What foods contain gluten? Gluten – what is it and why is it harmful. What foods contain gluten? List. What a terrible beast gluten is

Many people, hearing this name, often confuse it with monosodium glutamate (flavor enhancer), added to bouillon cubes, seasonings, sauces and others. Food, in fact, gluten is a plant protein (gluten). Gluten is contained in grain crops such as wheat, rye, oats, barley and products made on their basis, i.e. flour and flour products, cereals, pasta, confectionery and other food products.

The quality of flour depends precisely on the amount of gluten it contains; premium wheat flour must contain at least 30% gluten, first grade - less than 28, second grade - 25, wallpaper - 20%. You can determine whether flour contains gluten (gluten) very simply: you need to take 25 grams of flour and 12.5 mg of water, knead the dough, after 20 minutes wash the starch in water, do this until the water is clear. Since gluten does not dissolve in water, after this procedure only gluten will remain in the dough. pure form. It is squeezed out and weighed. The quality of gluten (gluten) can be determined by its firmness and elasticity, extensibility, and color. As a rule, gluten of excellent quality is light yellow. Dark gluten indicates the low quality of the flour from which it is obtained. Strong gluten has good elasticity and elasticity - its elongation does not exceed 20 cm. Weak (bad) gluten can stretch up to 80 cm.

The harm and benefits of gluten

At its core, gluten is a variety of different amino acids (arginine, histidine, lysine, tyrosine, tryptophan, alanine, phenylalanine, cystine, methionine, serine, threonine, leucine, isoleucine, valine, glutamic and aspartic acids, glycocol, proline), proteins gliadin and glutenin, several types of peptides.

And all these substances are vital for our body, since scientists have proven that if gluten is not present in sufficient quantities in human food, this leads to indigestibility important vitamins and microelements.

Refusal of foods containing gluten leads to a deficiency of B vitamins, calcium and iron in the body. Gluten is harmful to the human body only if he is sick with a disease such as celiac disease - this is when the intestines are not able to properly perform absorption functions, resulting in inflammation and structural damage to the mucous membrane. But this disease is very rare, affecting about 1% of people. Very often infants are gluten intolerant. Simple gluten intolerance differs from celiac disease in that the body is simply unable to digest gluten and the immune system does not cause damage to the walls of the small intestine. So it all ends like this unpleasant problems, like bloating and some others. Symptoms of gluten intolerance:

• depression, anxiety;
• peripheral neuropathy;
• osteoparosis and osteopenia;
• dermatitis, skin rash;
• stomatitis;
• numbness of the legs;
• joint pain;
• lack of vitamins;
• anemia that does not respond to iron therapy;
• foul-smelling stool;
• liver problems;
• Constipation or chronic diarrhea;
• bloating and abdominal pain.

If there is any suspicion of celiac disease or gluten intolerance, you should consult a doctor and undergo a DNA test for carriers of genes sensitive to gluten and celiac enteropathy. Gluten is also harmful to people with gluten allergies, phenylketonuria (protein metabolism disorder), and autism.

Gluten intolerance test at home

Initially, if you notice any of the symptoms described above after eating foods that contain gluten, you can do a test at home. Home test consists of comparing and recording how you feel when eating foods containing gluten and foods without it. If none of the symptoms described above occur when consuming gluten-free foods, then DNA testing in a hospital is completely unjustified. But if you have stomach problems, then you should try eliminating gluten from your diet for a couple of weeks. It is necessary to make daily notes about digestion in a condition monitoring notebook. After a couple of weeks, you need to include gluten-containing foods in your diet again for 2 weeks. The notes in the notebook for this period will be the most valuable. Typically, when a patient reintroduces gluten into their diet, digestive problems increase. Thus, if you feel better by eliminating gluten from your diet, you should:

1. consult a doctor;
2. conduct laboratory medical tests;
3. exclude foods from the diet that contain gluten (as recommended by a nutritionist in accordance with laboratory tests).

Gluten-free diet

The daily norm (recommended by nutritionists) for gluten intolerance in Russia is less than 50 grams, and in Europe it is even less - up to 20 grams per day. With a gluten-free diet, the consumption of some foods is strictly prohibited, others may be classified as dangerous, and others can be consumed without fear. The following table will help you figure out which foods you can eat and which you shouldn’t.

Allowed and prohibited foods on a gluten-free diet

For organization proper diet From the table of “allowed and prohibited foods” it is clear that cereals such as barley, rye, wheat and products based on them should be excluded from the diet. Oatmeal does not contain gluten at all, but its substitute avenin, but many people tolerate it worse than gluten (it’s like carrots, which contain not vitamin A itself, but its substitute carotene). Special attention A patient with celiac disease should pay attention to the composition of purchased products, which indicate:

• E965 - maltitol syrup and maltitol;
• E953- isomaltol;
• E636-maltol;
• E150a- E150d- caramel colors;
• E160b - annatto dye.

These products contain gluten. Many food manufacturers, knowing about this disease in people, offer gluten-free food products. Such manufacturers include:

• "Mac Master" (Russia);
• "Baltic Mill" (Russia);
• "Provena" (Finland);
• SamMills (Romania);
• "Shar" (Italy);
• "Bezgluten" (Poland);
• "Farmo" (Italy);
• "Glutano" (Germany).

Gluten in industry

Gluten is used in the production of semi-finished meat products, as well as sausages. Since wheat gluten is insoluble in water, it forms fibers when hydrated. Thanks to this property, it increases the density of the minced meat and makes the finished product more elastic. In dry form, gluten is used for glazing and breading of many foods. For example, adding gluten to coating mixtures increases adhesion, minimizes cooking loss, and enhances appearance. And when gluten is used in liquid breading, it creates a protective film, which prevents the product from losing the liquid it contains and helps create a crispy crust. In dry form, gluten is also used to glaze fried nuts with seasonings and salt. Gluten is widely used in the production of breakfast cereals containing mineral additives, vitamins, dried fruits, nuts, fat, oat and wheat bran. To enrich such breakfasts with protein, both pure gluten and soy flour are used; such enrichment of the product with protein also helps to bind minerals and vitamins. Gluten is simply an indispensable additive in the production of cutlets and steaks, ham and sausages from minced meat; it perfectly binds trimmings and pieces of meat together. Dry gluten makes up from 2 to 7% of the finished product from minced meat and other types of emulsion products. Products made using gluten are superior in taste to products using sodium caseinate in their production. Gluten, subjected to the process of hydrolysis and pressing, is used in the development of products substitutes (analogs) for artificial caviar, crabs, and meat. The properties of gluten, such as viscosity and elasticity, make it possible to produce a cheese product that has taste qualities and the texture of natural cheese. And in combination with soy protein, gluten is used in the production of processed cheese, replacing sodium caseinate. The highest density (consistency) of processed cheese is achieved when using 3% gluten in the recipe total volume mass fraction of moisture 46-48% of finished product. Wheat gluten is used as a base for chewing gum, as well as in the production of cosmetic products (for example, mascara), in the pharmaceutical industry in order for the medicine to keep its tablet form. Natural gluten is approved and recognized as safe in Russia (GOST R-53511-2009) for the production of sausages and meat products, as a protein fortifier for flour, as a natural filler, thickener and stabilizer, as well as a binder in confectionery. However, the massive use of gluten in Russia is so far weakened by high prices from producers from abroad, although this looks strange, because Russia is distinguished by its huge production and export of grain, especially wheat, to other countries.

All individuals with intolerance to this compound, as well as their close relatives and friends, need to know which products contain gluten. Recently, manufacturers have taken into account that many people suffer from this feature, so on product packaging they immediately indicate whether they contain gluten. True, against the background of this, hysteria of the opposite kind began: even those who did not cause any reactions to the compound suddenly became afraid of it, decided that it was very harmful and that such products should be carefully avoided. This is especially noticeable when young parents choose baby food. In order not to panic in vain, you need to understand what gluten is and what dangers are associated with it.

General overview

It’s frankly not easy to list all the products that contain gluten, because this word, which is little understood by many, is a synonym for the term “gluten”, that is, the protein structure plant origin. Cereals are especially rich in it; in some varieties, up to a fifth of the total volume is gluten. The compound is absolutely natural, of organic origin, and is produced industrially by leaching starch components from grains crushed into flour.

Ordinary, familiar and familiar dough is elastic precisely due to the presence of gluten in it. Gluten determines the quality of bread and other flour products, pasta. With a high percentage of this compound, food is tasty, fluffy, attractive, retains its taste and aroma for a long time, does not spoil for a long time, and does not become stale.

Appearances and passwords

The list of foods that contain gluten always starts with a variety of grains. These are rye, wheat, barley grain, oats. Any food made from such raw materials is rich in gluten. It is present in abundance in flour, products baked from it, and cereals.

The listed list of products that contain gluten is supplemented by cheeses and dairy products, sausages, pates and sauces, ice cream and sweets. The compound has become so widespread due to its low cost and safety for humans (except for cases of individual intolerance), as well as the qualities of a thickener. Gluten is used extensively in industrial food production processes. As a rule, it can be seen in the list of ingredients on the package. Knowing that your body is hypersensitive to gluten, you need to carefully study all the components before purchasing food so as not to encounter an unpleasant reaction from the body.

Vegetarians, be careful: what foods contain gluten?

The list of foods rich in this compound includes the most common components for cooking among vegetarians. For example, it is rare that a special sausage for those who do not eat meat is gluten-free. You also need to pay attention to seitan - a meat analogue made from wheat for vegetarians. In fact, this product is gluten in its pure form, somewhat diluted with seasonings and water. Many people prepare seitan at home using wheat flour as the starting material, but you can purchase ready-made goods in the store. Seitan is especially widespread in America, Asian and European countries. The store-bought product is completely ready to eat.

Accordingly, if you are gluten intolerant, sticking to a vegetarian diet is not an easy task, since you will have to exclude all products containing it.

Who can't?

People whose digestive system cannot cope with the processing of this plant protein, as well as their loved ones, if meals are organized at the same table, should know where gluten is found and how it is harmful. Unfortunately, recently speculation has begun regarding potential harm squirrel for human body- suggest that this is due to the benefits for businesses promoting gluten-free products. The primary fashion for such a diet originated in America, where from 2005 to 2010 the demand for products increased from two to ten percent.

But if the human digestive system really cannot cope with processing this protein, then you need to know where gluten is found and carefully avoid these products. Congenital pathology - celiac disease. As a rule, its first signs appear in infancy, and no special treatment has yet been invented. There is only one way out for patients - to carefully avoid gluten. Currently, rough estimates of the incidence of pathology are from three to ten people for every thousand of the planet's population.

What about others?

Everyone else on our planet may or may not know where gluten is found, but this does not affect the quality of life. If there is no intolerance, vegetable protein will not cause any harm to the body, since it does not provoke negative reactions or pathologies. Gluten supplies much-needed protein and essential amino acids. Products made from gluten belong to the category of healthy foods and are recommended for many diets. Good example- the wheat meat mentioned above. Although it was originally created specifically for vegetarians, it is now widely used as part of therapeutic nutrition programs.

Knowing which cereals contain gluten and using them in cooking should be done by those who have chosen a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Just 100 g of wheat gluten powder is already a source of 75 g of pure protein. But fat in this volume is no more than two grams. Carbohydrates are estimated at 18 grams per 100 gram serving of gluten. The calorie content of this volume is 370 kcal. In a word, a real find for a complete diet. In addition, gluten quickly saturates.

No gluten

Since gluten is found in cereals, if you are intolerant to this compound, you need to be very careful when choosing food. It is recommended to create a menu containing the following products:

• buckwheat;
• millet;
• rice cereal;
• quinoa;
• corn.

What if it’s not grains?

You need to know not only what contains gluten, but also where it is not. For example, among non-cereals, if a strict diet is necessary, it is better to give preference to such products as:

• potato;
• vegetables;
• fruits;
• dairy products of natural origin;
• oils extracted from plants;
• legumes

It is recommended to include nuts in your nutrition program - they do not contain gluten, but there are a lot of useful components and vitamins. Nuts are an almost irreplaceable product recommended for any healthy eating program.

If gluten is contained in porridge, it is impossible to notice it by taste: the protein simply does not have it. When water is added, the component becomes sticky and acquires gray shade. By the way, this is especially noticeable in the popular oatmeal, rich in gluten.

Gluten is a complex structure formed by two proteins: glutenin and gliadin. To determine the concentration of gluten in flour, you can conduct a small test: mix water and flour in proportions of 1:2, leave for half an hour, rinse off the starch secretions. Gluten itself is not soluble in water, so sooner or later a certain percentage of the original dough will remain in your hands, after contact with which the water will be absolutely clean. This is gluten in its pure form. After this, you can squeeze out the substance and measure the weight.

What is gluten rich in?

Knowing what gluten contains (the list is already listed above), you can fill your diet with useful substances, since it is through gluten that the human body receives B vitamins, magnesium and phosphorus in abundance. Gluten helps deliver iron, calcium, calcium, and tocopherol to the body's cells. All these compounds are vital for the human body; cell functioning without them is simply impossible.

It is known that gluten binds a number of minerals and other components, which normalizes digestion. True, this only applies to healthy people. If the compound is intolerant, the harm can be very serious - even death.

Celiac disease: features

For patients with this pathology, it is vitally important to know what contains gluten and where it does not, in order to select a safe menu for yourself. The term is usually used to refer to this autoimmune disease, which can be inherited. The peculiarity of the body’s condition is as follows: the immune system perceives gluten as a foreign agent, which provokes an active fight. Leukocytes produce cytokines, proteins negatively affect the intestinal mucosa. The villi located here disappear, the gastrointestinal tract cannot cope with the functions assigned to it by nature, and beneficial components from food are not adsorbed. Each new intake of gluten into the body is accompanied by a more powerful immune response, so the symptoms become more severe over time.

Not so simple

It's not just those with celiac disease who need to know what gluten contains and avoid these foods. It is known that some people's bodies are unable to digest wheat protein, but the mucous membranes remain intact. Intolerance is expressed by abdominal pain and increased gas formation. Peripheral may be affected nervous system, skin rashes appear, including dermatitis. When gluten is consumed in food, myalgia, arthralgia may develop, and joint pain, numbness of the legs.

Some patients whose bodies are unable to digest gluten are diagnosed with depressive disorders and a tendency to sudden mood swings. Possible abnormal liver function, bowel dysfunction, hair loss and headaches, osteoporosis, problems hormonal levels. Known cases chronic stomatitis and weakness of the immune system. In some severe cases, children do not develop physically. If gluten is regularly consumed in food and the body is intolerant of the protein, severe consequences can develop, including autism and dementia.

How to suspect celiac disease?

This disease is congenital, so parents should notice it in the first year of the baby’s life. Usually problems are manifested by the child’s restlessness, crying, and inadequate mental state. Many children with this disease show no interest in life from birth. This fact has attracted the attention of the scientific community. As part of the experiment, colored pencils were distributed, and all patients with celiac disease persistently chose only black to use, on the basis of which psychologists concluded that the state was depressed in pathology.

If a child is suspected of having celiac disease or gluten intolerance, it is necessary to conduct a month-long experiment, completely eliminating dishes with gluten from the diet. Information inferred from patient observations allows one to reasonably infer what is present in a particular case. If we're talking about about an allergic reaction, celiac disease, negative symptoms will soon subside. There are special tests available in pharmacies that can be used to determine the presence of an allergic reaction.

What to do?

If observations and tests suggest that the cause of the poor condition is gluten intolerance or celiac disease, you should seek help from a qualified doctor. To confirm the diagnosis, special testing is prescribed to determine the individual characteristics of the gene structure. The diagnosis is confirmed if during laboratory analysis it is possible to detect a gene in which information about gluten enteropathy is encoded.

If the diagnosis is confirmed, you cannot try to cure the disease on your own. The doctor will give certain recommendations regarding drugs that can be used to alleviate the patient’s condition in each specific case - these could be, for example, vitamin complexes or minerals. Celiac disease currently has no cure, so you will have to stick to a strictly limited diet for the rest of your life.

Proper nutrition

Nutritionists recommend following standards for gluten consumption. To follow such recommendations, you need to know which products contain it and which do not. Normally, if you are gluten intolerant, you can consume up to 20 g per day (according to European rules) or up to 50 g (according to domestic standards). The above-mentioned grains, bread made from them, and other carbohydrate-rich products in the production of which gluten was used as a preservative are completely removed from the menu. Gluten is almost always used in the manufacture of mayonnaise, ketchup and similar products. The composition may indicate not the usual short word, but the long phrase “modified food starch”.

You will have to exclude bulgur and pearl barley from the nutrition program. You cannot drink juices, cocoa, or powdered coffee. All sweets that contain licorice root extract are prohibited.

What else is not allowed?

You will have to completely eliminate drinks containing malt. This imposes restrictions on beer consumption. Patients are forced to give up products that contain food additives:

• E 150;
• E 160;
• E 411;
• E 637;
• E 636;
• E 953;
• E 965.

Many pharmaceutical products are also made using gluten. It is included in the popular products “Festal”, “Valerian” in the form of dragees, and some vitamin complexes. If you are known to have gluten intolerance, it is important to carefully read the drug instructions before taking it so as not to encounter any problems. adverse reactions varying degrees gravity.

An article on the topic: “gluten - what it is and why it is harmful. what foods contain gluten. list” from professionals.

What is gluten and why is it harmful? The question of the dangers of gluten for human health is quite controversial. Many sources claim that gluten is safe for everyone except those with celiac disease, however, everything more people refuse gluten products. Today we will talk about what gluten actually is and how it can be dangerous for our body.

What is gluten in foods

Contrary to popular belief, gluten is not just one substance; This concept refers to two groups of proteins (proteins) contained in certain grain crops, used, in particular, for making flour. Gluten or gluten nourishes the germs of cereals and promotes their germination, and subsequently provides elasticity to the dough, and allows finished products made from such dough to retain their shape.

The proteins designated by the term “gluten” are prolamines and glutenins. Gluten accounts for about 80% of all proteins that make up wheat. Wheat prolamins are also called gliadins, and glutenins in wheat are called glutelins. It is gliadins that cause the most health problems. However, prolamines and glutenins are found not only in wheat, but also in other crops, including rye, oats and barley.

When flour and water are mixed, gluten proteins form a strong elastic network, which makes the dough elastic and allows it to rise during baking.

Gluten: harm and benefit

If gluten is such a beneficial ingredient in baking, what could be the harm? Most people safely consume gluten without any negative consequences for their body. However, for those suffering from gluten intolerance, the proteins can cause health problems. varying degrees gravity.

Gluten intolerance is an umbrella term for conditions such as celiac disease, increased sensitivity gluten and wheat allergy. In addition, according to some data, gluten intolerance is a factor that increases the risk of developing Duhring's disease.

Currently, the incidence of various types of gluten protein intolerance is growing throughout the world. This is explained by a significant and widespread increase in the consumption of baked goods, pastries and other products containing gluten, as well as a greater prevalence in last years genetically modified wheat varieties with increased content of cytotoxic gluten peptides.

Only a doctor can make a correct diagnosis, although any digestive disorder is the first sign of a possible intolerance to gluten proteins.

Celiac disease – gluten intolerance

Celiac disease or gluten enteropathy is chronic disorder digestion. The disease is hereditary and autoimmune in nature and is caused by damage to the mucous membrane and damage to the villi small intestine, which occurs when eating foods that contain gluten and similar proteins.

Although celiac disease is a digestive disorder, the disease can cause a wide variety of symptoms that have nothing to do with the digestive system, or it can be asymptomatic for a long time.

Celiac disease affects about 1-2% of the world's population, but most cases of the disease remain undiagnosed and, accordingly, treatment, which in the future can cause serious medical complications. Untreated enteropathy, to one degree or another, contributes to the occurrence of conditions and autoimmune diseases such as:

• malabsorption - lack of one or more nutrients;
• iron deficiency;
• osteoporosis and diseases of the musculoskeletal system;
• increased risk of lymphoma;
• type 1 diabetes mellitus;
• thyroiditis is a disease of the thyroid gland;
• skin diseases– psoriasis, vitiligo, Dühring’s dermatitis.

The most pronounced classic symptoms of celiac disease are in children under two years of age:

• chronic diarrhea;
• bloating;
• loss of appetite;
• slow growth.

In children over two years of age and in adults, celiac disease often does not cause symptoms associated with digestive tract, in addition to frequent bloating and general discomfort. In adults, adolescents and children, the disease can cause a very wide range of symptoms, which at first glance have nothing to do with digestive disorders, or be completely asymptomatic, which greatly complicates the diagnosis.

Allergy to gluten and wheat

Wheat allergy is most often a food (less often contact) allergy. In fact, in addition to glutelins and prolamines, wheat also contains other substances that can cause an allergic reaction. A total of 27 allergens that are part of wheat have been identified.

The most common allergen is glutelin, and the most severe allergic reaction, up to anaphylactic shock, causes the already familiar gliadin. General, more common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, asthma, runny nose, red eyes. Symptoms appear very quickly, from a couple of minutes to several hours after eating the allergen, and do not cause any long-term negative consequences for the body.

Gluten sensitivity

Gluten sensitivity is described as a condition with a wide range of symptoms. Sensitivity is diagnosed after excluding the possibility that the patient has enteropathy or allergies. According to various sources, hypersensitivity to gluten proteins occurs in 5-10% of the population.

Symptoms are similar to wheat allergy and irritable bowel syndrome; headaches, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia (pain throughout the body), depression, and some mental disorders are often added. Symptoms disappear almost completely when switching to a special diet consisting of foods with minimum content gluten

What foods contain gluten?

We have figured out why gluten is harmful, now let’s talk about what should be avoided by those suffering from gluten intolerance in one form or another.

• Cereals, porridge, flour. Wheat in any form, including wheat germ, wheat and whole grain flour, semolina– the main source of gluten. Gluten contains rye, barley, bulgur, couscous, pearl barley, oats and oat bran(unless the packaging is marked “gluten-free”), brewer’s yeast, corn and rice flakes, breakfast cereals.
• Bakery. Bread and baked goods, pizza, flatbreads, pita bread, pita bread, wheat tortillas, croutons and breadcrumbs, any fried food in batter, muffins, donuts, buns, cakes, biscuits, gingerbread cookies, pies and cookies made from shortcrust pastry, pancakes and pancakes, waffles.
• Pasta and dough dishes. This includes all wheat pasta, spaghetti, ravioli, dumplings, dumplings, manti, egg noodles, vermicelli and instant noodles.
• Alcohol produced from grain, including beer and vodka, other malt drinks, whiskey, gin.
• Sauces. Soy sauce, teriyaki, flour-based white sauces.

The listed products initially contain gluten, but the list does not end there. Hidden gluten is often present in a wide variety of prepared foods as a thickening agent.

Products to which manufacturers often add gluten:

• Energy bars with wheat or oatmeal, crispbread.
• Fast food, hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries and potato chips.
• Candies and chocolate bars, milk chocolate.
• Instant food and frozen semi-finished products, ready-made soups, bouillon cubes, spice mixtures.
• Soy meat - seitan, imitation crab meat, crab sticks.
• Sausages, sausages.
• Some types of solid and processed cheese, blue cheeses, curd cheeses.
• Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire and other ready-made sauces.
• Canned food in tomato.
• Ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate, powdered and condensed milk, ready-made puddings.
• Instant coffee and other ready-made hot drinks.

Carefully read the ingredients on the packaging of the gastronomic products you buy: if it contains names such as dextrin, maltodextrin, hydrolysate (hydrolyzed malt extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed soy protein), natural flavor, brown rice syrup or modified food starch, it means gluten contains 100%.

Gluten-free diet: food list

If a certain degree of gluten intolerance is diagnosed, doctors usually recommend following a gluten-free diet. Patients are advised to exclude all gluten-containing products from their menu, with rare exceptions if they are specifically labeled.

Diet is vital if there is a medical indication for it, but when asked whether it is worth switching to a gluten-free menu for those who do not have a strict need for it, experts do not give a definite answer.

Gastronomic gluten restrictions often lead to weight loss, especially when starchy foods are replaced with a healthier equivalent, such as quinoa, which improves digestion and eliminates bloating. But here, too, lies the catch: manufacturers often add additional fats and sugars to products labeled gluten-free to make them tastier, thereby increasing their calorie content.

DoughVed advises. It is necessary to take into account: in contrast to cereals, gluten-free products are usually depleted in nutrients, which can lead to a deficiency of vitamins B and D, iron and fiber.

Whether to change your diet and your lifestyle without an urgent need or not, everyone decides for themselves. If you decide to start a diet and new life gluten-free, you need to start by reading labels - you will be surprised how often you can find gluten where it would seem there should not be.

List of allowed gluten-free products:

• Cereals - corn, rice, quinoa, millet, flaxseed, tapioca, buckwheat, amaranth, oats (if gluten free is indicated on the package).
• Other (it’s best to check the ingredients on the package) – fresh meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, most dairy and fermented milk products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, nuts, root vegetables, fats (vegetable oil and butter), herbs and spices, non-grain alcoholic drinks.

Natural, unprocessed foods are always preferable to processed foods, which have fewer nutrients, vitamins and minerals, but are higher in fat and higher in sugar.

Gluten in modern world became a horror story. People run from rack to rack in stores in search of products with the coveted “gluten free” inscription and shy away from the price tags on them. It is now customary to walk 3 kilometers away from all products containing gluten, i.e. wheat and all products made from it.

Let's find out. What is gluten, why is it harmful and is it really harmful? We'll find out who should eat gluten-free foods and for whom it doesn't make any sense.

What is this?

Gluten, gluten (lat. gluten - glue) is a concept that unites a group of storage proteins found in the seeds of cereal plants, especially wheat, rye and barley. In more understandable language: gluten is a protein found in cereal plants such as wheat, rye, oats and barley.

Gluten = gluten. Raw gluten (moistened with water) is grayish in color and has a sticky and elastic consistency; when dry, it is translucent and has no taste. Gluten makes dough elastic and affects how quickly it rises during baking.

It is gluten that allows flour and liquid to be mixed. The more gluten contained in wheat, the easier it is to make the dough, which turns into fluffy and airy baked goods, and the higher quality the flour is considered. The low gluten content makes this almost impossible. You've probably noticed that gluten-free baked goods are quite unattractive in appearance and have a “crushed” (flattened) appearance.

What products does it contain?

Gluten can be found in all products made from wheat, rye, oats, barley and derivatives, it is included in bread, rolls, pita bread, cookies, bagels, muffins, cakes, pizza, cereals, pasta, beer, waffles, breakfast cereals, bagels, pizza, in various sauces: ketchups, mayonnaise, etc., crab sticks, chips, instant coffee, ice cream, even frozen vegetables and fruits and the list goes on and on! It is needed there in order to improve the consistency of the product.

On average a person uses from 10 to 40 grams gluten per day (Scott Adams: How much gluten is in a normal diet, and how much does it take to cause damage in a celiac?). The majority of consumption comes from various breads, pastas and baked goods, 10-15% of the dry weight of which is directly gluten. Wherein footprints Gluten may be found in oatmeal and barley.

Celiac disease

Gluten allergy, gluten intolerance, or celiac disease is a genetic disease similar to lactose intolerance.

Guard, pours or cottage cheese for weight loss

Celiac disease affects 1% of the world's population. In our opinion, there is no reason for gluten-free hysteria. What are the chances that you will fall into this 1%, think about it?

What is a gluten allergy? Immune cells Such people perceive the gluten protein as foreign and dangerous, so they actively begin to fight it, thereby destroying not only the protein itself, but also the tissues where it is located, and the main blow falls on the intestinal walls, then the heart and joints suffer , thyroid gland, brain and other human organ systems.

Therefore, such people need to strictly limit their consumption of foods containing gluten in order to maintain health and life in general.

Should you be concerned about gluten intolerance? Yes, if one of your relatives had celiac disease, then there is a high probability that it may develop in you too. But if no one in your family had a severe allergy to gluten, then the likelihood that you will have it is negligible.

Symptoms of intolerance

Symptoms are obvious and secondary. Majority obvious symptoms Gluten intolerance refers to disruption of the digestive system - bloating, diarrhea and other stomach upsets. In chronic cases, the stool becomes pale and foamy, with a sharp unpleasant smell.

TO secondary symptoms include headaches, hair loss, decreased immunity, and deterioration of metabolism.

Do I have it?

Try eliminating bread and gluten-containing foods from your diet for a few days and carefully monitor how you feel. The intestinal microflora will need 10-14 days to recover.

If returning to a regular gluten-containing diet causes any digestive problems, you should consult a doctor to get a full medical test for celiac disease. For example, if you have these symptoms:

1. Bloating (sometimes even a huge bulging belly)
2. Abdominal pain
3. Diarrhea
4. Frequent, foamy stools with an unpleasant odor
5. Drastic weight loss
6. Skin rash
7. General weakness and malaise
8. Headache
9. Hair loss
10. Sharp exhaustion and decline in immunity.

that is, the likelihood of celiac disease. Go to the doctor immediately and get rid of doubts!

BUT. Don’t rush to diagnose yourself as “gluten intolerant” and rush to buy gluten-free diet books and buy “gluten free” products. They are not as useful as we would like.

Most often, flour is replaced with starch - corn, rice, potato, which are refined carbohydrates and which sharply increase blood sugar levels, like those refined foods that people usually try to avoid. As a result, you have a “wonderful” diet, read by madam: gluten-free, but with high content refined carbohydrates.

So what to do? Do not rush into the newfangled movement and do not engage in self-diagnosis. Go to the specialists.

So, gluten allergies do exist, and they can be a serious problem for someone with celiac disease. But what about the rest of the people who do not suffer from such a disease?

Is it harmful?

The answer is clear: if you don’t have gluten intolerance, then don’t worry too much about it, don’t you have enough worries?

Gluten is NOT to blame for your excess weight, digestive problems and does not wash away calcium/iron and other beneficial substances, as is commonly promoted on the Internet.

We will not deny that, at a minimum, baked goods are difficult for digestion and, for example, if you have problems with gallstones, you are advised to stop eating them. But let's also not forget that every day a person eats a lot of highly processed food, which includes not only gluten, but also a bunch of other harmful components: thickeners, preservatives, taste stabilizers, synthetic sweeteners, flavorings, flavor enhancers, dyes, etc. All this taken together has a very bad effect on human health and his immune system.

And these components are very often included in the same products as gluten: fast food (pizza, hamburgers, fries); bakery products (bread, rolls, puff pastries, cookies, cakes, donuts, crackers, etc.); sweets (sweets, chocolates, bars); cereals/porridge/pasta/instant soups; ketchups/sauces/mayonnaise; sausages, frankfurters and semi-finished meat products; crab sticks; ice cream, curd cheeses and sweet yoghurts/curds; instant coffee and tea.

Can we say that by eliminating, for example, bread and all baked goods, you began to feel better precisely because you eliminated gluten? We think not. In addition to gluten, you have also excluded from your diet a decent list of other harmful food additives, which also made a significant contribution to your poor health.

But if you are still very concerned that gluten is harmful and brings you many problems, then exclude all of the above products that theoretically may contain gluten, try to eat fresh vegetables, herbs, fruits, nuts, legumes, unrefined vegetable oils (but fry Absolutely not allowed on them, you need to use them for frying. ONLY refined oils) and you will notice that you feel 100%.

This is interesting

It is believed that the digestive problems that everyone associates with gluten are actually caused by eating FODMAPS foods.

FODMAPS are short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly digested in small intestine, that leads to increased gas formation, bloating, diarrhea and other symptoms that are similar in nature to gluten intolerance, but in fact have nothing in common with it.

A study was conducted: 34 test subjects who complained of gluten intolerance were excluded from their diet with FODMAPS. The painful symptoms completely disappeared, although gluten had absolutely nothing to do with it. Should we trust this study? There is very little data and the volume of information is also small (as is the number of experimental subjects), but there is definitely a grain of rationality. Before you blame everything on poor wheat, stop allowing yourself some chocolate/french fries/pizza/alcohol and other harmful liberties on the weekend. Otherwise, people like to buy amaranth bread, gluten-free cereals and other “super healthy” products imposed by marketers, and then eat a piece of cake in a restaurant.

Remember: Eating wheat is not prohibited for healthy people.
And obsessive information about the dangers of gluten is most likely created purposefully. It’s not for nothing that the “heroes” of advertising are gluten-free products, the sales of which bring their owners billions.

By the way, the situation with gluten is very similar to the situation with sugar substitutes, which are advised left and right without taking into account the health consequences of their use (and they are serious) and with all their might they praise the weight loss benefits of products with artificial sweeteners. But more on that in another article...

About 1% of the human population is affected congenital intolerance gluten or celiac disease. Clinically, this is manifested by a number of unpleasant symptoms, and therefore such patients need to follow a gluten-free diet for life. Therefore, they need to know which foods contain gluten.

Dry gluten has no taste; when soaked in water it is a sticky gray mass.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a complex plant protein that consists of 2 other proteins: gliadin and glutenin. It is found in most cereals, such as barley, rye, and wheat. For example, at least 80% of the mass of a wheat grain is gluten. It is what gives baked goods their fluffiness and extends their shelf life. If the gluten content is low, then it will be practically impossible to get airy baked goods.

You can determine its amount in flour as follows: knead the dough from 2 parts flour and 1 part water, leave it for 20 minutes. After this, wash off the starch and do this until the water runs clear. Gluten does not dissolve in water and will remain in its pure form in the dough. It is squeezed out and weighed.

The protein got its name from the Latin word “gluten”, which means “glue”, so another name for the protein is “gluten”.

Benefits and harms

Benefits of Gluten

Gluten has the following positive qualities:

1. Gluten increases the nutritional value of foods, which allows you to replenish the body with energy, plant proteins and nutrients.
2. Gluten contains B vitamins, retinol, tocopherol, calciferol, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, and some essential amino acids that are necessary for the normal functioning of the body.
3. Gluten can bind some nutrients and minerals, resulting in normal digestion.

The benefits of gluten for healthy people are obvious. But if there are people who are intolerant to gluten and it can cause irreparable harm to them.

The harm of gluten

If a patient suffering from celiac disease consumes foods containing gluten, this can cause death.

Celiac disease is a rare hereditary autoimmune disease in which the body is intolerant to gluten.

The patient's immune system begins to perceive gluten as a foreign body and actively fights it. At the same time, in the human body, leukocytes begin to produce cytokines, proteins that destroy the intestinal mucosa. As a result, the villi that line the walls of the small intestine fall off and the organ cannot perform its function, namely, adsorb useful substances.

In such patients, more and more antibodies will be produced each time, which will manifest itself as more severe symptoms.

Some people do not have celiac disease, but rather an inability of the body to digest gluten without affecting the intestinal mucosa.

The following symptoms may indicate plant protein intolerance:

You can suspect celiac disease in a child based on his mental state, such children often cry, they are restless, they have no interest in life. An experiment was carried out, such children were given colored pencils and they chose only black out of all the colors, which indicates their depressed state.

As seen clinical picture Gluten intolerance is polymorphic. If you suspect celiac disease or a gluten allergy, you should exclude gluten-containing foods from your diet for a month and monitor how you feel. If all the above symptoms subside, then most likely there is gluten intolerance.

Today, you can purchase tests at the pharmacy that can detect gluten allergies.

Important! If you suspect gluten intolerance, you should not self-medicate. Since only a specialist can choose the right treatment regimen. Therefore, if you identify signs of an allergy to gluten or celiac disease, you should go to the hospital and do a DNA test to identify the gene responsible for the appearance of sensitivity to gluten and the development of celiac enteropathy.

In addition, gluten is harmful to patients suffering from autism and phenylketonuria (a rare genetic disease in which amino acid metabolism disorders are observed).

It is important for all these people to know what gluten contains.

Prohibited and permitted products

Prohibited Products

To follow a gluten-free diet, you need to exclude foods that contain gluten.

Which cereals contain large amounts of gluten? There is a lot of it in the following cereals:

• barley;
• rye;
• oats;
• wheat.

That is, gluten is found in baked goods and other carbohydrate-containing products to which vegetable protein is added as a preservative. Thus, gluten can be used to increase viscosity in the production of sausages, sauces, ketchups and ice cream.

Important! If gluten is included in store-bought sauces and ketchups as a thickener, it is usually referred to as “hydrolyzed protein.” You can also read on the packaging of such products that they contain “modified food starch,” which is nothing more than gluten.

When following a gluten-free diet, you should exclude the following foods from your diet:

• couscous;
• oat, wheat, rye and barley flour;
• bulgur;
• egg, semolina, pearl barley;
• juices;
• starch, which is used for the production of sausage and curd products (for example, cheese curds), instant coffee, cocoa, dairy products, yoghurts, ketchups;
• cornflakes;
• sweets containing licorice extract;
• muesli;
• any products containing cereals (yogurt with muesli, chocolate with cereals);
• canned food in tomato;
• crab sticks;
• dishes containing flour, breading, for example, various sauces;
• chewing gum;
• drinks containing malt, barley, oats, for example, beer.

The following food additives are prohibited:

• E150 - sugar color, food coloring known as burnt sugar or caramel;
• E160 - carotene;
• E 411 - stabilizer “Oatmeal gum”;
• E 637 - ethyl maltol, flavor and aroma enhancer;
• E 636 - maltol, aroma and taste enhancer;
• E 953 - isomalt, sugar substitute;
• E 965 - maltitol, sweetener.

Important! Gluten can be used to produce medicines, for example, Festal, Valerian dragees, Jungle vitamins. It helps the tablets maintain their shape. Therefore, patients suffering from gluten intolerance should carefully read the composition of the medications they use.

Authorized Products

While on a gluten-free diet, you are allowed to consume the following foods:

• potato;
• millet, rice, amaranth, corn, quinoa, buckwheat, soybeans;
• legumes;
• vegetables and fruits;
• fish, meat;
• natural tea and coffee;
• butter and vegetable oil;
• vinegar;
• honey, salt, sugar.

Important! You can determine the gluten content in non-flour products using an iodine solution. To do this, you need to put 1 drop of it on the food and if the solution changes its brown color to purple, therefore, the product contains starch, despite the fact that it may be rice or potato, it’s still not worth the risk.

You can determine the gluten content in products by dropping a drop of iodine on them; the appearance of blue-black spots indicates the presence of gluten in the products

Some companies offer gluten-free products, such manufacturers include:

• "Mak Master", "Baltic Mill" - Russian companies;
• "Provena", products made in Finland;
• "Shar" and "Farmo" are Italian companies;
• “Bezgluten” - gluten-free products produced in Poland;
• SamMills is a Romanian company;
• Glutano is a German company offering a wide range of gluten-free products.

Important! A gluten-free diet is low in fiber, so your diet must contain foods containing a large number of fibers such as rice, potatoes and fresh vegetables. In addition, by adhering to a low-gluten menu, it is important to eliminate the deficiency of iron, calcium, cyanocobalamin and folic acid. For this purpose, your doctor may prescribe a vitamin-mineral complex.

Gluten-free pasta from Mak Master

Important! In European countries, there is a law that requires food products to have an icon depicting a crossed out spikelet. It indicates that they are gluten free.

Tips for Parents of Children Who Should Go Gluten Free

A child should like a gluten-free diet otherwise It will be difficult to give up prohibited foods. Since not only cereals will be banned, but also many sweets, such as ice cream.

If a child has a temporary allergy to gluten products, they will need to be excluded from the diet for a while, and then gradually reintroduced into the menu in small doses.

When a child has celiac disease, he will have to follow a gluten-free diet for the rest of his life.

Parents should remember that gluten can get into the diet from gluten-free foods, so a number of rules must be followed:

1. It is necessary to allocate a separate cabinet in which gluten-free products should be stored. This should be a closet, and not a separate shelf in a common closet.
2. The child must have separate cutlery and dishes. It should not be used by other family members. It is advisable to put a special mark on the dishes, which will allow you to avoid mistakes.
3. Cooking for a child should be done using separate pots, baking sheets, molds, frying pans, a ladle, and a slotted spoon.
4. There should be a separate board and knife for slicing gluten-free bread, they should be signed.
5. When preparing food for a child or other family members, you must constantly wash your hands so as not to accidentally introduce gluten into the food intended for the patient.
6. You cannot bake gluten-free and gluten-free baked goods in the same oven at the same time.
7. When trying dishes, you should first try the dishes that are prepared for the child, and then the rest.
8. All prohibited products must be kept in a place where a child cannot reach them.
9. You should not listen to the advice of mothers whose child has celiac disease that some prohibited product does not cause unpleasant symptoms and can be given to the child.
10. Any product that raises the slightest doubt should be discarded.
11. If a product is given for the first time, then no other new products should be given on that day. It is important to monitor how the child tolerates a new product.

Celiac disease is a disease that will accompany a person throughout his life. It cannot be cured; the only thing that can eliminate the symptoms of the pathology is following a special diet. It will improve the patient’s quality of life and well-being.

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for information, possible contraindications, consultation with a doctor is MANDATORY! Do not engage in self-diagnosis and self-medication!

The more carefully humanity begins to take care of its own health, the more various prejudices arise about this or that product. The victim of another witch hunt has become a vegetable protein - gluten, found in cereals. Surely many have heard about the gluten-free diet, which has captured the minds of all admirers healthy image life in our country and abroad. Gluten: what it is and why it is harmful.

What is gluten?

The mixture of protein amino acids and enzymes, thanks to which flour products acquire fluffiness and stickiness, is called gluten. In other words, gluten is gluten. It relates directly to the proteins of cereals and externally is an elastic mass without taste or smell. When mixed with water, the mass acquires a gray tint.

Why gluten is harmful to humans

Why has gluten become such a concern for humanity? Lately. After all, our ancestors have been preparing cereals for centuries. In all countries of the world, this was the first and often (for the poor) only food of the day. It's all about the disease - celiac disease. This rare disease affects 1% of the world's population, although doctors say that in recent years the disease has progressed and the number of cases is increasing.

Celiac disease is an allergic reaction to protein. The immunity of people with this diagnosis forces the body to fight gluten, hence the intestinal function is disrupted. The patient’s absorption of sugar and fats decreases, vitamins and minerals are poorly absorbed, and with constant consumption of gluten, excess weight accumulates.

People first started talking about it in 1990, when they began to notice it in infants after eating cereals with a high gluten content. violation functioning of the organs of the food system. They experienced bloating and diarrhea with light-colored, foul-smelling stools. That's when the doctors sounded the alarm. As a result, baby food was revised, and the concept of celiac disease was introduced into medicine.

It was noticed that if you completely exclude products with a high gluten content for a period of two weeks, then all signs of disease– diarrhea, bloating and constipation go away.

You don't even need to take medications. The problem is that gluten can accumulate in the body for years over a long period of time. As a result, a person ends up in the hospital with many diseases caused by gluten. Unfortunately, detecting celiac disease in time modern medicine not capable. And this is not the entire list of problems that it brings gluten.

Complications of long-term gluten consumption:

• Damaged teeth. Buns, white cakes, waffles, quick breakfasts from finely ground instant oatmeal - all of them are very harmful to teeth. Gluten, contained in large quantities in these products, destroys tooth enamel and leads to caries. Just a few minutes after, for example, waffles or a fluffy white bun have been eaten, the acidity level drops sharply, which provokes the activity of bacteria in the oral cavity and until the teeth are brushed with a toothbrush, they remain in the interdental space . It is a mistake to think that regular rinsing will somehow solve the problem. As a conclusion: you should limit the number of snacks during the day, and it is advisable to completely remove buns and waffles from your diet.
• Osteoporosis and joint pain can be caused by slagging in the body due to the high starch content in food.
• Stomach ulcers, pathologies of the pancreas and gall bladder, are directly related to problems with gluten absorption. The gastric mucosa becomes inflamed and damaged, and this, in turn, leads to serious consequences, including oncology.
• Skin rash as a result of impaired performance gastrointestinal tract and vitamin deficiency.
• Nausea and chronic fatigue.

How to recognize gluten intolerance

There are a number of signs by which you can determine whether a person has gluten intolerance or not.

• Constant bloating.
• Diarrhea. The stool becomes liquid with an unpleasant odor, pale and foamy.
• Headaches begin to plague
• Hair loss occurs
• Immunity decreases. The patient is plagued by constant respiratory diseases.

To have an idea of ​​how important gluten is in food production and what it is, you can recall the outdated wallpapering method. When flour and water were diluted, obtaining a so-called paste, and wallpaper was firmly glued with this composition. Paste works in exactly the same way when making, for example, pasta. It is not for nothing that in some finished products its content reaches 60%.

Where is gluten found: list of products

• First of all, this is bread and other baked goods. Thanks to gluten, they retain freshness, softness and fluffiness much longer. The most great content gluten in long-life bread, in some types the content reaches 50%. Gluten allows bread to be stored in polyethylene for as long as possible.
• Confectionery industry. Gluten in industry is an excellent preservative and its use is not limited to bread and other baked goods. Confectionery products - waffles, cookies, shelf-stable cakes and much more contain gluten.
• Semolina, pearl barley, oatmeal and barley porridge.
• The meat industry adds gluten to sausages and sausages. Frozen dumplings and cutlets in packages also contain this dangerous preservative.
• Sauces, ketchups, and mayonnaise are enriched with gluten for long-term storage and enhanced taste.
• Even the dairy industry cannot do without gluten. Yoghurt, condensed milk and ice cream are among the leaders in starch content.
• Gluten, oddly enough, is included not only in foods, but also in famous drinks. Such as: vodka, gin, beer, whiskey, as well as carbonated soft drinks: Coca and Pepsi-Cola, instant coffee, cappuccino, cocoa and black tea granules.

Gluten is also included in many mass-produced vitamin complexes. Such, for example, as Decamevit, Complevit and Kvadevit. Even activated carbon contains gluten.

Gluten Free Products

Naturally, that's all natural products that have not undergone industrial processing. They do not contain gluten - meat and fish, potatoes, rice, eggs, all legumes, nuts and, of course, fruits and berries. Of all the grains, buckwheat has no gluten.

Oatmeal also does not contain gluten, but when it is processed into flakes, gluten is still formed. There is enough gluten in a bowl of oatmeal to cause allergic reaction.

Recently, many specialized stores and restaurants have appeared that promote healthy eating. They sell products and manufacture gluten free dishes. On the packages you can see the inscription: “hydrolyzed protein” or “modified starch”. In self-respecting restaurants, customers will definitely be provided with a gluten-free menu.

Gluten sensitivity and intolerance

There are two types of disease directly related to gluten consumption: intolerance gluten and non-potassium sensitivity to him. If 1% of the world's population suffers from the first disease, then about 13% suffer from sensitivity to it.

Gluten sensitivity can be identified by the following symptoms:

• Gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, flatulence, bloating. Sometimes I experience nausea and stomach pain.
• As with gluten intolerance, acne and even dangerous skin diseases associated with metabolic disorders - erythema and eczema - may appear.
• General malaise: headache, numbness in the hands, muscle hypertonicity, joint pain. The patient is overcome by chronic fatigue and attention is lost. With a long course of the disease, depression develops.
• Due to poor absorption of microelements, anemia occurs.
• Decreased immunity often provokes ulcerative stomatitis.

Unfortunately, the diagnosis of nonceliac gluten sensitivity can only be made indirectly. Diagnostics There are no such diseases. To make this diagnosis, doctors must evaluate and rule out other gastrointestinal diseases as well as gluten allergies. The easiest way to determine whether a patient’s condition is dependent on gluten consumption is to use gluten-free diet. During the diet, exclude all foods containing gluten and monitor the patient’s condition. If necessary, similar test carried out several times.

Gluten-free diet for sensitivity test

Nutritionists have compiled sample menu for a gluten-free diet. By taking this seven-day test, you can find out whether gluten interferes with your health or not.

If the condition has improved, diarrhea, diarrhea have disappeared, stomach pain has disappeared, it means cause of illness definitely an excess of starch in the body. In such cases, of course, draw your own conclusions. Let's look at a gluten-free diet option.

Monday:

Breakfast: omelette with two eggs and herbs. Prepared with vegetable oil or without oil at all.

Dinner: Transparent chicken bouillon with the addition of rice. For the second course - boiled chicken with fresh salad.

Dinner: buckwheat porridge with beef cutlets. It is better to cook the cutlets yourself, with a small amount of bread or flour in the minced meat.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs generously sprinkled with herbs

Lunch: Vegetable soup cooked in water. For the second course – beef or chicken liver in sour cream sauce. Garnish: mashed potatoes and salad with fresh vegetables or boiled vegetables without mayonnaise.

Dinner: Boiled or fried fish with vegetable salad

Wednesday

Breakfast: Yesterday's fish with green salad

Lunch: Sour cabbage soup, and for the main course - cutlets from minced chicken with sour cream sauce. You can boil potatoes for a side dish. You should definitely include a variety of fresh vegetables: tomatoes or cucumbers.

Dinner: lobio

Thursday

Breakfast: Low-fat cottage cheese with yogurt. You cannot add sugar to cottage cheese. To enhance the taste, you can add nuts or raisins.

Lunch: Red borscht with lean meat and boiled fish with rice

Dinner: Roasted meat with buckwheat.

Friday

Breakfast: Boiled eggs (2 pcs.) with fresh tomato and cucumber salad

Lunch: Borscht, and for the second course puree with meat and vegetable salad

Dinner: Zucchini or bell pepper stuffed with minced meat

Saturday

Breakfast: Boiled beans with eggs

Dinner: vegetable puree soup. It is best to take zucchini or pumpkin. For the second course - stew of vegetables and meat.

Dinner: Fish, baked or boiled. Vegetable stew

Sunday

Breakfast: Two-egg scramble or fish

Lunch: Fish soup and boiled rice with chicken wings

Dinner: Empty buckwheat porridge. Cottage cheese with sour cream and no sugar.

It is advisable to season salads olive or soy oil, you can put sour cream in the salad. The best ingredients for salad are: fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, it is recommended to use sauerkraut. Possible various options from homemade pickles.

From drinks You are allowed to drink green or black tea and natural brewed coffee. You cannot add sugar, only spices - cinnamon or ginger.

The following recommendations have been developed for a child with a gluten allergy:

• The child must have his own personal locker containing gluten-free products.
• To cut gluten-free bread, use a separate knife and board.
• If your child is allergic to milk, you will need a separate knife and saucer for cutting lactose-free margarine.
• Parents will need to constantly wash their hands after preparing food for themselves and before preparing food for their child. Products must not be allowed to mix.
• It is not recommended to bake two baked goods at the same time in the same oven: gluten-free and regular.
• New products are introduced carefully one per day and the child’s reaction is monitored.
• If you have any questions, consult a doctor rather than listen to the advice of strangers. This is dangerous to your health.

Benefits of Gluten

We figured out why gluten is dangerous, but is there any benefit from it? When there are no contraindications and the person is completely healthy, then, of course, you can consume gluten. Gluten is a source of vitamins B and D, as well as microelements such as iron and magnesium.

Moreover, the resourceful Japanese have learned how to use the properties of gluten for human benefit. Using gluten, Japanese nutritionists have developed a dish - konnyaku.

To prepare it, take the fresh root of the konnyaku plant. Flour is prepared from the synthesized root of the plant and cakes are baked. The dish contains neither taste nor aroma, but in Japan it is a very popular and sought-after product. So the benefits of gluten still exist.

“You need to know the enemy by sight,” says popular wisdom, and our enemy is gluten.

Indeed, knowing the possible ways in which gluten can enter gives us the opportunity to avoid this enemy: to prevent even microdoses of gluten from entering, which will eliminate unpleasant consequences and maintain health.

That is why we try to find out as much information as possible about gluten and its content in various products nutrition.

Those who have long adhered to a gluten-free diet already know by heart how and where our enemy hides and have heard terms such as “starch”, “dextrose”, “hidden gluten”, etc. a thousand times.

But what should those who have only recently changed their diet by giving up gluten do?

Beginners have a hard time: in addition to the fact that any changes in diet are already a huge stress for the body, it is also not clear: how, what, where and why. Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are fairly young diseases, and in Russia they have been actively talked about only in recent years. Even in the European Union and the United States, not all people understand exactly WHAT gluten is, WHY it is harmful to health and WHERE it is found. There is even less such information in Russian-language sources. And the information that is still available, in Russian, is quite scattered: it is published in small articles, on forums and other types of Internet resources. All this significantly complicates the transition to a gluten-free diet and prevents you from strictly following it at first, which can negatively affect your health.

It would seem that everything is simple - you just need to avoid the content of wheat in the product, but in reality everything is more complicated.

Let's focus our attention on how to choose the right gluten-free food products. This will make the transition to a new type of diet much easier for those who have just started following a gluten-free diet, and will also help more carefully monitor compliance with the diet for people experienced in this matter.

1. Ways gluten gets into food.

1.1. Obviously gluten.

1.2. Hidden gluten.

1.3. Gluten contamination, residual gluten, gluten cross-contamination.

There are several ways gluten gets into food. Gluten laboratories use the following terminology:

Direct gluten(aka explicit) is gluten that has not been subjected to any industrial processing, and its protein molecules have not been changed. In this case, the laboratory uses certain indicators of gluten molecules to detect its content in food products (as directed by " International Committee to establish food testing methods" to obtain a gluten-free label at the state level, laboratories must use the Mendez method - R5-sandwich ELISA).

Hidden Gluten- gluten whose molecules have been modified due to certain processing: an example of such gluten is hydrolyzed gluten, which is found in beer. In this case, detecting gluten content in a product becomes more difficult, since gluten molecules become smaller and more precise tests are needed to detect them. In some cases, gluten molecules “break” into several small fragments and detection of such gluten fragments becomes almost impossible. An example of such a case is the content of micro-doses of gluten in meat if the animal was fed wheat.

Gluten contamination Residual traces of gluten or cross-contamination of gluten in production are the least known, but at the same time dangerous, cases of gluten getting into food. Such gluten may appear in products that theoretically should not contain it. For example, this can happen in the production of starch, where it is purified from gluten; if the production is not perfect, the separation may be performed poorly, which will lead to residual traces of gluten entering the starch, which are also very difficult to detect during testing in the laboratory. A second example would be the co-production of gluten-containing products (wafers, baked goods, etc.) with products that do not contain gluten. Due to the lack of isolation, gluten from one product “contaminates” the one produced on an adjacent assembly line.

Thus, we see that gluten can be hidden in a huge number of foods. To prevent gluten from entering our body, we must be extremely careful when choosing foods.

Let's talk in more detail about each way gluten gets into food using specific examples.

1.1. Obvious gluten

The direct route for gluten to enter a food product is when the product is made from unprocessed gluten-containing ingredients. In this case, to detect gluten, it is enough to study the composition of the product on the packaging.

You will rarely see the name “gluten” in the composition of the product on the packaging; you need to look for words such as: wheat/rye/barley, wheat/rye/barley flour. Only in rare cases may foreign food products contain gluten in their composition.

You also need to know that:

• emmer (spelt wheat) and kamyut are grain crops of the wheat genus;
• durum - special solid look wheat;
• semolina (semolina), couscous, bulgur and the lesser-known ptitim and freekeh are made from wheat;
• triticale is a special type of grain obtained by crossing wheat and rye;
• barley and pearl barley are made from barley; Accordingly, these cereals and products made from them also contain gluten.

We need to talk separately about oats. Oats, cereals and oatmeal are naturally gluten-free, but these foods are actually potentially dangerous for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. The first danger lies in the fact that the oat grain contains its own protein, which can cause a strong autoimmune reaction in the body, regardless of gluten. The presence of such a reaction is most often observed in people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

But even if you don't have a specific body reaction to oats, they can still be dangerous on a gluten-free diet. Typically, oats are processed in factories along with other grains, including wheat, where gluten particles get into them. Therefore, doctors strongly recommend not consuming oats and products made with them, except those that are specifically marked “gluten-free” on the packaging. These oats have been specially purified and are safe for people on a gluten-free diet.

Many nutritionists ask people new to a gluten-free diet to avoid eating oats and oat products for the first few weeks. This is due to the fact that usually intestinal system Such patients are severely inflamed and require time for its rehabilitation, and oats, oddly enough, can harm the process of restoration of the mucous membrane.

1.2. Hidden Gluten

If wheat, rye or barley is subjected to various kinds processing, the protein molecules in the grains are modified, most often breaking down into smaller components. This is hidden gluten: damaged and altered gluten molecules in this form are very difficult to detect in laboratory tests.

Where to look?

Wheat, rye, barley and many other cereals are subjected to physical, chemical, biochemical or combined processing to produce starches - special substances whose properties are deliberately enhanced for use in food production.

There are starches (wheat, barley, rye, rice, tapioca, etc.) and modified starch, the properties of which are more precisely targeted and stronger.

Starch and modified starch are used as a thickener, paste, and preservative; with their help, manufacturers can influence the enhancement of taste, change the mass of the finished product, and increase the viscosity of the substance.

The world produces dozens of types of starches and modified starches, which are used in the production of almost all types of multicomponent products.

The basis for the change can be taken from gluten-containing cereals: wheat, rye, barley, and substances that do not contain gluten: rice, potatoes, tapioca, etc.

There is also wheat starch that has been chemically purified from gluten. But often production conditions are not ideal, and starch is poorly separated from gluten, which means it may contain gluten. Due to non-sterile production conditions, gluten can be “hidden” in other types of starches and modified starches. The more gluten-containing raw materials were initially used for production, the more likely gluten contamination.

Sometimes a mixture of starches is used for processing. Manufacturers of starch are not required to indicate the composition of the mixture for modification, which means that the composition of any food product may simply indicate “starch”, without specifying its type.

Therefore, consuming foods with starch and modified starch without specifying the composition of the mixture is dangerous for people following a gluten-free diet. This danger also remains, even if a specific type of starch is indicated in the composition, for example: “modified corn starch”, since it is never possible to say for sure whether this type of starch was used or whether it was predominant in a mixture of starches, and is therefore indicated in the composition .

Modified starch is not related to genetically modified food products, since it is a substance, not an organism, and therefore has no genes. But, according to many doctors, any directed change in a substance makes it unnatural for the human body to perceive. This is explained by the fact that the modified substance acquires a new structure, and the human digestive system has not yet adapted to its processing.

What is another name?

Starches and modified starches are not always indicated in the composition of a food product under their name; they are often included in preservatives and thickeners and are the basis for the creation of various types of additives, then in their composition they are designated as additives E.

From starch (usually wheat) they produce:

• polysaccharide - dextrin (thickener and sweetener);
• E150 (E150a, E150b, E150c, E150d) - sugar color (dye, base for caramel);
• E160 - beta-carotene (dye);
• E965 - maltitol, maltitol syrup or malt sugar (a sugar substitute and glazing agent), is produced from the starch intermediate maltose (malt sugar).

On the website of the Agency for the Control of Gluten-Free Products of the Netherlands there is a detailed list of E-containing additives, according to which all additives in the E1400-E1500 range contain gluten, as they are starches or products based on them.

Other gluten-containing additives include:

— E411 — oat gum (stabilizer)- produced by extraction and precipitation from oat chaff, namely from the remains of oat raw materials. Although theoretically oats should not contain gluten, in practice gluten particles end up in oat raw materials during production. The E411 additive is made from leftover raw materials, which means it contains micro-doses of gluten. The most dangerous thing is that this food supplement It is most often used as a stabilizer and texturizer and binding agent in foods marketed as "diet" when it is dangerous enough to be consumed by people on a gluten-free diet.

— Natural substitutes Sahara: rice syrup, tapioca syrup, corn syrup - these syrups may contain gluten, since barley malt is often used in the production of syrups to accelerate the fermentation of the product.

— E636 — maltol and E637 — ethyl maltop— additives from a range of flavor and aroma enhancers. They are produced by caramelizing sugars mainly from milk, burnt sugar, needle coniferous trees, chicory, as well as malt and bread crusts. This is why these supplements contain quite a large amount of gluten. Most often they are used as an aroma-stabilizing additive to such food products such as: essences, chocolate, baked goods, soft drinks, canned fruit and vegetables, cocoa, tea, coffee and tobacco.

False data!

On forums for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance there is a list of prohibited E-additives, which includes the previously listed E150 (E150a, E150b, E150c, E150d), E160 and E411, E636, E637, E965, as well as E106b, E471 , E953. But if you look at the production method of E106b, E471, E953, it becomes clear that they do not contain gluten particles.

- E106- a dye obtained synthetically from Flavin mononucleotide (a substance, in turn, obtained from the fungus Eremothecium ashbyi or using genetically modified bacteria Bacillus subtilis), which means it does not contain gluten. In addition, the E106 dye is prohibited for production and addition in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the countries of the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and should not be present in food products allowed for sale.

- E471- an additive from a number of monoglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids. It is of natural origin and is obtained by transesterification of fats in the presence of free glycerol. Contains impurities: neutral fats, free glycerin, free fatty acid, unsaponifiable fats, polyglycerol esters. This supplement is not healthy or even neutral, and in case of increased consumption it can lead to a number of complications in a person’s health, but it does not contain gluten.

— E953— isolmate — an additive that prevents caking and clumping, and is also used as a filler, sweetener and glazing agent. Isomalt is obtained from sucrose contained in sugar cane, sugar beets and honey. Gluten free.

Be careful with farm products!

It was long thought that gluten could only enter the body through processed or multi-ingredient foods, but recent research suggests that hidden gluten may also be present in natural foods such as farmed meats or dairy products. This is due to the fact that some animals eat cereal feeds that contain gluten. During the digestion process, gluten molecules break down and break down into several parts, but are not completely gone. Thus, if livestock or poultry were fed with added gluten, meat and dairy products will contain hidden gluten. But identifying this type of broken down gluten particles is almost impossible.

What's the result?

It turns out that all products that contain starches (they can be labeled differently in the product composition) are potentially dangerous for people on a gluten-free diet.

There are also a number of products that do not contain gluten, but contain additives that are dangerous to human health on a gluten-free diet.

And if you think about it, a huge list of food products falls into the “dangerous” category!

You need to be careful when choosing not only baked goods, canned goods, sausages or processed dairy products, but also sweet drinks, vegetable and fruit purees and juices, cocoa, coffee, tea and even tobacco!

And you should be especially careful when choosing medications: a huge number of pharmacological drugs contain gluten-containing additives!

According to latest research meat, fish and dairy products are also on the list of potentially dangerous products.

How can you protect yourself from hidden gluten? There is only one and quite complicated method - using only labeled “gluten-free” products, indicating the country of origin and a guarantee of quality examination.

1.3. Gluten contamination, residual gluten, gluten cross-contamination

Unfortunately, there is another way gluten gets into food that “newbies” on a gluten-free diet don’t know about. If you do not find ingredients containing gluten in a product, this does not mean that the product itself does not contain gluten and is absolutely safe.

How else can gluten get into a food product?

In food production, there is such a thing as “residual traces ...” of an ingredient. This term means that during production (factory, plant), during packaging, storage or transportation, any ingredient (or its particles) not specified in the composition of the product could get into the product in small doses.

How exactly do residual traces of gluten get into food?

• In production, during transportation or storage of food.

The reason is the proximity of workshops where gluten-containing products are produced, the consolidation of production, poor compliance sanitation rules and imperfections in the production process. Joint storage or transportation of goods can also lead to microdoses of gluten getting into initially “clean” products.

• When cooking in a room where gluten-containing foods were also prepared.

One of the most dangerous cases is when we don’t expect a catch: the products are safe, we cook at home... But this is not at all the case. If there are gluten-containing products in the kitchen, or if it is, for example, a restaurant kitchen where gluten-containing dishes are prepared, there is always a risk of gluten getting into the food. A couple of bread crumbs on the table, a poorly washed knife, leftover pasta in the pan - all this potential threat. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully monitor the cleanliness of the kitchen. But only using a room where there are no gluten-containing products can provide you with 100% safety.

How to find?

Some manufacturers indicate that the product "may contain residual traces of gluten/gluten/flour/starch" in the special allergy statement following the ingredient list. But in Russia there is no state control over the content of components recognized as strong allergens (this also includes nuts, lactose, eggs, soy) and manufacturers are not required to indicate the possible presence of residual traces of gluten on the packaging.

There are a number of products that belong to the so-called “risk group”: these products most often contain microdoses of gluten that got into it during production. This:

- oats and products made from them;

- various kinds of canned food (both meat and fish, and vegetables and fruits), which contain flour or starch without specifying the type;

— sauces, seasonings and marinades;

— sausages, smoked meat and fish, crab sticks;

— dairy products with additives (for example, curd cheese, ice cream, margarine);

— frozen vegetables, mixed vegetables and fruits;

— nuts, beans and cereals (most often they are packaged in the same room as wheat);

- multi-ingredient food products (those containing more than 5 ingredients);

- bakery products from various types gluten-free flour (unless marked “gluten-free”);

- confectionery and sweets (even those that do not contain flour or starch, such as marshmallows).

So, it turns out that hidden gluten can be hidden in almost any processed product. How to identify it? The answer is clear - no way.

To ensure complete safety of your own health, it is better to resort to the only method: use only proven products. These are either foods labeled as gluten-free or foods on special “safe” lists that are available on websites for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. But also be careful: trust, but verify!

Why are residual traces of gluten so dangerous?

Micro traces of gluten are especially dangerous for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance for two reasons.

Firstly, micro doses of gluten are hidden in those products in which it is difficult to even imagine them, which means it is very difficult to identify and exclude them from your menu. It seems that all the products are safe, but the reaction still exists, health deteriorates... What then should be excluded?!

And secondly, microdoses of gluten sometimes do not cause an obvious reaction or a clear attack, but have a negative impact on health, namely, they cause hidden inflammation and destroy almost all systems of the human body from the inside. Thus, sometimes a person does not even realize that they are regularly microdosing gluten from a number of “safe” foods, but at the same time experience some symptoms of hidden inflammation (such as constant fatigue, headaches, depression, itchy skin and many others). This outcome is especially dangerous when switching to a gluten-free diet, as it can greatly disrupt the results of the diet and prevent improvements in health.

How to avoid gluten in your food

It turns out that a huge number of food products are potentially dangerous for consumption and contain gluten, which got there in one of many ways. How to protect yourself?

The methods are quite difficult:

- eat only: natural, fresh vegetables and fruits that have not been factory processed, frozen or packaged; meat, eggs, farm dairy and dairy products, fish and seafood, but only if you are sure that the animals were not fed wheat;

- buy only special products with a quality guarantee - labeled “gluten-free”. But you should remember the rules and state control markings in different countries!

- completely eliminate all multi-component foods, containing additives and thickeners, as well as products that have undergone various factory processing;

- prepare these products should be at home in a kitchen that is “clean” of gluten-containing products.

Only in this case can you be 100% sure of the safety of the food you consume.

Foreign products with allergy labels

Some foreign-made food products that do not bear the “gluten-free” sign have a separate indication of the gluten content simply in their composition.

But not everyone speaks English sufficiently to translate the ingredients on the product label. According to the rules for importing products of the Russian Federation, a foreign label must be dubbed in Russian, which would seem to eliminate all problems associated with the language barrier. But on for unknown reasons, sometimes the composition of products is not translated completely or inaccurately, especially with regard to the allergy amendment (mandatory on all products manufactured in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union), which may indicate whether the product contains gluten or not.

Thus, you should not always trust the translation of the composition of food products into Russian and it is best to check the composition originally printed on the packaging.

Russian language,English language,German,Spanish language,Italian language

• Gluten.
• Gluten.
• Starch.
• Starch.
• Stärke.
• Almidón.
• Amido.
• Flour.
• Flour.
• Mehl.
• Harina.
• Farina.
• Wheat.
• Wheat.
• Weizen.
• Triticum.
• Rye.
• Roggen.
• Secale cereale.
• Barley.
• Barley,
• Gerste.
• Hordeum.

At first glance, such nutrition seems almost impossible! But in fact it is real. Such nutrition may require additional financial costs from you, since organic products are often more expensive than their dangerous counterparts. And also a lot of time and your constant attention. But think for yourself, your health is at stake!

If this diet is not possible for you, try to avoid as much as possible products made from many components, products from the “risk list”, as well as food products with E-additives.

We hope our article will help you more carefully maintain a gluten-free diet and always remain healthy and active.

Recently, the concept of “gluten” has become increasingly common. It is especially popular in sports nutrition and dietetics. It has another, more familiar and understandable name: “gluten”. However, not everyone knows what it is and what effect it has on the body. Some argue that gluten is harmful and foods containing it should be completely eliminated from the diet. Others say this is not necessary. One way or another, it’s worth understanding which products contain gluten and what causes everyone’s concerns about it.

What foods contain gluten?

Gluten is a vegetable protein that is found in some cereals, namely wheat, rye, oats and barley, and the former contains the most of it. All products made from these grains contain gluten. Often it can be added to all kinds of products along with starch.

In its pure form, gluten has grey colour, it is sticky and tasteless. For example, it gives elasticity to the dough, allows it to be rolled out into a thin layer or formed into all sorts of products. It also serves as a preservative, which is added artificially to all kinds of foods. Gluten is known as modified starch and is quite often found in ketchup, mayonnaise, yogurt, soy sauce, etc. It is used in many products as a thickener. The substance is even found in chocolate, especially milk chocolate. Therefore, when purchasing products, you should always familiarize yourself with their composition.

The easiest way to determine at home whether something contains gluten is to use iodine. You need to drop a little onto the product, and if it turns blue or black, then gluten is present. However, this test is not always correct because sometimes only starch is added to food.

You can easily find a list of foods that contain gluten online. Usually this is a table, in which those products that contain the substance are arranged in descending order.

However, there are products that definitely do not contain this gluten. These are corn, potatoes, buckwheat and rice, and legumes. The list of products is undoubtedly much larger, and if necessary, it can be refined. For convenience, we present in a comparative table several main sources of gluten and, conversely, products that do not contain it.

The harm of gluten

If for healthy person Since gluten does not pose a danger, it is recommended that those over 40 years of age or older should exclude gluten-containing products from their diet. As doctors explain, the substance begins to irritate the villi covering the inner walls of the stomach of an older person and destroy them, forming inflammation. For this reason, their permeability to harmful substances increases. That is, if the walls of a healthy intestine retain all kinds of toxins, carcinogens, allergens, etc., then they can easily enter the body through inflamed areas.

For this reason, as you age, it is necessary to eliminate foods containing gluten. As an option, you can consider a low-gluten diet. It is suitable for those who cannot completely give up certain foods. Even for baking lovers, there is the opportunity to make flour from buckwheat or rice, prepare bread and all kinds of products.

In addition, there are a number of people who do not even realize that they have gluten intolerance. This often manifests itself in allergic reactions, the presence excess weight etc. Moreover, when using conventional treatment methods, significant improvements do not occur. You can make a list of the problems that consuming gluten can lead to if gluten intolerance is not recognized in time and the corresponding products are not excluded from the diet. This:

• many skin diseases,
• allergy,
• osteoporosis,
• the occurrence of various tumors, etc.

There is a special disease that is characterized by complete intolerance to gluten and products containing it.

What is celiac disease?

Approximately 1% of the world's population has a disease called celiac disease, which manifests itself in gluten intolerance. With this problem, the human immune system perceives vegetable protein as an element dangerous to the body and begins to fight it. However, the worst thing is that organ areas are affected, namely the tissue of the stomach into which it enters. In addition, the brain, joints and gastrointestinal tract suffer.

This disease can not only be congenital, but also appear with age. It begins to make itself felt when the body does not produce a special enzyme that is necessary for the absorption of gluten.

Celiac disease can be expressed in:

• sudden changes in appetite,
• vomiting
• abdominal pain,
• noticeable lag in weight and height in children,
• joint pain,
• increased bone fragility,
• sudden changes in mood.

This is not the entire list of symptoms. Gluten can also cause allergic reactions, especially in preschool-age children.

Nutritionists and doctors are still arguing about how safe gluten is for a healthy person. Under any circumstances, for your own confidence and peace of mind, you must undergo a special immunological test, as well as examine your blood serum for certain genetic markers. Under no circumstances should you try to find out on your own whether your body can tolerate gluten, as this often leads to unpleasant consequences. At the same time, without gluten, a person stops receiving large amounts of vitamins B and D, iron and magnesium.

If you suspect gluten intolerance, you need to contact a specialist, undergo examinations and pass all the necessary tests. In addition, your doctor will advise you to eliminate certain gluten-containing foods. The list will be quite long. If the suspicions are confirmed and the diagnosis is made, you will have to completely give up gluten in your menu. You will need to constantly monitor what you buy, read labels and monitor your diet.

However, such a diet often leads to surprising results. For example, those people who have been unable to lose weight for years lose weight quite quickly and without much difficulty. And when eating any gluten-containing foods, they could gain several kilograms a day. This is not due to the accumulation of fat, of course, but to increased swelling.

Undoubtedly, one can argue for a long time about the harm or benefit of gluten. Some say that it should be excluded from the diet only as a last resort, in case of intolerance or due to age, since it is rich in vitamin B, which is so necessary for the body. Others insist that gluten is, in principle, a harmful substance for everyone: both healthy and sick. In any case, if any of the listed symptoms appear, you should immediately contact a specialist.