Introduction
In matters of self-gratification, Oscar Wilde once remarked that the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Humor, it seems to permeate every conversation, every resolution to eat healthier in order to please those folks who are experts in gerontology. Some of these jokes are a kickback, thanks to the long list of dos and don’ts that will seemingly ensure that we live fourscore and odd years even if it means that we live the life of a housecat. (winky wink)
Although when it comes down to the allergy to gluten, humor is the last refuge (and should be) of the afflicted where the only cure for celiac disease is to stick to a gluten-free diet with little or no margin for error.
The strange thing about dealing with an allergy like this is that gluten is present everywhere, in a very long list of foods that either are based on grains that contain gluten or have gluten as a food additive, thanks to the system of processed food.
Even though this means that your choice of food is very limited, all is not lost, because there’s an ever evolving list of non-gluten foods that are on the market for folks who have this annoying allergy to gluten.
The Gluten Free Diet
But before we go into the list, let’s first understand what the gluten free diet is. Most of the processed products that you find on the shelves of the supermarket are either made of ingredients such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale. To add to this, gluten is also used as a food additive in several products in the form of a stabilizing, thickening or flavoring agent. And sometimes, this is where some folks with varying degrees of gluten intolerance get thrown sidetracked as the gluten in this form is not necessarily mentioned on the nutrition label.
Conversely, food that is completely free of gluten either in the additive or ingredient form, is known as the gluten-free diet mainly consisting of several grains and starch sources among other sources.
List of similar foods without Gluten
Now, before we list out everyday food that is free of gluten, let’s remember that this is not an exhaustive list as the catalog keeps expanding (based on research) to substitute gluten containing foods that are already available and are still harmful to those allergic to gluten.
So here a list of everyday food we can consume without fearing an allergic reaction to gluten:
Fresh meat, Fish and shellfish , Poultry and game, Vegetables, Fresh herbs, Fruit, Dried fruit, Nuts, Eggs, Cheese, Cottage cheese (not cheese spreads), Milk , Dried beans, peas and pulses, Vegetable oils, sunflower oil, olive oil, Almonds, Yeast, Cream of tartar, Bicarbonate of soda, Sugar, Dried peppercorns, Tamari soy sauce, Yoghurts (without crunchy bits),Cider & wine and distilled vinegar.
Homemade soups (not roux based), Jelly (jello), Jam, Marmalade, Honey , Golden syrup, Black treacle or molasses, Tea (check herb teas first), Fruit juice, Fruit squash (not barley water), gluten free beer, Wine
Now this list won’t be complete if we don’t list cereal grain that work as excellent substitutes for gluten-based flour. So here are the kinds of grains that are completely gluten-free:
Amaranth, Arrowroot, Buckwheat, Chestnut flour, Coconut flour, Cornflour (from maize), Cornmeal, Corn tortillas, Lentil flour, Malt-free rice and corn breakfast cereals, Millet meal, Most pappadums, Polenta, Potato flour, Psyllium, Quinoa, Rice, Most rice crackers, flour and vermicelli, Sago, Sorghum, Soy flour, Soy-based lecithin, Taco shells and Tapioca.
Conclusion
In making out (and in reading) this gargantuan list of everyday foods (read: natural), one can happily conclude that there are several alternatives to gluten-based foods that are common available in the market. So those afflicted with an allergy to gluten can rest easy. After all, most of these foods are healthy anyways… and if you’re health conscious, you’re not missing much, thanks to the crap that is present in processed foods these days. Call it a blessing in disguise, if you will…
