Feeding Your Family Gluten-Free

What is gluten?

It’s a family of proteins found in grain. These proteins are in wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, and teff.

Unfortunately, gluten has been identified as a major contributor to autoimmune disease. Gluten can also lead to things like intestinal problems, fatigue, anemia, joint pain, liver damage, skin disease, and neurological inflammation.

If you suspect you, your spouse, or you kids are experiencing gluten-induced symptoms, it may be worth going grain-free.

Anyone can do this! But…it’s not easy. Gluten can be found even in the most unsuspecting things…gummy candies, licorice, soy sauce, bratwurst, soup, and even lipstick and envelopes. (I don’t eat lipstick or envelopes but lots of us put those things to our mouths.)

Lots of grocery store products are labeled “gluten-free” but still contain corn, rice, oats, or other grains. The first step is removing all bread, crackers, pasta, beer, liquor, cookies, pastries, convenience foods, gravy, cereal, cakes, bagels, and pizza from your diet.

From there you can investigate which “gluten-free” crackers, pastas, sauces, and other processed foods contain no grains. (Corn syrup and glucose syrup are grain-derived, sorry.)

If you’d still like to bake yummy treats and cook foods like pasta, there are several alternative grain-free flours. Cassava, almond, coconut, tapioca, arrowroot, and chickpea flours are some great options.

You can also replace the grains in a meal with potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, or even lettuce.

After all this, you should note whether any of your symptoms or your family members’ symptoms are relieved. Full recovery from serious health concerns takes time but you might notice some relief in the short term.

Whatever you decide to do, know that going truly gluten/grain free has helped many, many people. Adults and kids alike have seen improvements in their health after removing inflammatory grains from their diet.

For your family’s sake, it’s worth looking into. I wish you the best of luck in your continued research and pursuit of health!

**Recommended further reading: No Grain, No Pain by Dr. Peter Osborne