What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein naturally found in some grains including wheat, barley, and rye. It acts like a binder, holding food together and adding a “stretchy” quality. Gluten helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a glue that holds food together. Gluten can be found in many types of foods, even ones that would not be expected.
Grain products contain gluten include any type of wheat (including farina, graham flour, semolina and durum), barley, rye, bulgur, kamut, matzo meal, spelt, triticale, couscous, emmer and einkorn. These should be avoided. However gluten and wheat are NOT the same thing, you can have gluten free wheat starch which is unsuitable for those with a wheat allergy, and oats which are naturally wheat free but due to the milling process are not generally ok for a gluten free diet.
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| Photo by Tomasz-Filipek from Unsplash |
Coeliac Disease
Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease that occurs in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is not an allergy, and needs proper diagnosis and management by a health professional.
Going Gluten Free
Warning: - First, no one should be embarking on a gluten free diet without some advice and support from a health professional - even just a chat with your GP is an important first step. This is because gluten free foods are generally higher in fat, lower in nutritional value and not always a healthy option. Any exclusion diet can precipitate a deficiency in key minerals and vitamins. Gluten-containing whole grains contain fibre and nutrients including B vitamins, magnesium, and iron, so it’s important to make up for these missing nutrients. It's also worth noting that if you are suffering with something like coeliac disease you have to be consuming gluten for some tests to be valid.
In a 2017 study of over 100,000 participants without celiac disease, researchers found no association between long-term dietary gluten consumption and heart disease risk. In fact, the findings also suggested that non-celiac individuals who avoid gluten may increase their risk of heart disease, due to the potential for reduced consumption of whole grains. So check first!
Gluten free Grains
The following grains are naturally gluten free - AND wheat free: -
- Quinoa
- Brown, black, or red rice
- Buckwheat
- Amaranth
- Millet
- Corn
- Sorghum
- Teff
- Gluten-free oats
There is more info on all these grains
here.
Catering for a gluten free diet
The biggest problem for those of us cooking gluten free is that gluten free flour is very friable. Without it's stretchy "glue" baked goods fall apart. Xanthan gum is a popular ingredient to counteract this, it's added to some flours already. However it can only do so much - and if you are baking egg free too..... well that's even tougher. I use a variety of ingredients to combat this problem, with limited success. Flax seeds can help, and the right dairy alternative too.
