According to many Naturopaths, wheat allergy is quite common. One way to determine if gluten is causing problems is to avoid it strictly for several weeks to see if any change occurs. Another method is to have a blood sample taken and tested for gluten antibodies. While a blood test for wheat allergy could be negative, there may be reactivity to digestive by-products of wheat. An interesting book to read on the subject of carbohydrate digestion and a diet to treat several digestive disorders is Breaking The Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet, or by its old name, The Specific Carbohydrate Diet by Elaine Gottschall, B.A., M.Sc.

A gluten-free diet means avoiding foods that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, barley, and possibly oats or, in other words, most grain, pasta, cereal, and many processed foods. Despite these restrictions, people with celiac disease can eat a varied, well-balanced diet, including bread and pasta. Instead of wheat flour, for example, people can use potato, rice, soy, or bean flour. Gluten-free bread, pasta and other products are available from specialty food companies.

Some celiacs are able to eat oats without having a reaction but others are not. Plain meat, fish, rice, fruits, and vegetables do not contain gluten, so people with celiac disease can eat as much of these foods as they like. Examples of foods that are safe to eat and those that are not are provided below.

The gluten-free diet requires a completely new approach to eating. With practice, screening for gluten becomes second nature and people learn to recognize which foods are safe and which are not.

EXAMPLES OF A GLUTEN-FREE DIET
The following list shows examples of many foods that are allowed or avoided, but it is not a complete list. It is important to read all food ingredient lists carefully to make sure that the food does not contain gluten.

[Source: Gluten Restricted, Gliadin Free Diet. Iowa City, IA: The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 1996]

Beverages
Allowed: Coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, wine made in U.S., rum, some root beer.
Avoid: Ovaltine, malted milk, ale, beer, gin, whiskey, flavored coffee, herbal tea with malted barley.

Milk
Allowed: Fresh, dry, evaporated, or condensed milk; cream; sour cream; whipping cream; yogurt.
Avoid: Malted milk, some commercial chocolate milk, some nondairy creamers.

Meat, Fish, Poultry
Allowed: Fresh meats, fish, other seafood, and poultry; fish in canned oil, brine, or water; some hot dogs and lunch meats.
Avoid: Prepared meat containing wheat, rye, oats, or barley; tuna canned in vegetable broth.

Cheese
Allowed: All aged cheese, such as cheddar, Swiss, edam, parmesan; cottage cheese; cream cheese; pasteurized processed cheese; cheese spreads.
Avoid: Any cheese product containing oat gum, some veined cheeses (bleu, stilton, roquefort, gorgonzola).

Potato or Other Starch
Allowed: White and sweet potatoes, yams, hominy, rice, wild rice, gluten-free noodles, some oriental rice and bean thread noodles.
Avoid: Regular noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, most packaged rice mixes, seminola, spinach noodles, frozen potato products with wheat flour added.

Cereals
Allowed: Hot cereals made from cornmeal, Cream of Rice, hominy, rice; Puffed Rice, Kellogg's Corn Pops, cereals made without malt.
Avoid: All cereals containing wheat, rye, oats, or barley; bran; graham; wheat germ; durum; kaska; bulgar; triticale; spelt; teff; kamut. (Amaranth, millet, buckwheat and quinoa are considered gluten-free)

Breads
Allowed: Specially prepared breads using only allowed flours.
Avoid: All breads containing wheat, rye, oat, or barley flours and grains listed above.

Flours and Thickening Agents
Allowed: Arrowroot starch, corn bran, corn flour, corn germ, cornmeal, corn starch, potato flour, potato starch flour, rice bran, rice flour, rice polish, rice starch, soy flour, tapioca starch, bean and lentil flours, nut flours.
Avoid: Amaranth, wheat germ, bran, wheat starch; all flours containing wheat, rye, oats, or barley; buckwheat; spelt; quinoa; teff; kamut; millet.

Vegetables
Allowed: All plain, fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables; dried peas and beans; lentils; some commercially prepared vegetables.
Avoid: Creamed vegetables, vegetables canned in sauce, some canned baked beans, commercially prepared vegetables and salads.

Fruits
Allowed: All fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits; all fruit juices; some canned pie fillings.
Avoid: Thickened or prepared fruits; some pie fillings; raisins and dried dates that have been dusted with flour.

Fats
Allowed: Butter, margarine, vegetable oil, nuts, peanut butter, hydrogenated vegetable oils, some salad dressings, mayonnaise, nonstick cooking sprays.
Avoid: Some commercial salad dressings, wheat germ oil, nondairy cream substitutes, most commercial gravies and sauces.

Soups
Allowed: Homemade broth and soups made with allowed ingredients, some commercially canned soups, specialty dry soup mixes.
Avoid: Most canned soups and soup mixes, bouillon and bouillon cubes with hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

Desserts
Allowed: Cakes, quick breads, pastries, and puddings made with allowed ingredients; cornstarch, tapioca, and rice puddings; some pudding mixes; custard; ice cream with few, simple ingredients; sorbet; meringues; mousse; sherbets; frozen yogurt.
Avoid: Commercial cakes, cookies; pies made with wheat, rye, oats, or barley; millet, amaranth, buckwheat, spelt, teff, quinoa, kamut; prepared mixes; puddings; ice cream cones; Jell-O instant pudding; cream fillings; products made with brown rice syrup.

Sweets
Allowed: Jelly, jam, honey, brown and white sugar, molasses, most syrups, some candy, chocolate, pure cocoa, coconut, marshmallows.
Avoid: Commercial candies dusted with wheat flour, butterscotch chips; flavored syrups; sweets containing malt/malt flavorings; some brown rice syrup; some corn syrup.

Miscellaneous
Allowed: Salt, pepper, herbs, herb extracts, food coloring, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, chili powder, tomato puree and paste, olives, active dry yeast, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, dry mustard, some condiments, apple cider, rice or wine vinegar.
Avoid: Curry powder, dry seasonings mixes, gravy extracts, meat sauces, catsup, mustard, horseradish, chip dips, most soy sauce, some distilled white vinegar, instant dry baking yeast, some cinnamon, condiments made with wheat-derived distilled vinegars, communion wafers/bread, some alcohol-based flavoring extracts.