Gluten-free Diet, Tips and Recipes for Celiac People

Melanie Ramos 9 min. of reading Diets Leave a comment

People tend to associate gluten-free products with a boring and bland diet. However, if you have the information you need, you will notice that this is not the case. The key lies in knowing which products have gluten and avoid them, replacing them with others which are gluten-free.

Here, we have gathered very useful tips and simple but delicious recipes to help you follow a gluten-free diet without any issues.

Index

1 Gluten and the Food Industry
2 Should you avoid Gluten?
3 List of Products with Gluten
4 List of Products with hidden Gluten
5 List of Gluten-free Products
6 Benefits of a Gluten-free Diet
7 The “gluten-free” label does not mean that it is completely gluten-free
8 Practical Tips for A Life Without Gluten
9 Cooking Without Gluten
10 Eat Gluten-free during the Holidays
11 Religious Celebrations and Gluten
12 Related Entries

Gluten and the Food Industry

Uses of Gluten

Gluten is a protein that is present in most cereals. For instance, wheat has a specially high gluten content. The food industry uses gluten for many products with very different functions: as stabilizer, thickener, gelling agent, color and flavoring.

Gluten in bread

The gluten from bread and bakery products is the element that prevents these products from becoming undone when we cut them. Due to this quality, gluten is used in most products that have been industrially processed.

Gluten in common products

Nevertheless, gluten is also available in other products that we use on a daily basis. For example, medicines, toothpaste and cosmetics also have gluten. That is why it is not so easy to give up gluten.

Should you avoid Gluten?

After reaching this point you may be asking yourself why you should stop eating gluten

We have made a list of food products that have gluten, hidden gluten and others which are gluten-free. Now you will know which products you should avoid

List of Products with Gluten

Cereals: wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, green spelt, kamut and products thereof.
Flours, seeds, starch and muesli.
Pasta, bread and baguettes.
Gnocchi, meatballs.
Breadcrumbs and breaded products: meat, fish or cheese, scallops, sanjacobos, croquettes, etc.
Meatloaf, meatballs and other products with minced meat.
Seitan and products thereof.
Pizza and most fast-food.
Sweets, cakes, pastries, buns.
Biscuits, cereal bars.
Ice-cream cone.
Pretzel sticks, bread sticks.
Beer and beer malt.

List of Products with hidden Gluten

Sauces (and seasonings, like soy and fish sauce), pre-cooked soups.
Medicines, toothpaste and cosmetic products like lip balms.
Flavorings, colors, stabilizers, thickeners, gelling agents and flavor enhancers.
Baking dough.
Fried chips.
Croquettes, potato omelette.
Dairy products and fruit products.
Fatty products.
Cheese creams.
Sausages.
Scrambled eggs from hotels and restaurants.
Pudding, ice-cream, chocolate and hazelnut spread.
Chips and other appetizers.
Chocolate.
Ketchup, mustard, seasonings like soy sauce and fish sauce.
Spice blend.
Drinks, soda drinks.
Flavor enhancers.
Cocoa powder with additives.

You can read more about the symptoms of taking gluten in the following post

List of Gluten-free Products

Rice, wild rice, corn, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa and products thereof (like flour and flakes).
Walnuts.
Oleaginous seeds (linseed, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.).
Legumes.
Fruit and vegetables.
Fresh salads (without sauces).
Potatoes and potato starch.
Chestnuts and products thereof, like chestnut flour or flakes.
Banana flour, soy flour, teff flour, chickpea flour, coconut flour, hemp flour, lupin flour, almond flour.
Milk and dairy products.
Vegetable oils, except for wheat germ oil.
Meat, fish, seafood.
Eggs, Tofu and soy milk.
Coconut and products thereof (flour, oil, sugar, Kokosmus, flakes, etc).
Honey and other sweeteners like maple syrup, agave syrup, apple syrup, rice syrup, etc.
Pure spices without other seasonings (we have to be careful with pre-made blends).
Water, tea (without flavorings), pure juices.
Pure cocoa powder.
Wine and champagne.
Gluten-free thickeners: potato starch, rice flour, corn starch, Kuzu, almidón de patata, harina de arroz, almidón de maíz, Kuzu, arrowroot starch, carob gum, guar gum.

Benefits of a Gluten-free Diet

Improve your Health

If you follow a gluten-free diet you health will improve. This is mainly due to the added advantage of avoiding chemical additives which are mostly included in pre-cooked products.

Cook at Home

To start a gluten-free diet, the best thing is cooking at home. Therefore, you will learn which foods you can use or not and you will be able to control what you eat completely.

Avoid additives

Currently, there are many herbalist’s shops, supermarkets and pharmacies that already sell gluten-free products. But the best thing we can do is learning how to cook our own food. Moreover, processed gluten-free products tend to have chemical additives to imitate the flavor and features of products with gluten.

The “gluten-free” label does not mean that it is completely gluten-free

Many products that have the gluten-free label can still contain gluten. This is due to the Regulation no. 41/2009 from the European Community on the 20th of January 2009 states that a product can be “gluten-free” as long as it does not have more than 20mg/kg.

Buy fresh products

As we have seen, there are many products that can entail risks for those who suffer gluten intolerance. Therefore, the best thing is eating fresh products and make some of the delicious recipes we have gathered here.

Practical Tips for A Life Without Gluten

If you are going to follow a gluten-free diet, you have to check your kitchen thoroughly.
Classify your products carefully and separate those that have gluten from those who do not. Get rid of the products with gluten to avoid temptations or confusions.
If you live with people who eat gluten, you have to separate the products in different cupboards.

Cooking Without Gluten

Avoid contaminating products

Products like butter can be used in both diets. However, we suggest buying one for each because the butter can be contaminated with gluten with the knife.

Be careful with the cutlery

Moreover, you have to separate the cutlery to avoid contamination. Avoid using wooden utensils, since they are more difficult to clean. It is better to use steel or plastic utensils which can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher.

Be careful with small appliances

We suggest not using small kitchen appliances that people that follow a diet with gluten. For instance, the toaster, baking molds and blenders. However, the one you should not share by any means is the machine to grind corn flour. In fact, you cannot completely remove the gluten and the risk of contamination is very high.

Clean the crumbs

Keep the kitchen clean and get rid of all type of crumbs. In addition, store the gluten and gluten-free products in different cupboards to avoid cross-contamination.

Oven

If you are going to use the oven, put a mold or baking paper on the tray to prevent the oxidation or contamination. Do not use water or oil that has been used on products with gluten.

Be Careful with the Children

In cases of children with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity it is important to have a box with gluten-free sweets. These will help to avoid the temptation of eating sweets that do have gluten.

Eat Gluten-free during the Holidays

Find information previously

Before booking the plane, it is convenient to ask if they have a gluten-free service. If the company does not provide this service, you will have to carry your own gluten-free products. Moreover, it is important to carry medical certification in order to avoid any obstacles when it comes to transporting gluten-free products during the trip.

At the hotel or restaurant

You will have to bear several things in mind. In general, hotels include breakfast so, if you carry your own food, make sure to just take jam, honey or butter from the hotel. If you eat ham or cheese make sure that they are completely gluten-free. Speak to the waiter or chef to see if they can make a gluten-free menu. Ask before eating soups, sauces, side dishes, seasonings or eggs.

Be careful with eggs

Eggs have to be fresh instead of being pasteurized eggs or other type of substitute. Even sauces can have gluten if we are not careful. If you are unsure, make your own seasoning with oil, salt and vinegar.

Religious Celebrations and Gluten

You should know that the typical hosts to take communion are made with wheat flour. Therefore, they contain gluten and they are not suitable for those who cannot eat this ingredient.

Gluten-free Hosts

In some cases, both the Catholic and Protestant Church, they have hosts made with gluten-free wheat starch. You should let your priest know before taking communion.

Gluten-free Menu

If you go to a wedding, a communion or a private dinner, you should inform that you cannot eat gluten. Most of the times, they will make a special menu for you. Do not forget to be grateful and bring some wine or special dessert to your host.

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