What is Gluten?
Gluten is the mixture of two proteins found in grains that makes the food products chewy and stretchy.
Gluten is not suited to everyone’s gut; such people are known as gluten–intolerant and might be in some of the cases they are diagnosed with celiac disease. To such people eating grains such as wheat and other gluten-containing grains causes leaky gut syndrome, in which they experience inflammation and hard to digest the food.
What if you are Gluten-intolerant?
There are many people, especially in India, who are gluten-intolerant and are not even aware of the problem. They keep thinking, it to be indigestion or bloat in the stomach.
One of the best ways to check is to cut it from the diet for about a month and then re-introduce again to watch the symptoms.
You don’t have to be overwhelmed or scared by this issue, though gluten is present in many foods, but it is easier to go gluten-free, you can eat a lot of foods and still not feel deprived of giving up gluten.
Here are some tips on what food items you should avoid if you are gluten-intolerant:
- Gluten-intolerant people have to avoid eating anything which includes wheat, barley, rye, instant soups or gravies, beer, instant coffee, bran, couscous, ice-creams etc. Don’t feel disappointed with the foods you cannot eat, but rather you should enjoy and celebrate with what you can eat.
- A gluten-intolerant person should read the food package label properly. This is one of the important tips for going gluten-free, as this protein hides in so many commodities, one might not have expected.
- You should use gluten-free substitutes in place of gluten-containing foods. In most of the supermarket's gluten, free substitutes of pasta, bread, cereals are available. Lots of foods are naturally gluten-free like fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, egg etc.
- You can enjoy gluten-free grains like quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, corn, millet, and tapioca. Just need to check the labels properly to be free from contamination.
- It is very important to avoid, gluten-containing alcohol, beer, lagers etc. Gluten-free substitutes are available in the drinks like wine, cider, spirits etc.
- You should also avoid sauces, as a lot of sauces contain wheat flour, so gluten intolerant should make their own sauces with corn flour, arrowroot, or potato starch.
Gluten-Free Diet
Gluten is great for keeping the elasticity in food intact while it is kept for fermentation. This gives stretchiness to the dough, but it can be difficult to digest. Some companies use it to allow food products to sticky and become chewier and found in wheat, barley, rye, cereals, bread & grains.
But there are, some benefits of removing gluten from the diet:
There are so many foods those are processed and contain a lot of gluten which is unhealthy.
Overly processed foods are bad as they contain chemicals and artificial flavors. By eating gluten-free diet one also eliminates unhealthy oil from the diet as well as unhealthy carbohydrates which is mostly found in bread, donuts, pastries etc.
Most of the foods in gluten-free diets may promote healthy weight loss if a well-balanced diet is taken which contains essential protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
Other benefits are as below:
1. It helps in improving cholesterol levels.
2. It Promotes digestion.
3. Increases levels of energy.
4. Removal unhealthy and processed food items from the diet.
5. Get more used to eating fruits and vegetables, as contain more antioxidants, vitamins, minerals.
6. Reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
7. It helps is keeping viruses and germs at bay.
8. Promotes healthy weight loss
9. Improves in irritable bowel syndrome and arthritis.
10. It gives awareness to foods which have adverse effects on health.
Gluten-Free Products
Gluten-free foods are healthy and can help lose weight. Just it should be taken in right proportion and combination of other foods with keeping portion size in mind. You can choose gluten-free starches such as brown rice, oats, sweet potatoes and quinoa.
Naturally gluten-free foods are meat, fruits, vegetables, most dairy products, potatoes, rice, and lentils. Also, nowadays there are many options for gluten-free products available at supermarkets.
Gluten-free foods are made with basic 4 ingredients: corn starch, rice starch, tapioca starch or potato starch. These 4 dried powdered combinations are the foods that raise blood sugar even higher. So, gluten-free food has a significantly higher fat content and a poor nutritional composition in comparison to regular products.
So, cut out the crap first, if you think you have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, see your doctor. Don’t go on a gluten-free diet without checking your doctor first.
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