Going Gluten-free Can Be Confusing

By Author: Red Wiseman
Total Articles: 4762
Comment this article

It seems wherever I go, I hear someone talking about a food allergy. Maybe it's thatmy ears are more sensitive to that topic, but it does seem that more people are discovering that their long-term ailments may have been being caused by food allergies.

I was in the grocery store recently and there was a woman looking desperately for gluten-free foods. Her young son had just been diagnosed as gluten intolerant and could not eat wheat, according to the mother. This woman did not know what exactly to get, she had someone in the store trying to help her, yet the store employee didn't know that much about the subject. At this point I stepped in and started to explain a bit about foods and gave her a very helpful card produced by Tina Turbin, the founder of the popular website, http://GlutenFreeHelp.info. The card contains a quick guide of foods and additives to avoid on one side and a guide for help on the other side.

I then helped the woman a bit with food choices yet the task ahead of her is more than she had anticipated, as wheat and gluten are very pervasive in foods, especially where you'd least expect it. For ...
... example many decaffeinated coffees contain gluten from the decaffeination process. Surprised? I was! I learned this on the Gluten Free Help blog (http://GlutenFreeHelp.info). In addition, there are products like soy sauce that are made with wheat and tamari sauce not made with wheat -- almost identical products, so you have to read the labels, be well-prepared with a magnifying glass. You will also have to avoid hydrolyzed vegetable protein (in canned tuna fish), imitation bacon and imitation seafood, textured vegetable protein. The list goes on.

It truly is best to arm yourself by going to www.glutenfreehelp.info and reading what is there and using the links that Tina Turbin has thoughtfully put on that site as a resource site as well. One can see this site is founded on the principle to help and guide a person to a successful gluten-free lifestyle from all stages, not to mention a large number of wonderful recipes.

My experience shows me that food allergies are no trivial matter and should not be treated as such. If one ignores the allergy he could be overwhelming his immune system to the point where the possibility of an auto-immune disease may come into play. An undetected or ignored wheat or gluten intolerance can lead to all manner of troubles and some may become quite severe. So, respect your boundaries and if you are shopping for someone else respect their boundaries as well.

For more information on eating and living gluten free, visit http://GlutenFreeHelp.info. For more information on Tina Turbin, visit http://TinaTurbin.com.
About Author:
Red Wiseman is an avid and intelligent writer and researcher in the Humanities, Arts and Sciences. Wiseman is always on a quest to expand his horizons and those of others via his written and spoken words.