What is Gluten-What is a Gluten Free Diet
A gluten-free diet means that foods containing gluten are not included in the diet.
Gluten is a protein found in foods such as wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Gluten is a substance that allows the dough to rise and to form elasticity, and when it enters the body, the stomach can also stick to it. Although gluten is a protein, it is not suitable for everyone’s digestive structure and gluten consumption may react in some people. This condition can occur in people as celiac disease, gluten allergy, or gluten intolerance. However, gluten damages have different characteristics depending on the disease and the person. While celiac disease is a serious disease that requires some lifelong principles, gluten allergy is a condition with milder symptoms than celiac disease. Gluten sensitivity (gluten intolerance) is a condition that can be regulated by nutritional principles. In the continuation of the article, you can find what you are wondering about gluten-free nutrition.
What is a Gluten Free Diet?
A gluten-free diet involves the complete elimination of gluten-containing foods from your diet. People who want to start this diet face some complaints beforehand. These can cause digestive problems such as indigestion, bloating, bowel movement disorders such as constipation, diarrhea or gas, joint pain or rapid weight loss after consuming gluten-containing foods. When people have such complaints, it is important to consult a doctor and have the necessary tests done and determine whether they have gluten sensitivity. People who want to start a gluten-free diet should definitely do the necessary checks before starting this type of diet. Even if there is no medical condition related to gluten, people who want to lose weight can switch to a gluten-free diet from time to time, and healthy weight loss can be achieved with this diet. The reason for this may be that carbohydrate intake stops significantly in the gluten-free diet, more careful behavior when buying packaged foods, and increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and protein sources.
What Are Gluten-Free Foods?
Since gluten is found in foods such as barley, wheat, rye, and oats, the food group they are in is quite high. In daily life, the most consumed bread, pasta and pastries contain high amounts of gluten. Examples of gluten-containing foods are frequently consumed foods such as cakes, pastries, pies, cookies, bagels, and pizza. Apart from these, since gluten is found in sauces, chewing gum and some drugs, people who will follow a gluten-free diet should be aware of this issue and question the ingredients. In a gluten-free diet, carbohydrate consumption stops, and thus energy can be reduced. In order to prevent this, foods that will serve as carbohydrates should be included in the gluten-free diet program. It may be necessary to include both gluten-free and healthy grains such as buckwheat and quinoa. Apart from this, all kinds of foods made from corn and rice can also be included in the gluten-free diet. Some of the gluten-free foods in general are:
Types of flour: Rice flour, corn flour, potato flour, chestnut flour, almond flour, carob flour.
Grains: Corn, rice, buckwheat, semolina, flaxseed, chia seed, teff seed, starch.
Milk and Dairy Products: Cheese, yogurt, kefir, cream, butter, cream.
Meat Products: Red meat, poultry such as chicken-turkey, fish-seafood and eggs.
Fruits and Vegetables: Potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, all green leafy vegetables, cucumber, avocado, banana, grapes, mango, melon, apple, pear.
Dried Legumes: Dry beans, sugar beans, kidney beans, legumes, chickpeas, lentils, soy.
Vegetable Oils: Sunflower oil, corn oil, olive oil, hazelnut oil, canola oil, coconut oil, walnut oil.
Nuts: Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, roasted chickpeas, prunes, apricots.
Beverages: Water, ayran, mineral water, freshly pressed fruit juices, tea, coffee, herbal teas.
What Are Gluten-Free Snacks?
When choosing gluten-free snacks, you can get help from a doctor or dietitian about gluten-free products that will provide health-rich alternatives. If gluten-free snacks are to be preferred from the market, it is very important to examine the labels on the packages to know whether they contain gluten. There is a statement that it does not contain gluten in prepackaged foods that are sold as gluten-free. However, not only the gluten-free statement on the packages, but also the general nutritional values, salt, sugar and carbohydrate ratios should be carefully examined. Gluten-free foods are usually made from rice flour or potato flour, and just like gluten-containing foods, many varieties can be found. These foods can be easily prepared at home with suitable ingredients. Examples of gluten-free snacks include:
Popcorn
Dried fruits
Fruit Yogurt
Banana cakes
Cookies made from almond or mulberry flour
Biscuits made with peanut butter
Ice creams made using fresh fruit and cream
Cookies, muffins and crackers made from carob flour
Desserts and cakes made with rice flour and dark chocolate.
What Are the Benefits of a Gluten-Free Diet?
In addition to being the only treatment for celiac patients, gluten-free diet is also used as a treatment method for people with gluten allergies and gluten sensitivity. However, gluten-free nutrition is currently used for the treatment of many diseases such as type 1 diabetes, neurological diseases, autism, dermatitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and insulin resistance. Even if the gluten-free diet is not a known disease, it is a diet and lifestyle preferred by people who want to lose weight in a healthy way. It is stated that individuals who self-administer a gluten-free diet may experience a decrease in symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, gas, and skin redness as a result of applying a gluten-free diet. Some of the benefits of the gluten-free diet are as follows:
Healthy weight loss
Increasing immune resistance
Staying away from ready-made foods such as fast food,
Not consuming processed and heat-treated foods (salami, sausage, sausage, etc.)
Absence of digestive problems caused by gluten-containing foods
Lack of vitamin deficiencies due to increased consumption of fruits and vegetables
Lack of concentration and lack of focus problems
Providing positive effects on hair-nail health
Increasing sleep quality
Reducing depression and anxiety.
Harms of Gluten
Gluten is a hard-to-digest protein that consists of grains such as wheat, barley, rye and oats and is found in many foods. It can cause fatigue and stomach aches, especially in people with gluten sensitivity. Apart from these, it can also cause muscle cramps and leg pain. When looking at the harms of gluten in general, some of the substances are as follows:
Bloating, indigestion
Diarrhea or constipation
Stomach ache,
Recurrent ulcers
Headache
Bone and joint pain
Chronic fatigue
Obesity risk
Hyperactivity disorder
Depression and anxiety disorder,
What Are the Risks of a Gluten-Free Diet?
With the transition to a gluten-free diet, some vitamin-mineral and other nutritional values may decrease. Foods containing gluten have a higher calorie, sugar and fat ratio. For this reason, you can take vitamin supplements with the recommendation of a doctor or dietitian to replace the fallen substances, and switch to a program that will provide a healthy and nutritionally rich alternative. Some of the values that decrease with gluten-free diet and need to be replaced are:
Iron
Calcium
Folic acid
Fiber
Thiamine (Vitamin B1)
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Niacin (Vitamin B3)
Things to Consider in a Gluten-Free Diet
Gluten-free diet requires a number of parameters to be considered. At the beginning of these, in order to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination, the tools used in the preparation of gluten-free foods are also separate. Another factor is the provision of a separate cabinet or storage condition for the separation of gluten-free and gluten-containing foods in the kitchen. In addition to these, if you are going to eat from outside, it should be said that it must be gluten-free when ordering, and it should be paid attention that products such as meat and fish are grilled or steamed, and other foods are preferred low-fat.