
Becoming gluten free, while maintaining a social life may seem like a challenge in the beginning, but rest assured it is possible. When you are armed with the right information and confident enough to speak up at a restaurant, you will find many chef’s to be very accommodating to gluten free patrons.
It is important to note that having wheat sensitivity is different than being diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Celiac disease is a chronic intestinal malabsorption disorder caused by an intolerance to gluten. If you have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance or Celiac’s disease, please also avoid the products marked (G). If you are not sure and want to find out without testing, cut gluten out of your diet for a month and add it back in, watching for reaction.
A wonderful naturopath, Karen Ball, provided me with the following useful tool for eating our gluten free. She creates small cards with the following “off-limit” foods and recommends you hand it to your server to ensure there are no aggravating ingredients in your meal. Make sure to avoid the following foods along with anything that has touched these foods while cooking:
1. wheat
2. barley
3. kamut
4. spelt
5. rye
6. oats
7. cereal
8. pasta
9. malt
10. caramel
11. dextrin
12. deep fried hydrolyzed vegetable protein
13. imitation seafood
14. starch