The gluten-free diet involves eliminating all gluten-containing foods and drinks. Gluten-containing grains such as wheat, rye, and barley are ingredients found in many staple foods. Wheat is one of the most common sources of gluten, mainly consisting of the proteins glutenin and gliadin. Proteins similar to gliadin have been found to trigger GI symptoms including hordein in barley, secalin in rye, and avenin in oats. Common sources of gluten are from baked goods that are made with wheat flour (breads/pastries), but gluten is also used as an addictive as a thickener or gelling agent in processed foods like candy, dressings, sauces, meats, and vegetarian meat substitutes.

Additional sources of gluten include: alcohol, art supplies (paint/play-doh), personal care products (cosmetics and body care products for binding and moisture such as toothpaste, lip balm, lotion, soap, or shampoo), condiments and seasonings (gluten-containing starch and dextrin may be used as fillers and thickeners), medicine and nutritional supplements (wheat starch), processed meats (in deli meats, sausages, and other processed meats as an additive or filler), and soups (cream based soups often use flour or barley as a thickener).

Who should follow the gluten-free diet?

1. Celiac disease, celiac sprue, or gluten-sensitive enteropathy is a chronic, autoimmune condition in which the immune system abnormally responds to gluten resulting in damage to the small intestine.
2. Gluten sensitivity & intolerance: sometimes referred to as gluten intolerance or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
3. Wheat allergy: an allergic response to foods containing wheat. (don’t need to follow a gluten-free diet but they should be wheat free)
4. Gluten ataxia: a term used to describe a set of neurological symptoms thought to be bought on by gluten consumption. Symptoms include gait instability, loss of fine motor skills, poor coordination, speech issues, and vision issues.

Gluten-Free Flours

• Coconut flour
• Millet flour
• Oat flour*
• Rice flour
• Sorghum flour
• Almond flour or meal
• Buckwheat flour
• Chickpea flour
• Cassava flour

Gluten-Free Pasta

• Grain-based pasta (brown rice, corn, cassava, and quinoa)
• Legume-based pasta (chickpea and lentil)

Gluten-Free Grains and Pseudograins

• Amaranth
• Brown rice
• Buckwheat
• Corn tortillas
• Gluten-free bread
• Oats*
• Quinoa
• Sorghum
• Teff
• Wild rice

Hidden Sources Of Gluten: Common Gluten-Containing Ingredients

• Bread crumbs
• Brewer’s Yeast
• Bulgur
• Cereal extract
• Club wheat
• Couscous
• Cracker meal
• Durum
• Einkorn
• Emmer
• Farina
• Farro
• Flour (all-purpose, bread, cake, high-gluten, high-protein, instant, pastry, self-rising, soft wheat, steel ground, stone ground, whole wheat)
• Freekeh
• Graham
• Hydrolyzed wheat protein
• Kamut
• Malt (malt extract, malt flavoring, malt syrup, malt vinegar)
• Seitan
• Semolina
• Spelt
• Sprouted wheat
• Starch (gelatinized starch, modified starch, vegetable starch)
• Triticale
• Vegetable protein
• Vital wheat glutein
• Wheat berries
• Wheat barn hydrolysate
• Wheat germ oil
• Wheat grass
• Wheat protein isolate

List of Foods, Drinks, and Flavorings That May Contain Gluten Unless Certified Gluten Free

• Ales/lagers/beers
• Brewer’s yeast
• Broth/Bouillon
• Candy/Licorice
• Coffee: some flavored coffee drinks use wheat as a flavor carrier but pure coffee beans are gluten free.
• Communion wafer
• Condiments
• Croutons
• Dates (rolled in oat flour)
• Gravies
• Green powders
• Flavored nuts
• Flavored teas and coffee
• Food starch
• Imitation seafood
• Imitation bacon
• Marinades
• Miso
• Natural juices (in meats)
• Non dairy creamer
• Soba noodles: usually contain wheat. Look for 100% buckwheat noodles or rice noodles.
• Salad dressings/sauces
• Soy sauce: contains wheat. Substitute with coconut aminos instead for a gluten-free option.
• Spices: single spices are safer than mixed
• Processed meats (bacon/deli meat)
• Rice pilaf
• Soup stock
• Supplements
• Vitamins
• Wheat starch

List of Foods Label Ingredients To Exclude On A Gluten Free Diet Unless Labeled Gluten Free

• Artificial flavor
• Baking powder (look for gluten free!)
• Brewer’s yeast
• Caramel color
• Citric acid: can be fermented from wheat, corn, molasses, or beets.
• Coloring
• Dextrins
• Diglycerides
• Emulsifiers
• Enzymes
• Fat replacer
• Flavoring
• Glucose syrup
• Grain alcohol
• Glycerides
• Gravy cubes
• Ground spices
• Hydrolyzed protein
• Hydrolyzed starch
• Hydrolysate
• Malt/maltose/malt vinegar
• Modified food starch
• Mono and digylcerides
• Natural flavoring
• Pre gelatinized starch
• Protein hydrolysates
• Seasonings (spice blends): packaged seasoning usually contain wheat flour and may not be on the label.
• Self basting poultry
• Smoke flavoring
• Soup stock
• Stabilizers
• Starch
• Tocopherols/Vitamin E
• Vegetable gum
• Vegetable protein
• Wheat and barley grass
• Play Doh

Gluten-Containing and Gluten-Free Grains

Gluten-containing grains:

• Barley: all forms including barley malt in beverages, flavoring, extract, syrup, vinegar, and any sprouts made from barley.
• Bulgar
• Durum
• Farro
• Kamut
• Rye: all forms of rye including whole rye, rye flour, pumpernickel or triticale (a cross between wheat & rye) and any sprouts made from rye.
• Semolina
• Spelt
• Triticale
• Wheat: bulgur, couscous, cracked wheat, dinkel, durum, einkorn, emmer, faro, farina, graham, hydrolyzed wheat starch, kamut, matzoh, orzo, seitan, semolina, spelt, wheat bran, wheat germ, wheat grass, wheat starch, wheat berries, wheatena, whole wheat and any sprouts made from the above grains.

Gluten-free grains:

• Amaranth
• Buckwheat
• Corn
• Millet
• Oats* (may contain traces of gluten)
• Quinoa
• Rice
• Sorghum
• Teff

Nutrients To Replenish That Are Found In Gluten-Containing Grains

• Fiber: gluten-free whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
• Folate: beans, legumes, asparagus, eggs, and leafy greens.
• Iron: soy, beans, legumes, dark leafy greens, beef, chicken, turkey, and oysters.
• Niacin: fish, beef, chicken, turkey, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
• Riboflavin: eggs, organ meats, lean meats, milk, and green vegetables (asparaus, broccoli, and spinach).
• Thiamin: meat, poultry, pork, seafood, eggs, yogurt, beans, legumes, soy, nuts, and seeds

Living Gluten and Dairy Free (GF, DF)

Gluten-free diets exclude a family of proteins found in many types of grains like wheat, barley, and rye.

Dairy-free diets excludes all milk and milk products: cows, sheep and goat as well as products containing dairy proteins “casein” and “whey”. Dairy foods include all animal milk products that occur naturally in foods and those added to foods. You may be sensitive to proteins, carbohydrates, or fats in dairy. These include: casein, caseinate, whey, lactoalbumin, lactoglobulin, lactose, or hydrolysates of these items.

Dairy includes butter, cheese (all types), cottage cheese, cream, curds, custards, dairy creamer, ghee, half & half, ice cream, milk (non-fat, fat-free, low-fat, skim, whole), nougat, pudding, sherbert, sour cream, yogurt/yogurt powder, whey (all forms of whey). Many of these foods may contain dairy as well: chocolate, vegan cheeses (if it contains casein), non-dairy creamers, margarine, mayonnaise, artificial butter.