Download PDF
What is Gluten
Getting started with a gluten-free diet
Gluten-free grains and comparable food
Wheat Ingredients to avoid
Barley and Rye ingredients to avoid with a gluten-free diet
Additional foods that may contain wheat or gluten
Gluten-free snack ideas
Gluten free product list
Gluten-free recipes
What is Gluten?
back to topGluten is a protein in wheat that makes dough elastic. It also is found in rye, barley and possibly oats. If you have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy), exposure to gluten can cause an immune reaction, reducing your body's ability to absorb nutrients from food, due to the loss of villi in the small intestines. This can lead to malnutrition, no matter how well you're eating, since eating even a small amount of this protein can result in damage to the intestine. If you are sensitive to gluten, you must try to avoid all foods containing wheat, barley and rye as well as oats that are not specifically "gluten free."
Celiac Disease (a.k.a. Celiac Sprue) is a digestive disease in which gluten destroys the villi that line the small intestine. This interferes with the body’s ability to absorb several nutrients and may produce a variety of symptoms such as chronic excessive gas, bloating, stomach pain, diarrhea, anemia, fatigue, weight loss or gain, itchy skin rash, osteoporosis, or no outward symptoms at all.
Gluten is a protein found in all wheat (including kamut, spelt, triticale), rye and barley. Oats are not the same as rye and barley but due to widespread contamination during processing and handling oats are recommended with caution or not at all for Celiac patients. Products designated "wheat free" are okay for wheat allergy but not for Celiac disease.
Wheat Allergy is different from Celiac in that only wheat products cause symptoms. Severe wheat allergy can cause anaphylactic shock and less severe allergy or intolerance to wheat may cause symptoms similar to those caused by Celiac disease. If a product says "gluten free" it is automatically wheat free.
Getting Started with a GF Diet
back to topThe first nutrition advice I offer clients in terms of following a gluten free (GF) diet is to think in terms of simple, whole foods as much as possible. When you eat processed foods with long ingredient lists the chance you are getting some kind of gluten is high. Think vegetables, fruit, fish, beans, nuts, seeds, meat, poultry, basic dairy, and simple gluten free grains like brown rice or quinoa.
There are many gluten free products on the market with more appearing all the time. This helps with convenience foods like bread, crackers, cookies and muffins that can be consumed on the go with your busy lifestyle. The trade-off for convenience is higher cost and often less nutrition. Many of these highly processed foods are low in dietary fiber and nutrients that are stripped from processed grains.
The other thing to know about these foods is that many of them are "acquired tastes" resembling the foods they strive to replace but not quite attaining the same taste, texture or consistency of their gluten-containing counterparts. There is a certain amount of trial and error that comes with this new way of eating – at least in terms of processed foods. The good news is that the Jackson Whole Grocer relies on its customers to determine which GF products it stocks. Staff and customers are constantly trying new products and giving feedback to provide the best GF products we can find.
Gluten-free (GF) Grains & comparable foods:
back to top- Amaranth
- Arrowroot
- Beans (and flour made from beans)
- Buckwheat* (groats, toasted groats, flour, "creamy" buckwheat cereal)
- Corn (yellow, blue) – whole kernels, popped, corn tortillas, cornmeal
- Flaxseed
- Garfava
- Millet (toast before cooking for added flavor)
- Nut flours
- Oats (if certified "gluten-free" – Jackson Whole Grocer sells GF oats)
- Potato
- Quinoa (pronounced "keen-waah") – cooks in 20 minutes or less; eat like rice or as a breakfast grain
- Rice (rice bran) – brown, wild, Red Wehani, Basmati
- Sorghum
- Soy
- Tapioca
- Teff
*Buckwheat is not wheat – you can eat buckwheat flour or pancake mixes that are strictly buckwheat.
In addition to GF grains, get fiber and nutrients commonly found in grains from ground flaxseed, other seeds, nuts, beans, peas, and lentils. Many basic whole foods are naturally gluten-free (potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruit, fish, eggs, meat, poultry, etc.).
Celiac disease may initially cause lactose intolerance but after gluten is eliminated for a while many people can reintroduce dairy. Yogurt is often tolerated even when other dairy foods cause problems.
Wheat Ingredients to Avoid:
back to top- Bulgur
- Cous cous
- Durum
- Farina
- Farro
- Flour
- Graham flour
- Kamut
- Wheat flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Wheat germ
- Wheat bran
- Wheat starch
- Triticale
- Seitan
- Semolina
- Spelt
- Gluten flour
- Cake & pastry flour
- Durum flour
- Bulgar wheat
- Hydrolyzed vegetable or wheat protein (HVP)
Barley and Rye Ingredients to Avoid with a Gluten-free Diet:
back to top- Ale
- Barley (flakes, flour, pearled)
- Beer
- Brewer’s yeast
- Lager
- Malt
- Malt extract/Malt syrup/malt flavoring
- Malt vinegar
- Malted milk
- Rye bread
- Rye flour or flakes
Additional foods that may contain wheat or gluten:
back to top- Baked beans
- Breaded meats
- Broths
- Brown rice syrup (may have barley)
- Creamed products
- Canned fish
- Caramel color (sometimes barley)
- Communion wafers
- Croutons
- Dextrins (maltodextrins are okay)
- Imitation Seafood
- Imitation bacon
- Gravies
- Malt or Malt flavoring
- Malt vinegar
- Meat and poultry that contain flour (patties)
- Luncheon meats
- Hot dogs
- Sausage
- Premolded hamburgers
- Meat tenderizer if made from MSG (monosodium glutamate)
- Cheese sauces/spreads
- Egg dishes thickened with flour
- Tomato sauces
- Pasta noodles
- Stewed fruits thickened with flour
- Soy sauce
- Stewed fruits thickened with flour
- Commercially-prepared gravies
- Commercial fruit pie fillings & jams
- Starch (modified food starch)
- Soup mixes and bases
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
- Boullion cubes and extracts
- Hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP)
- Texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
- Binders, fillers, extenders, malt, thickeners, and natural flavorings, all may contain gluten
Note: annatto which is added seasonally to butter and to yellow cheese can have wheat in it as a stabilizer.
GF Snack ideas:
back to top- Rice cake, GF bread, apple or banana with almond or other nut butter
- Rice, almond or other GF crackers with hummus (Mary’s Gone Crackers makes one w/flax and hemp seeds)
- Toasted corn tortilla with black bean dip or low fat refried beans and salsa
- Popcorn (read labels of microwave varieties)
- Nuts and seeds
- GF bars – Larabar, Bumblebars, Alpsnack
- Sun Flour Baking Company goodies
- GF cereal or granola with yogurt (if dairy is tolerated)
- Dark chocolate – check ingredient list
GF Recipes
back to top- GF cornbread
- GF Pizza Crust
- GF Raspberry Oat Squares
- GF Banana Blueberry Muffins
- GF Brown and White Rice Bread
Cornbread Deluxe (Gluten-Free)
back to recipiesI love this recipe because it is DELICIOUS and super easy – I have even baked it in the toaster oven and from the time I whipped out the recipe to slicing the bread was literally less than 45 minutes! It also tasted great for the next 2 days (not something I can say of many of the GF breads I’ve made!).
In a blender process until smooth:
1 cup milk or rice milk or soy milk or buttermilk or water
1 egg or 2 egg whites
¼ cup oil (canola or safflower)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
In a separate bowl, mix these dry ingredients with a wire whisk:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup rice flour (brown or white or a combination of both)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ to ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ to ½ teaspoon salt
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix gently but well for about one minute, then pour into a 8 or 9 square baking pan that has been sprayed or oiled. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Serve warm, directly from the pan, or let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
GF Pizza Crust
From A Food Lover’s Collection of Chef and Family Recipes Without Gluten or Wheat featured in Living Without Magazine (Spring 2006).Karen Robertson’s Thick Pizza Crust
back to recipiesMakes two 13-inch pizzas
1 ½ cups brown rice flour
½ cup amaranth or quinoa flour
2 cups tapioca flour
2/3 c instant non-fat dry milk powder
3 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water (105-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons Active dry yeast
1 tablespoon Sugar
½ cup warm water
3 tablespoons Olive oil
4 egg whites (or 2 whole eggs) at room temperature
Olive oil for spreading pizza dough
1. Grease two 13-inch pizza pans
2. In bowl of stand mixer combine flours, milk powder, xanthan gum, and salt.
3. In a large measuring cup combine the 1 cup water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until yeast proofs (becomes foamy).
4. In another measuring cup combine the ½ cup water and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add olive oil-water mixture to dry ingredients, then eggs or egg whites, mising well after each addition.
5. Add yeast mixture and beat on high speed for 4 minutes.
6. Divide dough into two equal portions and place each portion on a prepared pizza pan.
7. Cover your hand with a clean plastic bag. Drizzle olive oil over your hand and one portion of dough. Spread the dough evenly over the pizza pan, forming a ridge around the edge to contain the pizza toppings.
8. Repeat process for second pizza and let dough for both rise for about 20 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake crust for 7 minutes (until lightly golden) and remove from oven. At this point you can either cool the crusts, wrapping and freezing for later use or spread tomato sauce and toppings. Place back in the oven to melt cheese and heat sauce and topppings.
Raspberry Oat Squares
back to recipiesThis is a modified recipe that can be made gluten-free or not. The original recipe uses white flour, more sugar and chocolate chips. Both Montina and the Bob’s Red Mill GF All-purpose Baking Mix flour work really well. Any flavor of preserves works well or substitute re-hydrated and pureed dates or figs for a high-fiber, lower sugar treat.
Other possibilities for variation include substituting some of the butter with organic canola oil to reduce the saturated fat content, almonds or pistachios instead of walnuts, date sugar, pure maple syrup or raw honey in place of the brown sugar. The recipe as it is has cut back significantly on the added sugar and relies on the preserves for much of its sweetness so if you use high quality preserves you will be adding the benefits of the fruit along with sweetness.
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour1 cup quick-cooking oats (certified gluten-free oats now available online and at Jackson Whole Grocer)
1 / 2 teaspoon baking soda
1 / 2 teaspoon salt
1 / 2 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons softened butter
3 /4 cup raspberry preserves (Smucker’s Low Sugar works great for a less sweet treat that is still sweet enough for the average young palate!)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnut or pecan halves
Optional – 1 / 2 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375°
- In a medium bowl whisk flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl combine sugar and softened butter until smooth. Add flour mixture and blend well (it will be crumbly like pie crust).
- Place 3/4 cup of crumbly mixture in small bowl, add walnuts and chocolate chips if using and set off to the side (this will be the top layer of the squares).
- Empty rest of mixture into 8-inch square pan (no oil needed) and press to make a flat surface. Spread raspberry preserves evenly over batter. Top with walnut mixture, spreading as evenly as possible and press lightly.
- Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.* Cool on wire rack and cut into 16 small squares. *If using Montina or other gluten-free flour squares may not brown easily.
Banana Blueberry Muffins
back to recipiesThis recipe is a favorite of local Diana O’Brien. Almond flour is available locally at the Jackson Whole Grocer or online at Lucy's Kitchen shop - they specialize in grain free products from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet www.lucyskitchenshop.com
12 Medium Sized Muffins
2 Bananas
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Honey
1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 cup Rice flour (or GF flour)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Blueberries
Bake muffins at 350 for about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle of muffin comes out clean.
Gluten free Brown & White Rice Bread
back to recipiesThis recipe is from Mary Gerty and she says there are lots of substitutions you can make.
Liquid ingredients:
1¾ c. water
¼ c. vegetable oil
Automatic Bread Machine
- Press SELECT to 2, 3 cups BASIC BREAD
- Press COLOR to LIGHT
- Press START
- After baking, press STOP/Reset. Remove bread from the Bread Machine and baking pan. Cool on rack.
1½ tsp. Salt
3 Tbs. Granulated sugar
1 Tbs. xanthum gum
2¼ c. white rice flour
1 c. brown rice flour
2¼ tsp. Active dry yeast
Note: If dough appears dry, add 1 teaspoon water at a time up to a maximum of 2 tablespoons.
Preparation: Place lightly beaten eggs into the Bread Machine pan. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients to pan. Stir together with a rubber spatula. Measure dry ingredients into a medium-size bowl. Whisk together thoroughly. Place dry ingredients into Bread Machine pan on top of liquids. All ingredients must be at room temperature.
