Gluten free food: Celiac disease is not the easiest condition to live with, yet not an impossible one. Celiac-safe lifestyle does not simply mean removing wheat form your life but rather, it is about learning how to live a full and healthy life with a gluten free diet. Properly equipped with information and tools, patients with celiac disease can live bright, tastiful and nutritious lives. Living celiac-safe and living gluten free food are the topics of this blog, as well as bits of advice on how to make the transition to a gluten free lifestyle that comprises of safe foods and snacks, tasty gluten free recipes, and even healthy alternatives such as sorghum flour.
Celiac Disease explained
Gluten free food: Celiac disease comprises an autoimmune disorder in which the consumption of gluten, a protein present in wheat, barley, and rye, prompts an immune system reaction that harms the small intestine. In the long run, this damage makes the nutrients unable to be absorbed, causing many health-related problems that include fatigue and anemia, as well as infertility and neurological problems.
A gluten free diet is the only known treatment of celiac disease. And by that, it means a lifetime of depending on never eating gluten containing foods. Although this might seem like a scary notion, the realm of gluten free living has been changed considerably, now being more varied and convenient than it ever was.
The Essentials of Gluten Free Diet
Gluten free diet refers to the elimination of gluten in your everyday food. This covers popular grains like wheat, spelt, barley, rye and triticale. Hidden gluten can also be found in many processed food and snacks in the way of additives or cross-contamination during production.
But the cloud has a silver lining- there are a number of naturally gluten free foods and they include:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Corn
- Potatoes
- Eggs
- Raw meat and poultry
- beans and Legumes
- Dairy products
Moreover, other types of flour made of sorghum, rice, almonds, and coconuts have also become quite common and consist of the staple of gluten free dieting and cooking.
Sorghum Flour: A Healthy Alternative that is Nutrient Rich
Sorghum flour is one of the emerging stars amongst the gluten free meals. This flour is made by grinding the entire grain sorghum and is therefore high in fiber, protein, iron as well as antioxidants. It has a slightly sweet taste and so it is ideal in baking gluten free food such as muffins, pancakes and flatbreads.
Sorghum flour is particularly useful to individuals who want to consume high nutrient dense flour in a gluten free diet. It can provide texture and structure to baked goods and can be combined with other gluten free meals to satisfactorily replace the elasticity of wheat flour.
The following are some of the advantages of using sorghum flour in your gluten free dishes:
- Digestive Health: It is a good source of fiber which aids digestion.
- Blood Sugar Control: The slow starches in sorghum would stabilize blood sugar.
- Allergen Friendly: It does not contain the top allergens, which is why it is very suitable to sensitive people.
Substitute sorghum flour in baked goods such as pancakes, brownies, or pizza crust or even Indian rotis to get a nutritional makeover.
Gluten Free Meals: Planning and Preparation
The focus of a celiac-safe living is making delicious and healthy gluten free recipes. Planning your meals can make your life easier and less stressful and prevent unintentional gluten contamination. These are just a couple of suggestions:
- Dogan
Build your gluten free diets on naturally gluten free foods. Most dishes can be based on brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, vegetables, lean meats, and legumes. - Freeze Batch Cook
Make up big batchs of your favourite gluten free recipes and freeze them. The benefit of this plan is that it is particularly helpful on hectic weekdays or during travel. - Wise use of Gluten Free Substitutes
Use sorghum flour, millet, teff and buckwheat flour in baking. These substitutes are nutritious and distinctive as well as maintaining a balance in your diet. - sample Global Cuisines
There are a lot of foreign recipes that are gluten free. Rice, lentils, corn or chickpea flours are commonly used in Indian, Mexican, Thai and Middle Eastern foods as a substitute to wheat.
These are pointers on selecting celiac-safe food and snack.
Examples of gluten free meals are:
- Grilled vegetable quinoa salad
- Rice and lentil dal
- Sorghum flour flatbread chickpea curry
- Oven roasted chicken and sweet potato mash.
- Stir-fried tofu, gluten free soy sauce and rice noodles
Eating and Snacks: How to Choosing Safely
Snacking might be a little challenging when following a gluten free diet particularly where there is a misleading label. Processed food and snacks might have some additives, thickeners, or flavorings, which can contain gluten.
These are pointers on selecting celiac-safe food and snacks:
- Be a Label Reader
Look constantly at the certifications such as the Certified Gluten-Free. Be aware of hidden gluten in such ingredients as malt, modified food starch and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. - Snacks made Easy
Good gluten free food options would be fresh fruits, nuts, yogurt, popcorn, rice cakes and homemade trail mix. - Make Homemade Snacks
Prepare your own gluten free dishes and snacks with the help of such ingredients as sorghum flour, oats (labelled gluten free), and seeds. Examples include:
- Sorghum crackers flour
- Banana oat bars
- Date and nut energy balls
- Oven fried sweet potato chips
- Watch Out! Cross-Contamination
Common kitchen appliances, toasters, and countertops have the ability to contaminate gluten free food very easily. Be on the safe side and use a different utensil and storage containers.
Dining out and Gluten Free Travel
Eating out when having celiac disease may be very intimidating, yet with some Planning, one can have gluten free meals even when on the move.
[…] lead a healthy, active, and fulfilling life. One of the biggest pillars of treatment is adopting a gluten free diet, which means saying goodbye to traditional wheat products and hello to safer alternatives […]