Gluten-free is still a strange word for most of us. In fact, gluten is what we commonly call gluten. It is a kind of protein, which exists in wheat and other grains, including oats, rye and barley. Its original body is shown below:
Well, wipe the saliva. How can you feel that this thing is affecting our health when you are eating and drinking? Gluten is a kind of compound protein, which can make the flour ground from grain sticky. Because of this protein, pizza, cake and steamed bread taste thick and soft. I don't know if you did experiments in biology class when you were young. You took a piece of dough and rubbed it under the tap. At the end of washing, the sticky dough is gluten.
Closer to home, this article will include the following contents:
Why should a gluten-free diet be implemented?
How to make gluten-free diet really effective for you?
What foods need to be avoided?
What are the edible foods?
Some possible problems in gluten-free diet
Why a gluten-free diet?
In short, gluten can lead to intestinal leakage and intestinal flora imbalance. At present, most people don't know much about gluten. Although there is no accurate percentage data of gluten intolerance at present, it should be a fact that the proportion of gluten intolerance in China is far underestimated. Case studies have found that many autoimmune diseases may be related to gluten intolerance, and in some cases, a gluten-free diet can even improve the disease. Although the exact role of gluten in most autoimmune diseases has not been clearly studied, the relationship between gluten intolerance and intestinal leakage is clear. Gluten is good at destroying intestinal barrier, leading to leakage of intestinal contents, and then directly activating immune system. If you also suffer from autoimmune diseases and take gluten in your diet, it is recommended that you avoid foods made from gluten-containing grains, including most types of bread, pasta, pizza and cakes, and try a gluten-free diet.
Some people may say that I don't have celiac disease, so I don't have gluten intolerance. In fact, celiac disease is one of the most extreme manifestations of gluten intolerance. If you suffer from unexplained digestive diseases (flatulence, bloating, diarrhea, colic), urticaria/rash, brain fog, chest pain, migraine, depression, autoimmune diseases (diabetes, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. ), please check whether you have gluten intolerance.
The common and accurate method to determine gluten intolerance is "food avoidance+provocation test". Let's talk about "taboo" first, which is easy to understand. If you suspect that you are intolerant of gluten, then avoid foods containing gluten and don't let gluten take advantage. It usually takes 2~4 weeks to avoid eating. The second step is "excitation test". If after 2-4 weeks of avoiding gluten, some discomfort is obviously improved, such as eczema and diarrhea, and similar phenomena appear when eating gluten again, then you can be sure that you are intolerant of gluten.
What does a gluten-free diet do for you?
1. Learn relevant knowledge. Gluten is contained in many different foods. If you want to avoid it, you need to learn a lot.
Don't confuse "wheat-free" and "gluten-free". Products marked as "wheat-free" may contain gluten in the form of grains, such as rye, barley and oats, which all contain gluten. In addition, gluten-free products may contain protein, which is not suitable for people who are allergic to wheat.
Understand the meaning of gluten-free There is no consistent definition of gluten-free at present. However, at present, there is an international standard of gluten-free: according to the provisions of Codex Alimentarius, a product made of cereal raw materials containing gluten can be called gluten-free if its gluten content is less than 200 parts per million. Many manufacturers follow this standard. Gluten-free products made of gluten-free raw materials with gluten content less than 20 parts per million can be called "gluten-free" products. It may not be possible to make products completely gluten-free, because a small amount of gluten-containing food may enter these products during production or transportation. However, twenty parts per million is a very low level.
2. Make sure it doesn't contain gluten. Learn as much about different foods as possible. Processed foods may contain hidden gluten, so this is a problem. Even if you have adhered to a gluten-free diet for many years, you may still be unfamiliar with some new foods. For example, some glucose syrup, smoked food, ice cream and ketchup.
I have always adhered to the principle that if you don't know the ingredients of a certain food, don't eat it, especially packaged food.
Please note that other household products and medicines may also contain gluten. Just because it's not food doesn't mean it can't contain gluten. Some cleaning products may be the culprit. Similarly, if you have any questions about the product you are using, remember to check the ingredient label. Some drugs contain gluten in the form of starch and fillers, and some household products, especially cosmetics, shampoos and skin care lotions, may also contain gluten. People's sensitivities vary, but you may find that you have absorbed enough gluten from these products to cause a reaction.
Don't think that you will never eat your favorite food again. Nowadays, many people choose to eat gluten-free food because they believe it is a healthier choice. There are many gluten-free recipes at present. If you are a confident chef, you can even adjust your favorite recipes and treat yourself with a gluten-free version!
Make sure your family and friends fully understand the importance of avoiding gluten. If you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, be sure to praise those who are willing to share gluten-free food with you. If there is a small accident sometimes, please clearly explain the possible consequences if you contact gluten. If you don't talk, others may not take your eating habits seriously to help prevent possible problems in the future.
Foods to be avoided
1. Gluten "Big Four". The four major gluten disaster areas are wheat, rye, rye, barley and triticale. Avoid these under any circumstances, whether you are gluten intolerant or celiac disease.
2. Pay attention to oats and oatmeal. White oats do not contain gluten, but they are often cross-contaminated with wheat because they are usually processed in the same facility. Oats and oatmeal should be avoided unless the package clearly States that the product is gluten-free. Enjoy distilled alcohol, but don't drink beer unless they are labeled gluten-free. Theoretically, distillation can remove all gluten, even if alcohol is made from waxy grains such as wheat, barley or rye. You can safely drink some wine, such as vodka made from wheat, but be careful of beer. Look for gluten-free beers with special labels, such as those brewed by millet. Theoretically, the distillation process will remove all the viscous protein. But in fact, cross-contamination may also occur. In addition, some winemakers may add syrup as a filler to wine after distillation. Therefore, we also need to distill alcohol carefully. Don't eat the following foods unless the label says gluten-free. Bread, sliced bread, cereal and biscuit cookies, cakes and candy artificial meat, artificial seafood, processed lunch meat salad dressing, gravy, sauce (such as soy sauce) and sauce vegetable pasta and "flavored" rice noodle soup and processed snacks, such as potato chips (potato chips and cornflakes).
Edible food
1. Start with cereal, cereal and flour. Not all grains, cereals and flour contain gluten. In fact, most grains are gluten-free. Gluten-free cereals and edible cereals are listed here. Everything is delicious!
Cereals: rice, corn, quinoa, cassava, sago, buckwheat and sorghum.
Flour: rice, corn, potatoes, corn, soybeans, chickpeas, sorghum, cassava flour and chestnut flour are all acceptable, but check the label to see if there is pollution.
Breakfast cereal: This may be a bit tricky. Carefully check and avoid brands containing wheat, oats, barley, rye or malt extracts.
You can eat enough meat, fish and eggs. All these are basically good-just check the pigments, sauces and spices you add. When ordering fish in a restaurant, you should discuss it with the chef-sometimes you will fry the fish with flour to avoid sticking to the pot. Similarly, don't eat processed lunch meat, and all imitation meat or seafood, because they may contain gluten.
3. Dairy products are a good choice. Milk, cream, cheese and yogurt should all be edible. Check all the added ingredients and check the grated cheese. Sometimes manufacturers add wheat flour to prevent cheese pieces from sticking together. In some cases, patients with celiac disease cannot tolerate dairy products because of intestinal injury. As time goes on, this situation will improve, and it is very important to keep a proper amount of dairy products (occasionally a little cheese) during the recovery process to avoid permanent dairy intolerance.
If you are lactose intolerant or don't eat milk for other reasons, you can try soy milk or rice milk (check the label for contamination). You may be able to adapt to goat milk. If you find that you are intolerant of soybean, it may be related to the intestine and should be removed from your diet over time.
4. Enjoy fruits and vegetables. All fruits and vegetables are gluten-free. However, check the ready-made pie fillings, pigments, sauces and spices, because they may contain thickening agents made of flour.
5. Know what fat is ok. You can eat butter, margarine and olive oil, but don't eat animal fat and low-fat oil.
6. Check your snacks carefully. Nuts, raisins and nuts are all naturally gluten-free, but check any substances that may be added, and check all packaged potato chips and other delicious snacks. You may be blinded by these additives, so be sure to carefully screen them.
7. Check your seasonings and cooking ingredients. Seasonings such as salt, pepper and vanilla. Can be used. As for the raw materials for cooking and baking, yeast, baking soda and tartar powder are all good, but check whether these materials are added with flour.
8. Pay attention to your drink. Of course, water is completely gluten-free. For health reasons, water should be our main drink.
Coffee, tea, juice, cocoa, soda water will do. Check that they don't contain barley. Don't drink from the vending machine. Pure fruit juice contains no gluten, only good taste and vitamins. Beware of "Smoothies". Sometimes these are just juice and yogurt, but sometimes there are other ingredients, so be sure to check them. Beverages containing probiotics are a new trend, so you should be cautious. Of course, if you can tolerate dairy products, there is no problem. Pure tea does not contain gluten, and pure coffee does not contain gluten, but be careful with seasonings and other additives (for example, some chocolate ingredients can be paired with cappuccino and latte, etc.). Besides, be careful of vending machines.
Wine should be gluten-free, whether it is still, sparkling, sweet or dry, although it has been reported that some Australian wines use hydrolyzed wheat bran in the refining process. Similarly, gluten content cannot be detected in the final product, so it is considered gluten-free.
Possible problems in gluten-free diet
Make sure you get enough essential nutrients, such as iron, fiber, calcium, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin and folic acid. These vitamins are often added to cereal products to enrich them. Reducing cereal in your diet may put you at risk of vitamin deficiency.
Learn to reduce the effects of accidental intake of gluten. If you accidentally ingest gluten, there may be two situations. You may have stomach cramps, abdominal pain and even diarrhea, which is not uncommon, and there is usually nothing to worry about. Or you may not have any special reaction. Don't take this as a sign that you can start eating gluten again. Although you have no symptoms, gluten can still damage your small intestine.
Adapt to gluten-free life. For many people, they can benefit from gluten-free diet, but there are still some problems, such as we can't eat bread from 5 yuan or cake from 10 yuan, we need to spend more money on gluten-free food, or we still need to take time out to cook by ourselves when we are busy. These problems need to be balanced by ourselves. At the same time, we need to face the incomprehension of many people, even family members, and strive to gain their understanding and recognition, which is what we need to spend time to do.
I wish everyone a happy and healthy life.
Disclaimer: All articles published by Pea White are only for sharing relevant information, and are not used as the basis and reference for implementing any health intervention and treatment measures. Everyone's physique is different, and the conditions are different. Please consult the attending physician before any intervention, subject to the doctor's advice ~