friends tell the chief that you are allergic to Gluten. Most will be very aware of the condition, it is covered in most culinary courses, and they will be only too happy to help you. Gluten intolerance is only one of a hundred food intolerance in modern society so catering for a guests food preferences is all part of the standard service for a modern restaurant.
this. |
Gluten Free Tips #2
Read the label. These days most manufacturers print the full list of food ingredients on the food packaging for the foods you buy in the shops. Read the ingredient and reject any food products that are not clear. There are many suppliers so reward the ones who try to help you.
|
Gluten Free Tips #3
Take restaurant cards on holiday. When you go on holiday to a place that speaks another language you do not want to trust to your rusty language skills to explain to the waitress that you are gluten intolerant. Take a foreign language prepared card outlining your condition. In this way you do not put the waitress under pressure, the details are clearly explained in the local language and the card can be passed direct to the chief avoiding any miscommunication.
|
Welcome to Gluten Free Tips
| |
 |
|