GLUTEN-FREE FOOD

  Gluten-free living could change your life if your body doesn’t like gluten.

The only treatment for this autoimmune disease – an allergy to the gluten protein found in wheat, barley, rye, beer and potato chips is to avoid the offending items.  Recently a number of food manufacturers and restaurants have begun to offer gluten-free options.  It doesn’t have to be a boring diet since these friendly foods can be both delicious and healthy.  Gluten can masquerade in brewers yeast, bulgur, couscous, malt flavorings, hydrolyzed wheat protein, kamut, seitan, semolina, spelt and triticale.  The Celiac Association of Canada publishes a pocket-sized dictionary which outlines which ingredients are safe, unsafe and questionable.  Maltodextrin (unless it is specified as corn sourced) is suspect.  Even ground black pepper can contain undeclared flour that is added to prevent clumping.  More information on the offending ingredients can be found at www.celiac.ca.

    When oats is planted near other gluten-type grains during the growing or processing, the labeling regulations currently prohibit manufacturers from calling oats or oat products gluten-free according to Shelly Case, author of Gluten-free: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Perfect Paperback, 2008, Cream Hill Estates is a brand name: Only Oats are the two Canadian companies that sell pure, uncontaminated oats and oat products.  There are nutritious gluten-free flours made from whole grains, beans and nuts but these aren’t commonly used in commercial gluten-free products.  In case any commercial flours are not fortified with folic acid and iron so it is important to get these two items elsewhere.  According to Alexandra Anca, a registered dietician and author of “The Complete Gluten-Free Diet and Nutrition guide (Robert Rose, 2010, quinoa, buckwheat, and teff are three of the stand-outs.  Quinoa is a seed which provides the most protein, she says.  Buckwheat is also a seed that is packed with fiber, nutrients and antioxidants, and sometimes found under the name kasha, or roasted buckwheat.  Half a cup of dried teff, a tiny ancient grain, provides roughly 40 percent of the recommended daily intake of iron.  Quinoa can be used in place of rice, kasha makes a great base for stuffing and teff can stand in for polenta.  Millet and amaranth are two healthy whole grain options.  Add whole grains, grasses (such as wild rice), nuts, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruit to your dishes.  These “safe” grains can be added to soups, stews and chili or added to salads, and to extend hamburger patties.  Add ground nuts and beans to muffins and brownies.   Download a free copy of “Pulses and the gluten-Free Diet.  Visit www.pulsecanada.com.”