The gluten-free diet has become a popular diet de jour. Oprah pushed its popularity a couple of years ago when she went on a cleanse that was free of several items, gluten included.

The vast majority of you who are following a gluten-free diet are doing so because you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease and there’s a war going on between your gastrointestinal tract and your immune system. A gluten-free diet wins the war.

The bottom-line basics of the gluten-free diet:

1. The grain group is most affected.
2. Dairy, fruits, vegetables and protein foods have minimal changes (and typically don’t contain gluten) especially in their most natural form.
3. Put your emphasis on whole foods versus processed foods or those modified in some way. Processed and modified foods are most likely to contain gluten.
4. Remember there are many naturally gluten-free foods such as fruit and vegetables and many grains (see list below). Reach for whole grains such as brown rice over white rice.

This is really important if you think you might have celiac disease. A gluten-free diet can interfere with obtaining an accurate diagnosis so never start on the diet until you’ve had the blood test and biopsy.

For this week’s more in-depth podcast on gluten-free click here.

Next week I’ll post an updated list of gluten-free and celiac resources at the Nutrition & Health Center. Just go to WDBO.com and click on the Nutrition & Health Center. You’ll see the link to the resources at the top of the page.

With Celiac disease, the tiniest bread crumb containing gluten can set some people off, make them sick and harm their intestines. Gluten is so ubiquitous that at times it can make managing celiac disease difficult.

The dangerous grains include:

1. barley
2. rye
3. wheat
4. spelt
5. kamut

Some of the safe grains include:

1. rice
2. corn
3. potato
4. amaranth
5. quinoa
6. buckwheat
7. millet
8. chickpea flour
9. oats

Remember wheat free is NOT gluten free. Wheat free can contain barley, bulgur or other grains with gluten.

In the past, oats were included on the dangerous list of grains because of cross-contamination. Oats were usually contaminated with wheat, barley or rye during harvesting and processing. More recent studies suggest that for most people eating oats in moderate amounts, meaning about ½ cup of dried oats is safe.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that attacks your small intestine and persists for a lifetime. Autoimmune basically means that your body turns on itself. Specifically your intestine is damaged by the protein you eat found in wheat, rye and barley…collectively this protein is referred to as gluten.

Any food item which contains gluten is like poison to your small intestine particularly to the little fingerlike projections called villi and makes it difficult to absorb the nutrients from food such as vitamins and minerals.

If you have questions that need answers now and want a personalized gluten-free diet, consider making an appointment with the nutrition expert, a registered dietitian. You can search for an RD in your area at the American Dietetic Association homepage.

Listen to this week’s podcast