One of my most popular blog and podcast topics is gluten-free. Do you have questions too? I’m thrilled to have as my podcast guest this week registered dietitian and a leading international expert on celiac disease and the gluten-free diet, Shelley Case. She’s a member of the Medical Advisory Boards of the Celiac Disease Foundation, Gluten Intolerance Group and Canadian Celiac Association.
Her best selling book is Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide. Shelley’s website offers a bevy of free helpful information and resources.
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 that 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.
Gluten is so ubiquitous that becoming a label sleuth is a top diet strategy. The dangerous grains and their protein include barley, rye, wheat, spelt and kamut while the safe grains include rice, corn, potato, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, chickpea flour and oats (have the oat discussion with your registered dietitian for your particular case).
Remember wheat free is NOT gluten free. Wheat free can contain barley, bulgur or other grains with gluten.
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 tests suggested by your doctor such as blood tests and a biopsy.
If you have celiac disease life is NOT over. Your diet, the gluten-free diet, can make you feel much better and it’s easier to follow than just a few years ago. Plus the really good news… when you live a gluten-free lifestyle, most of the complications associated with celiac disease can be prevented.
***Giveaway: Register to win a $20 variety pack of Lucy’s Cookies, which are gluten free and made without milk, eggs, peanuts or tree nuts making them worry-free snacks for anyone who suffers from any kind of food allergy.
Remember the bottom-line basics of the gluten-free diet for celiac disease and gluten sensitivity:Â The grain group is most affected and the specific grains we just mentioned.
- Dairy, fruits, vegetables and protein food groups have minimal changes especially in their most natural form
- 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.
- Remember there are many naturally gluten-free foods such as fruit and vegetables and many grains. Reach for whole grains such as brown rice over white rice.
Want more information on how to select fish in the grocery? Listen to this week’s podcast below.
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They say negative calorie foods are food that have very little calories and your body burns more calories consumming and diegesting the food that it actually has. there is conterversy over this topic but a lot belive it is true.. . It’s foods like cucumbers, broccoli, celery, green beans, ect…. They evn say apples and oranges are included in the list (wich to me is hard to believe because of the sugar) but it is exspose to be hard for your body to brek down thus burning more energy. . . Any body have any ideas?.
Comment by KourtneyA — December 8, 2011 @ 9:20 pm
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Trackback by computer help sites — December 13, 2011 @ 12:21 am
This is a relatively short article, but for anyone with gluten issues this is packed with good info. Many people, myself included have mistakenly believed the wheat-free and gluten-free were the same thing. This is of course not the case. The only way to steer clear of gluten is to read labels and opt for whole foods which you know are without gluten, as often as possible.
What makes gluten so tricky is that, like sugar, it is often lurking in very unlikely places. I found that reading labels constantly is really time consuming and annoying. This is why opting for whole foods that you know are gluten free, is in many ways easier and that is what I suggest. Processed foods seem easy until you factor in the gluten. While it is not always possible the more gluten-free, whole foods you eat the better your long term health will likely be and you will avoid gluten at the same time.
Comment by Lynn Williams — January 2, 2012 @ 7:52 am
Hi Lynn,
I hear you and constant label reading can be so annoying. Consuming gluten-free whole foods is easy and makes for such a healthy diet.
Dr. Susan
Comment by drsusan — January 30, 2012 @ 9:54 pm