Gluten-Free All-in-One For Dummies E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 788

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Simple advice on avoiding gluten, balancing your diet, and keeping your gut healthy

Whether you're choosing to cut out gluten due to medical necessity or by choice, Gluten-Free All-In-One For Dummies helps you adapt to a gluten-free lifestyle and shows you how to steer clear of gluten, inside and outside the home. Newcomers to the gluten-free diet (and those who have been gluten-free for a while) will love this comprehensive guide packed with tips on which ingredients to swap out, how to cook without gluten, and what to watch out for in restaurants. Plus, enjoy more than two hundred tasty (and nutritious!) gluten-free recipes that will help keep your gut healthy.

• Learn about the benefits of a gluten-free diet
• Get recipes for gluten-free cooking and baking
• Go gluten-free on a budget with affordable ingredients
• Maintain your gut health with nutritional tips from the experts

With content pulled from several popular For Dummies books, this comprehensive resource is full of reliable information for anyone who wants or needs to cut out gluten.

Leseprobe

Gluten-Free All-in-One For Dummies®

To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Gluten-Free All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

About This Book

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Book 1: Getting Started with Going without Gluten

Chapter 1: Gluten-Free from A to Z: The Basics of Being Gluten-Free

How the Gluten-Free Lifestyle Saved My Son

Understanding What Gluten Is and Where It Is

Thinking Wheat Is Good for You? Think Again

Discovering the Benefits of a Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Mastering the Meals

Getting Excited about the Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Chapter 2: Going Gluten-Free: Should You Be?

Inspecting the Gluten-Sensitivity Spectrum

Exposing One of the Most Common Genetic Diseases of Mankind

Pinpointing Who Develops Celiac Disease and Why

Scratching the Surface of Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Identifying Conditions That Benefit from a Gluten-Free Diet

Connecting Women’s Health and Gluten

Chapter 3: Sorting Out Symptoms and Considering Testing

Identifying Symptoms That Gluten Doesn’t Sit Well with You

Getting the Lowdown on Testing

Considering the Risks If You Don’t Give Up Gluten

Healing Begins on Day One

Chapter 4: Grasping the Ground Rules of the Gluten-Free Diet

When in Doubt, Leave It Out

Defining Gluten So You Can Avoid It

Recognizing Gluten-Free Foods at a Glance

Exploring Alternative Grains and Superfoods

Checking Up on Questionable Ingredients

The Buzz on Booze: Choosing Alcoholic Beverages

Making Sure Your Medications and Supplements Are Safe

Using Nonfood Products: What You Need to Know

Chapter 5: Making Sure It’s Gluten-Free: Digging a Little Deeper

Gluten-Free Ambiguously: Why It Isn’t So Straightforward

Defining Safe Amounts of Gluten

Testing for Gluten in Foods

Deciphering Label Lingo

Checking with Food Manufacturers

Searching for Information: The Good, the Bad, and the Ludicrous

Looking Online, for Better and for Worse

Book 2: Making the Switch without Losing Your Mind

Chapter 1: Gluten-Free … Nutritiously

Taking a Healthful Approach to Gluten-Free Living

Regulating Blood Sugar

Eliminating Dairy As Well As Gluten

Being Healthy, Stealthy, and Wise

Recognizing a Truism: Junk Is Still Junk

Gaining an Athletic Advantage by Being Gluten-Free

Chapter 2: Creating a Gluten-Free–Friendly Kitchen

Sharing the Kitchen with Gluten

Taking Inventory of the Pantry and Fridge

Chapter 3: Shopping — Easier Than You Think

Knowing What You Want

Deciding What to Buy

Deciding Where to Shop

Navigating the Aisles

Living Gluten-Free — Affordably

Chapter 4: Cooking Gluten-Free: Tips and Techniques

Creatively Gluten-Free: Improvising in the Kitchen

Cooking with Wheat Alternatives

Trying Your Hand at Gluten-Free Baking

Book 3: Gluten-Free Starts for Meals … or Days

Chapter 1: Breakfast and Brunch, Reimagined

Starting the Day the Gluten-Free Way

Making Quick Breakfast Recipes

Chapter 2: Putting Together Tasty Appetizers and Snacks

Choosing the Right Appetizers for the Occasion

Noshing on Gluten-Free Snacks

Chapter 3: Sensational Salads

Serving Salads with Green, Leafy Stuff

Dressing Your Salad Up with Dressings

Chapter 4: Simmering Soups and Stews

Swimming with Flavor without Gluten

Book 4: Main Courses with Meat and Without

Chapter 1: Bringing Beef, Pork, and Lamb to the Table

Eying the Main Attractions: Beef, Pork, and Lamb

Choosing Beef and Preparing Recipes

Making Pork and Lamb Recipes

Chapter 2: Building Great Dishes from Chicken and Turkey

Making Chicken with Pizzazz

Cooking Some Turkey

Chapter 3: Swimming in Ideas for Fish and Seafood

Reeling in Compliments with Fish and Seafood Dishes

Broiling, Baking, and Poaching Fish

Chapter 4: Making Marvelous, Meatless Mains

Veggin’ Out with Main Dishes

Packing Some Punch with Pastas and Starches

Making Veggie Side Dishes

Making Veggie-Centric Favorites

Book 5: Losing the Gluten, Keeping the Baked Goods

Chapter 1: Addressing Issues of Gluten-Free Baking

Being Aware of Tricks and Traps

Recognizing Tools of the Trade

Noting Quick Bread Issues

Paying Attention to Yeast Bread Issues

Identifying Pie Crust Issues

Spotting Cake Issues

Detecting Cookie Issues

Chapter 2: Gluten-Free Baking Mixes and Sweet Yeast Breads

Getting Started with Easy Baking Mix Recipes

Working with Yeast

Enjoying Easy Sweet Yeast Bread Recipes

Chapter 3: Cookies, Brownies, and Bars

Making Tasty Cookies: The How-To

Recognizing the Keys to Delicious Brownies and Bar Cookies

Chapter 4: Pies and Cakes

Baking Pies and Pastries

Making the Best Cakes and Frostings

Chapter 5: Batters, Doughs, Biscuits, and Crackers

Making the Best Batters and Doughs

Following Basic Rules for Biscuits and Crackers Recipes

Chapter 6: Savory Breads and Pizzas

Noting Basic Rules for Yeast and Quick Savory Breads

Recognizing Tips for Making Pizzas

Appendix A: Metric Conversion Guide

Index

About the Authors

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Book 1 Chapter 2

TABLE 2-1 Incidence of Common Genetic Diseases in the United States

Book 1 Chapter 3

TABLE 3-1 Risk Stratification Table

TABLE 3-2 Interpreting Your Test Results

Book 2 Chapter 1

TABLE 1-1 Comparing Nutrient Density

Book 2 Chapter 4

TABLE 4-1 Cooking Alternative Grains

Book 4 Chapter 1

TABLE 1-1 Nutritional Content of Cuts of Beef (Raw)

Book 5 Chapter 1

TABLE 1-1 Basic Ratios for Common Baked Goods

TABLE 1-2 Ice-Cream Scoop Sizes

Appendix A

TABLE A-1 Common Abbreviations

TABLE A-2 Volume

TABLE A-3 Weight

TABLE A-4 Measurements

TABLE A-5 Temperature (Degrees)

List of Illustrations

Book 1 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1-1: My son’s distended stomach.

Book 1 Chapter 2

FIGURE 2-1: The gluten-sensitivity spectrum.

FIGURE 2-2: The villi of the small intestine.

Book 2 Chapter 2

FIGURE 2-1: The gob drop.

Book 3 Chapter 2

FIGURE 2-1: Cutting an avocado.

FIGURE 2-2: Peeling a mango.

Book 4 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1-1: Cuts of beef.

FIGURE 1-2: Cuts of pork.

FIGURE 1-3: Mincing garlic.

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Begin Reading

Appendix A: Metric Conversion Guide

Index

About the Authors

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Gluten-Free All-in-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2025933167

ISBN 978-1-394-32450-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-32452-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-32451-4 (ebk)

Introduction

Not so many years ago, the gluten-free lifestyle was reserved for an obscure cluster of people who were forced to settle for wannabe foods that resembled sawdust but didn’t taste as good.

Today, the gluten-free lifestyle is sweeping the world with the force of a really big blowtorch, and the ramifications are enormous. Gluten-free products abound (and are a far cry from the foods people used to choke down), labels are far less ambiguous, and people no longer look at you like you have four heads when you ask for a burger without the bun.

Being gluten-free isn’t about being on a diet. It’s about living a lifestyle. Whether you’ve been gluten-free for decades or are only considering the idea of giving up gluten, this book is loaded with information that can affect every aspect of your life, from the obvious — your health and how you shop, cook, and eat — to more subtle facets, like minimizing expenses, socializing, dealing with friends and family, and managing various emotional ups and downs. This book is the reference guide you need to help you with all those aspects. It’s your reference for living — and loving — a gluten-free lifestyle.

About This Book

Gluten-Free All-in-One For Dummies, like all For Dummies books, is divided up so you don’t have to read it all at once, or even front to back, if you don’t want to. You can skip from A to B to C and even reread B if you want. You can read it sideways and standing on your head, if you’d like; all you have to do is find a section you’re interested in and dig in (how’s that for liberating?).

Peruse the table of contents and see which chapter or subject really floats your boat and start there. Or you can flip through the book and see which of the headings catches your interest.

If you’re new to the gluten-free lifestyle and have tons of questions, you’re probably best off starting at Book 1, Chapter 1 and working your way through most of the book in order. But do what you feel. Really.

Here are some conventions for the ingredients themselves:

If an ingredient appears in a recipe, it’s assumed to be gluten-free. For instance, I don’t specify “gluten-free vanilla” because all vanilla is gluten-free. And soy sauce usually has gluten, but when I call for soy sauce in a recipe, I’m assuming you’ll use a gluten-free version.

Baking with gluten-free flours works best if you use a mixture of flours. Book 2,

Chapter 2

explains how to mix gluten-free flours to get the best results.

Milk substitutes can be used in place of milk in most recipes.

Eggs are large.

Butter and margarine are interchangeable (I’m sure this would be debated by “real” chefs, but for the purpose of my recipes, feel free to sub one for the other).

Finally, one important note: It should go without saying that you’ll want to make sure to choose gluten-free ingredients when making the recipes in this book. So, for example, when we call for bread, we mean the gluten-free kind, and when we call for nonstick cooking spray, make sure to find a gluten-free version (because cooking spray can, believe it or not, contain gluten).

Icons Used in This Book

To make this book easier to navigate, the following icons help you find key information about the gluten-free lifestyle and gluten-free cooking.

This icon indicates practical information that can help you in your quest for improving health and fitness, adopting a gluten-free diet, or making one of the recipes.

When you see this icon, you know that the information that follows is important enough to read twice!

This icon highlights information that may be detrimental to your success or physical well-being if you ignore it.

This icon gives you a heads-up that what you’re reading is more in-depth or technical than what you need to get a basic grasp on the main topic at hand.

Beyond the Book

In addition to all the material and recipes you can find in the book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the eCheat Sheet at www.dummies.com. By searching for “Gluten-Free For Dummies All in One” for helpful insights and pointers on satisfying your sweet tooth for gluten-free success, the lowdown on converting any recipe to gluten-free, and some advice on testing for celiac disease.

Where to Go from Here

This book is organized so you can read it in the way that makes the most sense to you; feel free to jump around to the information that’s most relevant to you right now. You can use the table of contents to find the broad categories of subjects or use the index to look up specific information.

Do you want to know more about the great reasons to go gluten-free? Start with Chapter 2 of Book 1. Want information about how to get through the grocery store without going astray from your lifestyle? Head over to Book 2, Chapter 3. Feeling hungry and want to get started on the recipes? Feel free to jump right into the recipes in Books 3 through 5.

And if you’re not sure where to begin, read Book 1. It gives you the basic information you need to understand why and how eating and living gluten-free can help you improve your health and quality of life.

Book 1

Getting Started with Going without Gluten

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: Gluten-Free from A to Z: The Basics of Being Gluten-Free

How the Gluten-Free Lifestyle Saved My Son

Understanding What Gluten Is and Where It Is

Thinking Wheat Is Good for You? Think Again

Discovering the Benefits of a Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Mastering the Meals

Getting Excited about the Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Chapter 2: Going Gluten-Free: Should You Be?

Inspecting the Gluten-Sensitivity Spectrum

Exposing One of the Most Common Genetic Diseases of Mankind

Pinpointing Who Develops Celiac Disease and Why

Scratching the Surface of Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Identifying Conditions That Benefit from a Gluten-Free Diet

Connecting Women’s Health and Gluten

Chapter 3: Sorting Out Symptoms and Considering Testing

Identifying Symptoms That Gluten Doesn’t Sit Well with You

Getting the Lowdown on Testing

Considering the Risks If You Don’t Give Up Gluten

Healing Begins on Day One

Chapter 4: Grasping the Ground Rules of the Gluten-Free Diet

When in Doubt, Leave It Out

Defining Gluten So You Can Avoid It

Recognizing Gluten-Free Foods at a Glance

Exploring Alternative Grains and Superfoods

Checking Up on Questionable Ingredients

The Buzz on Booze: Choosing Alcoholic Beverages

Making Sure Your Medications and Supplements Are Safe

Using Nonfood Products: What You Need to Know

Chapter 5: Making Sure It’s Gluten-Free: Digging a Little Deeper

Gluten-Free Ambiguously: Why It Isn’t So Straightforward

Defining Safe Amounts of Gluten

Testing for Gluten in Foods

Deciphering Label Lingo

Checking with Food Manufacturers

Searching for Information: The Good, the Bad, and the Ludicrous

Looking Online, for Better and for Worse

Chapter 1

Gluten-Free from A to Z: The Basics of Being Gluten-Free

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting a grip on gluten

Discovering the advantages of the gluten-free lifestyle

Making the most of meals

Going from gluten-gorger to gluten-free forager — and loving it

Ifigured the doctor had made a mistake. “You mean glucose,” I corrected him with a tinge of exasperation at his clumsy blunder. “You must mean glucose.” Geesh. This was going to be tough. No more chocolate.

“No, I mean gluten,” he insisted. “And to be honest, I really don’t know much about the gluten-free diet. You can see our hospital dietitian, but she won’t have much on the diet, either. You’re going to have to do some homework on your own.”

All I could muster was a blank stare. What the heck was gluten? Keep in mind the year was 1991, when I knew as much about gluten as I know about piezoelectric polymers. Approximately nothing.

Stranded on some figurative island located somewhere between Terror Bay and the Dread Sea, I figured I had two options: My son Tyler could starve to death, or I could get busy trying to figure out what the heck gluten was all about. People probably frown on mommies who let kids starve to death.

The internet was nonexistent, and I couldn’t find any books or support groups; it was time to get resourceful and creative. I buried myself in the University of California, San Diego med school library and was determined to find out everything I could — and then share it with the world (at least, the other six people on the planet who were gluten-free at the time).

Little did I know that gluten-free-ness would explode into what it is today — one of the fastest-growing nutritional movements in the world — and this mission of mine would become all-consuming. This chapter gives you a basic rundown of what living gluten-free is all about.

How the Gluten-Free Lifestyle Saved My Son

I didn’t aspire to any of this. I was deeply involved in a busy, successful career and juggling parenthood at the same time. But today I’m an accidental author, researcher, and support-group founder who was shoved into the deep end of the gluten-free pool and realized I needed to learn to swim. Fast.

Until 1991, my family and I ate a fairly typical American diet. I tried to keep it nutritious (extra cheese on the spaghetti to add protein), and I was aware of the need to limit fat and calories (scratch the extra cheese), but I didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about what the family ate or the long-term effects food may have on our bodies. Clearly I didn’t really know a lot about nutrition then, and I pretty much took eating for granted.

All that changed when my first child, Tyler, was about 9 months old and developed what seemed to be chronic diarrhea. The pediatrician chalked it up to the antibiotics Ty was taking for ear infections and told me to call if it hadn’t cleared up in a few weeks. Three weeks later, I was back in the pediatrician’s office. “Yep, he still has diarrhea,” the doctor declared with confidence. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m here,” I mumbled with self-restraint worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. “Give him foods that will plug him up, like crackers and bread, and call me if it hasn’t cleared up in a few weeks.”

I’d like to digress for a moment to point out that I’m surrounded in my family by doctors and healthcare professionals, going back to my grandpa and following through to my dad, siblings, and my siblings’ spouses. Furthermore, I was pre-med throughout college — I have an intense respect for doctors, which in retrospect may have stalled my progress a bit as I sought answers because I didn’t question their conclusions.

So I waited — not patiently (patience isn’t my greatest strength). Three weeks later, after another perfunctory examination of Tyler’s ears, nose, and throat, the doctor made that “hmm” noise that doctors make when they figure out the problem. Yay! We were finally going to get some answers!

“Yep, he still has diarrhea. Don’t worry about it. He’s not dehydrated, and he’s in the 75th percentile for height and weight. It’s nothing to be concerned about.” Gee, could the fact that I practically infuse him with liquids have anything to do with the fact that he’s not dehydrated? And does the fact that he started off in the 99th percentile and has dropped to the 75th mean anything? Apparently not. I was instructed not to bring him back for diarrhea because there was nothing to be concerned about. They suggested that I not return for the diarrhea. I guess they meant it because when I called three weeks later, I was refused a visit.

Doctor number two agreed with doctor number one. After a quick look in the ears, nose, and throat, he declared that Tyler was a healthy baby boy. “But what about the diarrhea?” I asked. “Really, it’s nothing to worry about. He’s a healthy height and weight, he’s not dehydrated, and he looks fine to me,” he said as he raced to his next four-minute appointment. I considered offering to give Doctor Do-Nothing a close look at the 22 diarrhea diapers a day that I was changing but somehow managed to control myself.

In desperation, we changed doctors again, and — long story short — a quick look in the ears, nose, and throat turned up — you guessed it — nothing. By this time, Tyler’s belly had grown hugely distended (see Figure 1-1), his arms and legs had wasted to skinny little limbs, his heinie had disappeared completely, and his personality had changed. He had transformed from a lively, energetic toddler to a listless, irritable, clingy, and quiet little boy. The diarrhea had started nearly a year before, and I figured I was just a neurotic first-time parent with a mellow kid who pooped a lot.

Eventually, we ended up in the hands of doctor number four. By this time, realizing there was nothing wrong with Tyler, I thought nothing of dragging this baby with a distended, malnourished belly into the pediatrician’s office for a routine visit. After looking in Tyler’s ears, nose, and throat, he laid Tyler down on his back and thumped on his belly like you might thump a honeydew melon to see whether it’s ripe. “My goodness,” he said with that I’m-alarmed-but-I’m-a-doctor-and-don’t-want-to-freak-you-out tone. “What’s going on with his belly? It’s very distended.” I couldn’t answer through the tears of relief.

After testing for cystic fibrosis, blood diseases, and cancer, we finally got the bittersweet diagnosis. “Your son has celiac disease.” Huh? Is that anything like the flu? Surely a few weeks of antibiotics will wipe it out. “He’ll need to be on a gluten-free diet for the rest of his life. Oh — and take this seriously — for him, even one molecule of gluten is like ingesting rat poison.”

Photo submitted by Danna Van Noy

FIGURE 1-1: My son’s distended stomach.

Huh? Rest of his life? Rat poison? I was terrified to feed my own child, but I pulled myself together and headed to the store with a hungry toddler, asking him what he wanted to eat. “Cwackews.” Crackers. Sure. I began to read labels, and my head began to spin. Everything had flour in it. If you’re wondering why I didn’t just head to the gluten-free section, let me remind you this was 1991. There was no such thing. I asked the store manager if they had any gluten-free products and was ushered to the sugar-free section. Hours later I found Fritos and combed the label 28 times. It appeared to be safe, so I loaded five bags into the cart and left, both of us in tears.

I don’t have room here to give the details of the rest of the story, but Tyler quickly improved, and has grown up to be a happy, healthy gluten-free man with kids of his own. You can also read the full story in my other books or on my websites. Suffice it to say that the words “for the rest of his life” had a huge impact, and I realized it was time to step up to the plate and do some research on lifestyle and attitude adjustments to help our family — and others.

When I heard that Tyler would have to lead a gluten-free lifestyle, I realized our family had come to a fork in the road. At first, we were devastated, confused, frustrated, and grief-stricken. But I knew there was another path — a path that would have a more positive effect on Tyler’s life. As we found out how to live with the diet and its ramifications, we worked hard to find a way to turn the adversity into a positive force in our lives. It didn’t take long to realize that what we once interpreted as misfortune has actually been a huge positive force in our lives — and, most importantly, Tyler agrees.

Understanding What Gluten Is and Where It Is

Gluten has a couple definitions; one is technically correct but not commonly used, and the other is commonly used but not technically correct. I give you more details on both definitions in Book 1 Chapter 4, but to get you started, and for the purposes of this book, here’s the common definition: Gluten is a mixture of proteins in wheat, rye, and barley. Oats don’t have gluten but may be contaminated, so unless they’re labeled as gluten-free oats, they’re forbidden on a strict gluten-free diet, too.

You can find lots of information about what you can and can’t eat in Book 1 Chapter 4, as well as a detailed listing of safe and forbidden ingredients at www.celiac.com or other websites. But you need to have a general idea of what kinds of foods have gluten in them so you know what to avoid. Foods with flour in them (white or wheat) are the most common culprits when you’re avoiding gluten. The following are obvious gluten-glomming foods (obviously the gluten-free versions of these products are safe):

Bagels

Beer

Bread

Cookies, cakes, and most other baked goods

Crackers

Pasta

Pizza

Pretzels

But along with these culprits come not-so-obvious suspects, too, like licorice, many (read most) cereals, and lots of hard candies. When you’re gluten-free, you get used to reading labels, calling manufacturers, and digging a little deeper on websites to know for sure what you can and can’t eat.

You have to do without those foods, but you really don’t have to do without. There’s a subtle but encouraging difference. Food manufacturers and specialty companies make delicious gluten-free versions of just about every food imaginable these days.

Thinking Wheat Is Good for You? Think Again

You may see lots of labels proudly declaring a product to be wheat-free (some of which, like spelt and kamut, aren’t really wheat-free at all). When something says it’s wheat-free, it doesn’t mean the food is gluten-free. And gluten-free doesn’t mean healthy, but you can read more about nutrition in Book 2 Chapter 1.

Anyone who’s spent more than a day on planet Earth has been barraged with messages hailing the virtues of wheat — especially in its whole form. Wheat and other grains hog most of the food pyramid(s), suggesting you should eat gobs of it, and it’s touted as a good source of fiber and nutrients. Wheat does provide some health benefits, but you can find those benefits in other food sources, too. So how can wheat be at the root of so many health problems?

For several reasons, wheat may not be the key to perfect dietary health:

Wheat was invented yesterday.

Wheat wasn’t introduced until the Agricultural Revolution, about 10,000 years ago — that’s yesterday, evolutionarily speaking. Before that, people ate lean meats, fish, seafood, nonstarchy vegetables, berries, and fruits. When wheat came on the scene, it was completely foreign.

Humans don’t fully digest wheat.

Human bodies have to adapt in order to tolerate wheat, and lots of people don’t tolerate it well at all. Most humans have only one stomach — and one just isn’t enough to digest wheat. Cows have four stomachs (actually, four chambers within one stomach). That’s why Bessie the Bovine does okay with wheat. The wheat goes from one stomach to another and another and — well, you get the picture. By the time it reaches tummy number four, it’s fully digested and Bessie’s feeling fine.

Wheat contributes to leaky gut. When people eat wheat, they produce extra amounts of a protein called zonulin. The lining of the small intestine is basically a solid wall of cells that most materials can’t pass through on their own. On the lining of the small intestine, zonulin waits for nutrients to come along. When important vitamins and minerals are present, zonulin tells the passageways in the intestinal wall to open so those nutrients can pass into the bloodstream. The blood then carries the nutrients to other parts of the body.

When some people eat wheat, they produce too much zonulin and the gates open too wide. All sorts of stuff gets into the bloodstream, some of which, like toxins, shouldn’t be there. This increased permeability of the lining of the small intestine, or leaky gut syndrome, can cause lots of different health issues.

Products containing wheat are often unhealthy.

Think crackers, cookies, pizza, cakes — you get the idea. Whether it’s gluten-free or not, junk food is still junk food.

Discovering the Benefits of a Gluten-Free Lifestyle

The gluten-free lifestyle isn’t about your diet. Sure, this book talks about food, but the diet itself takes up only a few pages. Being gluten-free involves a lot more than just cutting gluten out of your diet. It affects every aspect of your life, from how you communicate and with whom, to how you handle ordering at restaurants, attending social functions, and dealing with emotional challenges.

I believe it’s important to take control of your diet — or, if it’s your kids who are gluten-free, help them gain and retain control. Going gluten-free also gives you an opportunity to reach out and help others who may be embarking upon the wonderful world of gluten freedom, as well as a chance to discover more about nutrition and what you’re actually putting into your body on a daily basis. If that sounds like a lot of work, relax. I guide you through it. And not only can you feel better, but you also can feel better about yourself!

You have lots of company. The gluten-free movement is sweeping the nation for plenty of reasons, but the one that stands out is that when people give up gluten, they often feel better. This section tells you what the gluten-free diet can do for your body — the benefits you can enjoy in addition to all the emotional perks of the lifestyle.

People today live in a quick-fix, panacea-pursuing, pill-popping, make-me-better-fast society, and if they see promise of a quick way to fix what’s ailin’ them, they’re buyin’ it. Changing both your diet and your lifestyle is neither quick nor easy, but the benefits of going gluten-free can be fantastic — no surgery or medication required!

The following sections describe some of the ways the body and brain are affected by gluten in people who have an intolerance. I go into greater detail about all of the symptoms and manifestations in Book 1 Chapters 2 and 3.

Beyond the gut: Head-to-toe health benefits

Twelfth-century physician Maimonides said, “Man should strive to have his intestines relaxed all the days of his life.” No doubt! When your intestines aren’t relaxed — or when they’re downright edgy or uptight — they affect all your other parts, too. It’s kind of like when you’re in a really good mood and your best friend is grumpy — the situation can make you grumpy, too; one cantankerous intestine can be a buzz-kill for the entire body.

In a way, the body’s reaction to gluten doesn’t compute. For some people, eating gluten can cause headaches, fatigue, joint pain, depression, or infertility; at first, those types of symptoms may seem unrelated to something going on in your gut, much less something you eat — much less something as common in your diet as wheat.

But those problems — and about 250 others — are symptoms of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. People with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity do sometimes have gastrointestinal symptoms, but more often the symptoms are extraintestinal, meaning they take place outside the intestinal tract.

If your body has problems with gluten, the gluten-free diet may help relieve lots of symptoms, such as these:

Fatigue

Gastrointestinal distress (gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, heartburn, and acid reflux)

Headaches (including migraines)

Inability to concentrate (also known as

fuzzy brain

)

Weight gain or weight loss

Infertility

Joint, bone, or muscle pain

Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders

Respiratory problems

Fertility and hormonal issues

The list’s impressive, isn’t it? And it’s a consolidated version of the hundreds of symptoms. The idea that eliminating one thing from your diet — gluten — could improve so many different conditions is almost hard to believe. Yet it’s true — and it really makes sense when you realize that if the food you’re eating can be toxic to your body, your body’s going to scream in lots of different ways.

Worsening psychiatric symptoms

In people with gluten intolerance, eating gluten may make the symptoms of some psychiatric conditions worse. Some of the most fascinating findings indicate that removing gluten from the diet can improve behaviors of people with these conditions:

Autism (and other conditions on the pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified or PDS-NOS spectrum)

Schizophrenia and other mood disorders

Attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADHD — hyperactive and impulsive, inattentive, and combined)

Millions of people have wheat allergies, which are different from gluten sensitivity or celiac disease — and they, too, improve dramatically on a wheat-free/gluten-free diet.

But beyond the obvious improvement you enjoy if you have an intolerance, other conditions and symptoms can improve on a wheat-free diet, such as PMS and menopausal symptoms. Eliminating wheat may even slow or reverse the signs of aging, reducing wrinkles and improving the tone and texture of skin.

Mastering the Meals

This book is about a lifestyle, not a diet. But no matter where that lifestyle takes you — eating in, eating out, attending social events, choosing, planning, shopping, preparing — being gluten-free all comes down to one thing: food.

If you’re a culinary hacker and you’re afraid you’ll have to wake up at 4 a.m. to bake gluten-free bread and make pasta from scratch, turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. Plenty of gluten-free specialty foods are available to take the place of all your old favorites. Better yet (from a health standpoint), you’re likely to find that those foods become less important to you.

Whether you’re a kitchenphobe or a foodie, living a gluten-free lifestyle offers you an enormous selection of foods and ingredients to choose from. The following sections explain what you need to do to get ready, how to shop, and what you need to know to set yourself up for success in your kitchen.

Planning and preparing

Putting together smart and healthful gluten-free meals is a lot easier if you plan ahead. Walking through a store, perusing restaurant menus, or (gasp!) sitting in a bakery with a growling tummy isn’t exactly conducive to making good food choices.

Give yourself a healthy advantage by planning and even preparing meals in advance, especially if your busy schedule has you eating away from home frequently. If you know you’ll be pressed for time at breakfast or lunch, make your meals the night before, and bring healthful gluten-free snacks in resealable plastic bags.

One of the coolest things about adopting a new dietary lifestyle is exploring new and sometimes unusual or unique foods. You may never have heard of lots of gluten-free foods and ingredients, many of which not only are gluten-free and delicious, but also are nutritional powerhouses. With the new perspective on food that the gluten-free lifestyle can offer you, you may find yourself inspired to think outside the typical menu plan, exploring unique and nutritious alternatives.

Shopping shrewdly

The healthiest way to enjoy a gluten-free lifestyle is to eat things you can find at any grocery store or farmers’ market: meat, fish, seafood, fruits, and nonstarchy vegetables (see Book 2 Chapter 3 for more tips on shopping). If you want to add canned, processed, and even junk foods to your shopping list, you can still do most of your shopping at a regular grocery store, and you can even buy generics.

If you hope to enjoy the delicious gluten-free specialty products that are available these days, you can find them almost anywhere. The days of being forced to shop in specialty stores or health food stores are a thing of the past — nearly every store carries gluten-free specialty items. Or you can shop in your jammies perusing gluten-free products online (if you’re using public internet to shop online, I suggest you change out of your jammies).

Some people worry about the cost of the gluten-free lifestyle, but it doesn’t have to be more expensive. I talk about cooking gluten-free affordably in Book 2 Chapter 3.

Considering your kitchen

For the most part, a gluten-free kitchen looks the same as any other kitchen — without the gluten, of course. You don’t need to go out and buy special gadgets and tools, and with only a couple exceptions, which I cover in Book 2 Chapter 2, you don’t necessarily need two sets of pots, pans, utensils, or storage containers, either.

If you’re sharing a kitchen with gluten, you need to be aware of some contamination issues so you don’t inadvertently glutenate (contaminate with gluten) a perfectly good gluten-free meal. Keeping your crumbs to yourself isn’t just a matter of hygiene, but it can mean the difference between a meal you can eat and one you can’t.

Some people find having separate areas in the pantry or cupboards for their gluten-free products helpful. This idea is especially good if you have gluten-free kids in the house, because they can see that you always have lots of things on hand for them to eat, and they can quickly grab their favorite gluten-free goodies from their special area.

Finding your creativity in the kitchen

If you give someone a recipe, you feed ’em for a meal. Show them how to make anything gluten-free, and you feed ’em for a lifetime. The point is, you can make anything gluten-free, and you’re not constrained by recipes or the fact that you can’t use regular flour or breadcrumbs. All you need is a little creativity and some basic guidelines for using gluten-free substitutions, which you can find in Book 2 Chapter 4.

If you’re a die-hard recipe fan, never fear — you find all kinds of recipes in Books 3 through 5. Most of them are super simple to follow but leave your guests with the impression that you spent all day in the kitchen (and being thus indebted, they may volunteer to do the dishes).

Getting Excited about the Gluten-Free Lifestyle

Most people who embark on a gluten-free lifestyle are doing so because of health issues — and that means they have little or no choice in the matter. When people are forced to make changes in their routine, especially changes that affect what they can and can’t eat, they’re not always so quick to see the joy in the adjustments.

If you’re a little gloomy about going from gluten-glommer to gluten-freebie, I understand. But prepare yourself to read about the scores of reasons to be excited about the gluten-free lifestyle.

Adapting your perspective on food

If you’ve been eating gluten (I believe that would make you a glutenivore) for a long time — say, for most of your life — then giving up foods as you know them may seem like a tough transition at first. Besides the obvious practical challenges of learning to ferret out gluten where it may be hidden, you have to deal with emotional, physical, social, and even financial challenges.

You have to do only one thing to learn to love the gluten-free lifestyle, and that’s to adjust your perspective on food just a tinge. You really don’t have to give up anything; you just have to make some modifications. The foods that used to be your favorites can still be your favorites if you want them to be, just in a slightly different form.

Or you may want to consider what may be a new and super-healthful approach for you: eating lean meats, fresh fruits, and nonstarchy vegetables. Again, you may have to tweak your perspective a bit before the diet feels natural to you, but it is, in fact, natural, nutritious, and naturally nutritious. I talk more about this approach and nutrient density in Book 2 Chapter 1.

Loving food is okay

People who are new to the concept of being gluten-free sometimes comment that the diet is boring. When I ask what they’re eating, their cuisine routine usually centers on carrots and rice cakes. Who wouldn’t be bored with that? For most people, that type of a diet is appalling, not appealing.

I love food. I love the flavor, the feeling of being full, the nutritional value it provides. Most of all, I love to explore foods I’ve never tried — as long as they’re gluten-free, of course. I’d never encourage you to endure a diet of bland foods that could double as packing materials.

A healthful, gluten-free diet doesn’t have to be boring or restrictive. You’re not constrained to eating 32 individual portions of fruits and vegetables each day, like a rabbit nibbling nervously on carrots. If you enjoy bland foods, snaps for you. But if you think gluten-free has to be flavor-free, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Getting out and about

You don’t have to let the gluten-free lifestyle hold you back from doing anything you want to do. Well, okay, there are some things you can’t do — like mindlessly grab new products off the shelf without reading a label or devour a stack of gluten-laden donuts. But as far as your activities and lifestyle are concerned, you can — and should — get out and about as you always have.

In the olden days, I’d dream of walking into a restaurant and asking for their gluten-free menu. Today, more often than not, doing so is a reality. You can eat at restaurants that don’t have a gluten-free menu, too — you just need to find out how to special order, tune in to contamination concerns, and ask — chances are getting better all the time that they understand your concerns and can safely accommodate them.

Traveling is a breeze when you master eating at restaurants (and get a handle on language considerations if you’re traveling abroad). Going to social events just requires a little advance planning, and holidays may barely faze you after you get the hang of going out in gluten-free style.

Raising kids to love the lifestyle

When I heard that Tyler would be gluten-free for the rest of his life, I was flooded with a bunch of emotions, most of which weren’t pleasant. At first, I felt burdened and overcome with grief and frustration, and we longed for the perfectly healthy little baby we thought we were entitled to. It was easy to focus on what had been lost and all that we’d have to change in our lives. But adjusting didn’t take long, and soon we’d learned not just to live the gluten-free lifestyle — but to love the gluten-free lifestyle.

Most important, we wanted Tyler to love the lifestyle. After all, his diet, his life, and his future would be most impacted. Thankfully, decades later, Tyler does love the gluten-free lifestyle, and your kids can, too.

Lots of ideas are key in raising happy, healthy, gluten-free kids. Some of the highlights include giving them control of their diet from day one, always having yummy gluten-free treats on hand, reinforcing the benefits of the gluten-free lifestyle, and remembering that they’re learning how to feel about the lifestyle from you. Promoting an optimistic outlook can instill a positive approach in them.

By the time your kids are pre-teens, they should be in full control of the diet. The most you can do is help them understand the diet and, just as important, the implications if they choose not to follow it. Young adults away from home at college have a huge advantage these days, as many colleges and universities now feature gluten-free menu options.

Kids are flexible and resilient. Adopting a new lifestyle is usually harder for the parents than for the child.

Setting realistic expectations

Setting reasonable expectations for what life will be like after you adopt a gluten-free lifestyle is important because you will encounter challenges and you need to prepare to handle them well. Friends, family, and loved ones may not understand. They may not accommodate your diet when you hope or expect they will. You may find social events to be overwhelming at first, or you may get confused or frustrated and feel like giving up on the diet. You can overcome these trials and emerge stronger for them.

This book is the resource you need — wade your way through it, and dogear the pages you want to come back to when you need some practical or emotional reminders for how to deal with difficult issues. If you have an optimistic but realistic approach, you’ll encounter fewer obstacles along the way.

Arming yourself with good information

The good news is that because the gluten-free diet is exploding in popularity, you can find lots of information about it. The bad news is that not all of that information is accurate.

Be leery of what you hear and read and check the reliability of the source on everything. If you find conflicting information — and you will — dig deeper until you find out which source is right. Especially in today’s world of “I read it online so it must be true,” you need to keep a skeptical eye out for the good, the bad, and the completely ludicrous.

Chapter 2

Going Gluten-Free: Should You Be?

IN THIS CHAPTER

Looking at allergies, sensitivities, intolerance, and disease

Separating fact from fiction

Identifying associated conditions

Understanding how gluten affects the body as well as behavior

Recognizing the relationship between gluten and women’s health

So you’ve given up — or are considering giving up — gluten. You’re definitely not alone. Millions of people are going gluten-free for a variety of reasons, and most of these individuals are seeing dramatic improvements in their health. The bottom line is that gluten doesn’t sit well with a lot of people.

That’s because many (some even say most) people have some form of gluten sensitivity or an associated condition that benefits from eliminating gluten in the diet. So you’re thinking, “What exactly does that mean, and can I or can’t I eat an old-fashioned gluten-laden pizza?” Ah, you want to cut to the chase! There’s not always an easy answer to either one of those questions.

This chapter explains different types of gluten intolerance, how gluten can affect your body and your behavior, and what other conditions may benefit from going gluten-free.

Inspecting the Gluten-Sensitivity Spectrum

If you’re like most people, you’re considering giving up gluten for one of the following reasons:

A medical professional told you that you have to; your health will improve if you do.

You haven’t been to any doctors, but you suspect you’ll feel better on a gluten-free diet.

You or your child has behavioral issues, and you believe a gluten-free diet will help.

The internet says you should.

You assume it’s healthier.

You think you’ll lose weight if you do.

You think it’s chic.

Which group you fall into doesn’t matter much — you may very well feel better if you give up gluten. But it’s not necessarily healthier (gluten-free junk food is still junk food), and it’s not necessarily a route to losing weight (gluten-free junk food is still junk food). As for being chic, as the cool kids say these days, “yeah, no.” It may be trendy, but typically it’s trendy for all the wrong reasons.

Not being properly tested for celiac disease doesn’t mean you don’t have it. Many people tell me they’re going gluten-free, but start with the caveat, “I don’t have celiac disease, but I feel better when I don’t eat gluten.” When I ask how they know they don’t have it, they give a myriad of reasons: I just know I don’t. No one in my family has it. I was tested years ago and was negative. None of those are valid reasons to conclude you don’t have celiac disease. You can find out more in the testing section of Book 1 Chapter 3.

Whatever the reason, if gluten makes you feel bad, you likely have some form of gluten sensitivity. Gluten sensitivity is a physical sensitivity to gluten — hence the clever name. It’s not easy to define because these sensitivities come in a variety of forms. Think of gluten sensitivities as falling somewhere on a spectrum, ranging from allergy to disease (see Figure 2-1). Don’t let the word spectrum fool you, though. It’s not a case of going from less severe to more severe; the types of sensitivities are just different.

The following sections examine the spectrum in greater detail, starting with allergies to gluten, gluten sensitivity, and celiac disease.

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

FIGURE 2-1: The gluten-sensitivity spectrum.

At one end: Allergies

Technically, there’s no such a thing as an allergy to gluten, but a person can have allergies to foods or ingredients that contain gluten: wheat, rye, and barley. In fact, wheat is one of the most common allergens, affecting millions of people.

These allergies are just like other typical food allergies — the same as an allergy to strawberries or shellfish, for example. They’re all responses to a food allergen, and the reaction that someone has to those foods varies from person to person and from one food to another. Testing for wheat allergies can be tricky, especially because wheat is found in so many foods, and discerning what is creating the allergic reaction can be tough. Tests may include skin-prick or blood tests, and they typically involve keeping a food diary and embarking upon an elimination diet.

Food allergies are called IgE-mediated responses to foods. Basically, that phrase simply means that the immune system is overreacting to a food, treating it as a foreign invader. IgE just designates a class of immunoglobulin. Immunoglobulins are proteins that the body makes to help fight against perceived threats. IgE’s main evolutionary role has been to protect the body against parasites, but it also fights other bad guys, which is what it’s doing when you have an allergic reaction to food. The body creates a specific variation of IgE antibody for each allergen it encounters.

Allergic symptoms can be respiratory, causing coughing, nasal congestion, sneezing, throat tightness, and even asthma.

Acute allergic reactions to food usually start in the mouth, with tingling, itching, a metallic taste, and swelling of the tongue and throat. Sometimes symptoms crop up farther down the intestinal tract, causing abdominal pain, muscle spasms, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Any severe and acute allergic reaction also has the potential to be life threatening, causing anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis — or anaphylactic shock — affects different organs, and symptoms can include a tingling sensation, swelling in the mouth or throat, and a metallic taste. Other symptoms can include a feeling of agitation, hives, breathing problems, a drop in blood pressure, and fainting. Anaphylaxis can sometimes be fatal unless the person having the allergic reaction receives an epinephrine (adrenaline) injection.

Somewhere in the middle: Gluten sensitivity and intolerance

The spectrum isn’t defined by the severity of symptoms. You go from allergies into an ambiguous area that a lot of people call sensitivity or intolerance, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), and then to celiac disease. Often used interchangeably, the terms sensitivity and intolerance basically mean that your body doesn’t react well to a particular food and you should avoid it. Notice that I said should, not must, which is how it differs significantly from celiac disease or other autoimmune conditions.

What is