Gluten-Free Living: Where to shop, what ingredients to avoid, and the nutritional risks of a GF diet

Celiac's Disease is often referred to as "gluten allergy or gluten intolerance". These terms often downplay the seriousness of Celiac's Disease which is actually an autoimmune disease in which a person's antibodies work against their own body in the presence of gluten.

Basically, your antibodies see your own cells as foreign and attack them.

According to the Celiac Sprue Association, only 3 percent of people with Celiac disease know they have the condition, leaving an estimated 2.1 million people unaware and undiagnosed.


Where to Shop

Hy Vee has a gluten free section but it can be expensive.

One of the best places in town to shop for Gluten- Free (GF) foods is Schnucks on Forum. In addition to their GF section (on the back left corner by the eggs and milk), they label regular foods throughout the entire store as GF!

GF labels in Schnucks

Plus, Shnucks has a wide variety of commonly used and known foods, such as  Bisquik and Betty Crocker cake mixes, that are now available in GF forms.


Have you checked out their recipe kiosk!

They have a kiosk by the cook's station that is filled with recipes for people on special diets, including GF! You can select a recipe and print it directly out of the kiosk, its so easy!

Additionally, the kiosk uses the bar codes on food packages to give you recipes for that food item. All you do is scan the bar code, just like you would if your were  in the "self check out" line, and voila! The kiosk gives you recipes.

  
What ingredients to look for and avoid on the ingredients list:

• Gluten
• Gelatinized starch
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• Vital gluten
• Wheat bran
• Wheat germ
• Wheat gluten
• Vegetable gum
• Vegetable starch

What are the nutritional risks of being GF:

According to an article in the ADA Times, " GF options can also pose a problem when consumers believe that gluten-free means “healthier,” and that wheat, barley and rye are not good for them."

In fact, some gluten-free diets, particularly those that focus on products made with refined grains and that are not enriched with vitamins and minerals, are often:

• higher in fat
• lower in carbohydrates and fiber
• and low in iron, folate, niacin, vitamin B12, calcium, phosphorus and zinc. 

GF dieters looking to lose weight or improve health may actually find it more difficult on a GF diet.


What do I recommend?
GF dieters should add GF grains such as rice, corn, buckwheat, quinoa, millet and wild rice.

Before you follow a GF diet you should get tested (just a simple blood test) to make sure that you actually have Celiacs Disease and to rule out a more serious GI disease. The symptoms vary from person to person.

Luckily Cynergy Health's Marcy Markes is an allergy specialist who can test you for Celiac's Disease in one quick short office visit (results take about a week).

 

Sources: G-Free Irony? A Food Fad That Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good, By Victoria Shanta Retelny, RD, LD, ADA times Fall 2010