Some people suffer from a digestive disorder known as celiac disease which is characterized by intolerance to gluten.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, oats, rye, and barley, thus rendering them harmful to the intestines for people who have this problem.
The disease typically appears during childhood when an infant starts to eat cereals, and the poor absorption of nutrients causes diarrhea. It can also appear during middle age and may start after intestinal surgery, as a result of stress, pregnancy, or a viral infection.
Because of the poor absorption of nutrients that the disease causes, it can cause short stature, vomiting, and stomach aches in children. Fractures, weakness, and exhaustion are more frequently symptoms suffered by adults.
Recent studies have shown that if the disease is not diagnosed quickly, or if proper treatment is not administered, then more harm can be done to the intestines. Once gluten intolerance has been diagnosed, the person has to follow a "gluten-free" diet because so far there are no medicines that can cure the disease.
What is a gluten-free diet?
The key to choosing gluten-free foods is to meticulously read food labels. Although it's mainly found in cereals, there exist many other products whose ingredients are derivatives of cereals. Just because a person eats one of these foods without experiencing symptoms doesn't mean that the intestines go unharmed. Symptoms may take hours or weeks to appear.
It's important that people be well-informed when it comes to eating habits. Below we provide a list of products that contain gluten.
The goal of the diet is to achieve proper eating habits while eliminating gluten from foods.
| Food and serving sizes | Permissible foods | Foods to Avoid |
| Milk 2 cups or more | Whole, evaporated, condensed, and skim milk, whipped cream, sour cream, and all kinds of yogurt | Malted milk, commercialized drinks with chocolate, non-dairy creams |
| Cheeses (can substitute meat or milk) | Aged cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss or Gruyere) cream cheese, tofu, and fresh cheese | Cheeses with oat starch |
| Meats, poultry, fish 2 or more servings | All types | Meats that contain flour made from cereal such as some sausages, pates, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein |
| Eggs | Eggs in sauces made with ingredients that contain gluten | |
| Vegetables 2 or more servings | All fresh vegetables | Canned or commercially prepared vegetables, vegetable purees |
| Fruit 2 or more servings | All fruits | Thickened fruit and some pie fillings |
| Bread 3 or more servings | Special bread with gluten-free grains | Breads made from wheat flour, rye, oats, barley, bran |
| Cereals 1 or more servings | Corn, rice, and special cereals | All kinds that contain wheat, oats, barley, bran, graham, wheat germ, malt, millet, amaranth (pigweed), Bulgarian cereal, buckwheat flour, Bulgur, wheat pasta |
| Crackers and sandwiches | Rice cakes, pure corn tortillas, popcorn, some sweetened cookies | All those containing oats, wheat, rye, barley |
| Flour and thickening agents | Cornmeal, soy flour, potato flour, rice flour, rice bran | All flour made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, semolina, or couscous, wheat starch, soy sauce fermented with wheat flour, cornstarch |
| Fats and oils used for cooking | All fats and oils | Some salad dressings |
