Gluten Free Diet

A gluten free diet is the one that does not contain gluten ingredients found in the cereals like barley, oats, wheat and rye. This diet is recommended particularly for people suffering from celiac diseases. There are various starch containing food and grains that are known as gluten free diet. Most potent among them are tapioca, maize, potatoes and rice also. Some other such items include sweet potato, millet, arrowroot, lupine, montina, sorghum, yam, taro and teff. Gram flour and buckwheat are also included in the gluten free diet. Apart from these natural foods there some other gluten free products available in the market. But it is always better to fall back upon the natural products that are free from gluten ingredients. Moreover, you should always be careful before you buy the food products in the market. This is because these manufacturers may not mention the gluten ingredients present in their stuff and that you may fall prey to it. Actually gluten elements may be their in the form of vegetable protein, starch, malt flavor and syrup. Therefore, it is always advisable to check the list of the gluten ingredients before you go for shopping.

Is there any controversy over this diet?
Yes, there is. Many dieticians are of opinions that oat is a gluten free diet. But this is not clinically proved as many of then claim that though natural oat may be gluten free but it does not remain the same while processing as other gluten containing particles are mixed with it.  And what we eat is the contaminated oat that is not good for patients suffering from celiac diseases as oats pose dangers to the celiacs. But this claim is also not flawless as many other grains may also get contaminated and so getting gluten free grains would be a remote possibility. The authenticity of the gluten free grain is not something fixed and the quantity of the gluten particles present in the food varies between .02 to .002 mg. Therefore, there are many European countries that do not label their food items as gluten free. Even the Food and Drug Administration in USA has also not defined the term gluten free. So it is quite up to the manufacturers if they wish to label it or not.

What are the medical benefits?
Apart from celiac suffers there are other diseases in which gluten free diet is preferable. People suffering from multiple sclerosis, dermatitis, autoimmune disorders and autism are also advised to eat the said diet. Moreover, this diet is also helpful in curing behavioral disorders. Although, there is no fact- finding conclusion as to the extent of the effects of this diet on the patients but some positive results have come up in general. On the whole there may be many of us whose intestine may not tolerate gluten items resulting in the celiac diseases and dermatitis, it is always better to keep vigil on their diet and restrict to the food items listed in the first para of this article.