How to Eat Gluten-Free (What to Avoid)

I recently had the opportunity to present a gluten-free talk at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. My presentation was entitled "Easy Gluten-Free Baking." On the first day, my helper said to me, "So, what is gluten-free?" I loved that she asked this! (Although by day three I bet she knew more about gluten-free than she could have ever imagined!)

I will tell you the same thing I told her:
"Gluten"' is a protein found in various grains. It is made up of glutenin and gliadin and, simply put, is what makes dough stretch. If you've ever seen someone throwing pizza dough over their heads you are really seeing gluten stretch out the dough.

A gluten-free diet requires someone (usually someone with celiac disease but people follow the gluten-free diet for other reasons, too) to completely avoid any gluten-containing grains or ingredients derived from gluten grains.

Common grains containing gluten:

• Wheat
  
• Rye
• Barley
  
• Triticale

Other grains/ingredients containing gluten:

• Malt (Sometimes listed as "Malt Syrup" or "Barley Malt")
  
• Durum Wheat
  
• Graham
  
• Kamut
• Semolina
• Spelt

Ingredients that contain gluten can be found in all sorts of food! While you might immediately think of bread and pasta when thinking of gluten-filled foods, candy, salad dressings, canned soups, soy sauce and LOTS of other foods can contain gluten. (Beer is NOT gluten-free, by the way. So we aren't just talking about food. Beverages, like beer, can also contain gluten.)

Label reading is the first step when trying to determine if a food is gluten-free. Obviously, if it clearly lists any of the above grains, it is not gluten-free. However, gluten can "hide" in ingredients. While this is getting better, hidden gluten is still an issue. Your best bet is to always contain manufacturers when attempting to determine if a food is gluten-free.

A great source of information on what is gluten-free (and what is not) is the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). Here is a link to their very helpful flier of the ins and outs of the gluten-free diet!