Gluten-free Diet Benefits

As the name signifies, a gluten-free diet includes food items that are zero in gluten content. Gluten is a natural protein that is present in cereal grains like wheat, barley and rye. Apart from these food items, you can also find low proteinaceous food items that are supplemented with gluten. Taken at a glance, gluten is one of the primary sources of nutritional protein worldwide. However, some people with certain health conditions show gluten intolerance symptoms. For such patients consuming a gluten-free diet benefits in reducing the symptoms.

Gluten-free Diet Foods

There are lots of food options for including in a gluten-free diet plan. However, certain processed foods are flavored and thickened with gluten. Hence, the most important part is to identify gluten-free food list that are safe to include in the diet plan. Food items that can be included in a gluten-free diet are:

• Fruits - Gluten-free fruits are apples, acai berries, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, figs, grapes, guavas, lemons, mangoes, papayas, watermelons and strawberries.
• Vegetables - Vegetables that contain no gluten are avocado, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, garlic, onions, peas, peppers, spinach and turnips.
• Cereals and Flour - Some of the grains and flour that are free of gluten include rice, corn, bean flour, corn flour, cornmeal, flaxseed, potato flour, tapioca flour and soy flour.
• Dairy Products - Pure milk, butter, yogurt, sour cream, etc. contain zero gluten, but processed dairy products like cheese may be flavored with gluten.
• Eggs and Poultry - Eggs and non-seasoned or non-flavored poultry are free of gluten content.
• Fish and Meat - Similar to poultry products, fresh, unseasoned meat of any type contain zero percent gluten.

Benefits of a Gluten-free Diet

Therapeutically, gluten-free diet is prescribed for effective treatment of several medical conditions along with drugs and medications. Considering this, majority of people stick to this diet plan, exclusively for medical reasons. Some of the diseases that are known to be treated by consuming a gluten-free diet are as follows:

Gluten Intolerance - With respect to the name, gluten intolerance or gluten allergy, it is quite obvious that a person with this condition cannot tolerate consumption of gluten containing food items. So, gluten-free diet is must to follow treatment step for patients with gluten allergy.

Celiac Disease - Celiac disease is a hereditary, autoimmune disorder that results in injury to the small intestinal linings after consuming gluten. Consuming a gluten-free diet plan is of utmost importance for such patients in order to promote healing of the linings of the small intestine.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis - Dermatitis herpetiformis is a chronic skin disorder that causes formation of fluid-filled blisters. Severe itching and burning sensations are manifested in patients with high gluten intake. Thus, patients of this skin problem should abstain from foods containing gluten.

Migraine - Many patients of migraine have report increased pain with consumption of gluten rich foods. Also, it is found that patients of migraine are more likely to have coeliac disease than others. Overall, patients of migraine often get relief from pain by consuming a gluten-free diet.

Autism - Research studies conducted on autism patients have shown that the risk factor of this severe disease is related to excess levels of gluten in the body. Hence, it is concluded that children with autism disease should not be fed with gluten containing foods to reduce the disease complications.

Weight Loss - Previously, gluten-free weight loss diet is recommended for patients with coeliac disease. In recent times, gluten-free diet is the latest craze among people who are determined to lose weight. Nevertheless, there is no clinical data that supports the effectiveness of gluten-free diet for weight loss. In fact, restricting to gluten-free diet plan can lead to weight gain.

Even if you understand the gluten-free diet benefits, it may be very difficult to restrict to this die plan. This is because cereals and grains are the base for many filling food products. The best way is to examine the labels of processed foods, flours and package foods for gluten content, prior to including them in the gluten-free diet foods.