If your doctor advises you to have gluten free diet, chances are that you do not know exactly what types of foods you should have and why. What exactly is gluten? Why should you stop having what you normally had and how will this type of diet help you with your health condition? Most importantly, what kinds of gluten free products are available in the market and where do you buy them from? This article promises to enlighten you more on gluten and why you need to avoid it.
What is gluten?
This is a kind of protein found mostly in grains like wheat, rye and barley.
When is it contraindicated?
Diet free from gluten is recommended for people suffering from a health condition called Celiac (also called Coeliac) disease. Though common, this condition, medically known as gluten sensitive enteropathy is often ignored or not detected till very late. A series of blood tests may be necessary to detect gluten sensitivity.
This is a disease condition that impacts the small intestine and reduces the absorptive ability of the digestive system, to the extent that the nutrient value from foods never gets a chance to get absorbed. When such a condition happens, the only remedy recommended is a gluten-free diet. Many people suffer from this condition which remains for life; while others may develop this during a later stage in life and change their eating habits a great deal.
Though initially this may seem to be a frightening idea to live life without gluten, but there is a large variety of foods available in the market which is free from gluten, which makes your diet regime appear to be absolutely normal.
Where else is gluten free diet preferred?
This type of diet is not only the only recommended therapy for the treatment of Celiac disease but is very popular with people who wish to lose weight. Not just ordinary slimming enthusiasts, even athletes are now resorting to foods that are without gluten. This in essence means that such people have foods like pasta and bread which does not contain gluten.
How to identify gluten free products?
The most reliable way to identify foods that does not contain gluten is to carefully check the labeling information, which every food manufacturer is legally bound to provide on the packaging.
All you need to do is to check the labels for any trace of gluten from the list of ingredients. You might find that in some products, the gluten content has been removed during the processing of the grains. In this case, this could be one of the gluten free products that are allowed for consumption.
Agreed, locating stores that sell such products could be a time-consuming process.
If you are hard-pressed for time, one of the options is to look for reputed online stores that specialize in such products. Search and you would find many good ones online.
What are the foods that a gluten free diet should include?
Some foods which may be named as gluten free products but do not make any compromise on the taste and nutritive values are:
- Replace gluten-rich pasta with pasta made from rice, potato and corn.
- Seeds, beans, eggs, meats and nuts that are fresh, poultry and fish without any marinades, almost all types of dairy product, fresh fruits and vegetables.
To know more about gluten free diet click on the link now. If you are looking for gluten free products, buy them online at glutenfree.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennylyn_P_Pereira
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