If you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease, you’ll need to avoid all foods that contain gluten. Ask your doctor for a referral to a dietitian, who can help you plan a healthy gluten-free diet. Avoid packaged foods unless they’re labeled as gluten-free or have no gluten-containing ingredients, including emulsifiers and stabilizers that can contain gluten. In addition to cereals, pastas and baked goods, other foods that can contain gluten include:
- Beers, lagers, ales, malted liquors and malt vinegars
- Candies
- Gravies
- Imitation meats or seafood
- Processed luncheon meats
- Rice mixes
- semolina, durum
- Emmer
- Bulgur
- Spelt
- Farina
- Kamut
- Khorasan wheat
- Couscous
- Salad dressings and sauces, including soy sauce
- Seasoned snack foods, such as tortilla and potato chips
- Seitan
- Self-basting poultry
- Soups
Pure oats aren’t harmful for most people with celiac disease, but oats can be contaminated by wheat during growing and processing. Ask your doctor if you can try eating small amounts of pure oat products.
If you have celiac disease, ask a pharmacist about ingredients in:
- herbal and nutritional supplements
- prescription and over-the-counter medicines
- vitamin and mineral supplements
Medicines are rare sources of gluten. Even if gluten is present in a medicine, it is likely to be in such small quantities that it would not cause any symptoms.
Other products can be hidden sources of gluten. You may take in small amounts of gluten if you consume these products, use them around your mouth, or transfer them from your hands to your mouth by accident. Products that may contain gluten include:
- children’s modeling dough, such as Play-Doh
- cosmetics
- lipstick, lip gloss, and lip balm
- skin and hair products
- toothpaste and mouthwash
- communion wafers
Reading product labels can sometimes help you avoid gluten. Some companies label their products as being gluten-free. In the United States, products labelled gluten-free must have less than 20 parts per million of gluten, which should not be a problem for the vast majority of people.
Allowed foods
Many basic foods are allowed in a gluten-free diet, including:
- Eggs
- Fresh meats, fish and poultry that aren’t breaded, batter-coated or marinated
- Fruits
- Lentils
- Most dairy products, unless they make your symptoms worse
- Nuts
- Potatoes
- Vegetables
- Wine and distilled liquors, ciders and spirits
Grains and starches allowed in a gluten-free diet include:
- Amaranth
- Buckwheat
- Corn
- Cornmeal
- Gluten-free flours (rice, soy, corn, potato, bean)
- Pure corn tortillas
- Quinoa
- Rice
- Tapioca
- Wild rice
It is important to consult your dietitian who will teach you how to avoid gluten while following a healthy diet and recommend substitutes for foods that contain gluten. He or she will help you check food and product labels for gluten, design everyday meal plans and make healthy choices about foods and drinks.
Additionally, if a label doesn’t tell you what is in a product, ask the company that makes the product for an ingredients list. You cannot assume that the product is gluten-free.