20 Expert Tips for Living Gluten Free

Get in the right digestive groove with these expert strategies.

If you have celiac disease, you know that living gluten free can be like playing the childhood game where you try not to step on any cracks in the sidewalk. At first, it takes a real effort. You watch every step and make choices hesitantly.

No wonder you do the same with gluten. It’s a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley and the thousands of foods that contain these ingredients. One misstep can bring on mild to severe symptoms ranging from gas and bloating to diarrhea due to gluten’s damaging effect on the villi—or small fingerlike projections in the small intestine. But after a while, you will get your groove.

Here are 20 tips from professionals in the world of gluten-free living to help you hit your stride self-assuredly.

The Right Diagnosis

Tip 1: Find out whether you really have celiac disease before following a gluten-free diet.

“Sometimes you have symptoms, read about celiac disease, and decide ‘That’s me!’ Then you try the diet. That’s a huge mistake,” says Shelley Case, BSc, RD, a Saskatchewan, Canada-based consultant dietitian specializing in celiac disease and the author of the recently revised Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide.
 
The reason? The blood test and intestinal biopsy used to diagnose celiac disease rely on the presence of gluten in the diet. You can get a false-negative result, even if you really do have celiac disease, after having eaten a gluten-free diet. The longer you’ve eaten gluten free, the higher the risk of a false negative. The return to a gluten-containing diet in order to be properly tested can bring on a backlash of uncomfortable symptoms.

The thought of having an intestinal biopsy—the “gold standard” for celiac disease diagnosis—is enough to scare some people off, says Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, a Manchester, Massachusetts-based nutrition consultant, speaker specializing in celiac disease and the gluten-free diet, and author of The Gluten-Free Nutrition Guide. “I recommend starting with a blood test. It’s just a simple needle stick, and it can tell you right away if you’re headed down the right road.” But be sure your doctor orders the correct tests, Thompson adds.

According to the National Institutes of Health’s Consensus Development Conference Statement on Celiac Disease, issued in June 2004, the best available tests are the immunoglobulin A antihuman tissue transglutaminase and immunoglobulin A endomysial antibody immunofluorescence. Both of these tests have equivalent diagnostic accuracy. The antigliadin antibody tests are no longer routinely recommended because of their lower sensitivity and specificity.

“People who are properly diagnosed are more likely to follow the diet than those who always wonder if they truly have the disease and follow it halfheartedly,” says Case. “Following the diet strictly is important, not only for short-term health but also to prevent long-term complications such as osteoporosis, infertility, anemia, and even cancer of the gut.”

Be a Savvy Shopper

Tip 2: Shop the perimeters.

Many people feel that they have to buy lots of expensive gluten-free products to follow a gluten-free diet. “The good news,” says Case, “is that there are many foods that are naturally gluten free, and these are found in the perimeters of the supermarket—the produce aisle, the dairy department, and the meat, poultry, and seafood counters. You just need to eliminate the bakery department and head instead to the gluten-free bread and baked goods aisle.”

Tip 3: Ask for a gluten-free product list.

Some supermarkets, such as Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, and Wegmans, publish lists of all the gluten-free foods they sell.

Suzanne Bowland, the Denver-based founder and executive producer of GF Culinary Productions, Inc, and author of The Living Gluten-Free Answer Book: Practical Answers to 275 of Your Most Pressing Questions, says, “Go to the supermarket’s customer service desk and ask for one of these lists. Or you can download the list from some supermarkets’ Web sites and print it out before you shop. It’s great. The research is already done for you.” Bowland adds, “Once you’re finished shopping, take the list home and use it as a grocery list reminder for the next trip.”

To make finding gluten-free foods even easier, supermarkets such as Whole Foods offer free gluten-free shopping tours. Leaders of these hour-long culinary adventures guide participants department by department, pointing out gluten-free products along the way and offering samples.
 
Tip 4: Avoid bulk bins.

Natural foods supermarkets carry a number of gluten-free products. But they also offer grains as well as other foods in bulk bins, which can pose a hazard. “Never buy your grains from bulk bins because of the chance of cross-contamination,” says Case. “You never know when someone before you used the rice scoop in the wheat bran.”

Label Lingo

Tip 5: Wheat free isn’t the same as gluten free.

Some products may be labeled as being wheat free, but they may contain barley or rye—grains that also contain gluten. Bowland says, “It’s really important to know all the gluten-containing ingredients backwards and forward. Some of these can seem almost like hidden ingredients. For example, barley malt is used as a coffee flavoring, and it contains gluten.”

Some popular books about the gluten-free diet contain a reference list of these gluten-containing ingredients. “Carry this list with you when you shop and use it as a tool until you get the hang of what ingredients contain gluten,” Bowland recommends. “This will make label reading and shopping easier.”

Tip 6: Look for gluten-free labeling.

The FDA is expected to issue a final rule that will spell out what gluten free means when manufacturers voluntarily use this lingo on product labels.

Once this rule becomes final, says Thompson, “A product labeled gluten free will have to contain fewer than 20 parts per million gluten. This will apply to oats; gluten-free foods made using wheat starch and wheat starch hydrolysates such as wheat-based maltodextrin, wheat-based dextrin, and wheat-based glucose syrup; and foods made using naturally gluten-free ingredients that may contain gluten through cross-contamination.”

Labels for foods such as milk, for example, that don’t contain gluten will be able to state that the products are naturally gluten free.

Baking Basics

Tip 7: Use a blend of gluten-free flours.

When most people think of flour, they think about one type, says Carol Fenster, PhD, author of 1000 Gluten-Free Recipes. “When you bake gluten free, you need to use a blend of flours. You can buy these blends, for example, under brands such as Bob’s Red Mill, Glutino Foods, and Pamela’s Products, and use them as a replacement for wheat flour. Or you can make your own. My staple flour blend is a combination of 1 1⁄2 cups sorghum flour, 1 1⁄2 cups potato starch, and 1 cup of tapioca flour. I make up 4 to 5 cups at one time and keep it on my pantry shelf.”

Breakfast preparation becomes faster and is less challenging with a gluten-free flour blend on hand, says Bowland. “It lets you make pancakes, muffins, scones, crepes, and waffles easily. All you do is vary the ratio of water, oil, and eggs to make the product you want,” she explains.

Tip 8: A good batter is a loose batter.

If your bread dough looks more like a batter, then you’re right on target, says Richard Coppedge, Jr, CMB, a professor of baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and the author of Gluten-Free Baking With The Culinary Institute of America: 150 Flavorful Recipes From the World’s Premier Culinary College. “Gluten-free flour is thirsty. The tendency is to want to add extra flour but don’t. This will make the product too dry once it’s baked.”

Tip 9: Add eggs for volume.

Gluten is the protein in wheat flour that lends structure to baked goods. To prevent gluten-free baked goods from being flat or misshapen, try this: “Replace one third or one half of the liquid called for in the recipe with an equal amount of egg or egg whites,” says Coppedge. “This will give you a product that’s convex, not concave.”

Tip 10: Get a food processor.

A food processor is a must in a gluten-free kitchen, says Fenster. “You can easily mix all your ingredients for bread in a food processor. There’s no worry about overmixing as far as wheat breads and concerned because there’s no gluten in the gluten-free flours. Also, a food processor distributes the liquid in the dry ingredients better than does a handheld mixer, and this will improve the quality of a gluten-free bread or baked good,” she says.

Tip 11: Shape the batter.

Batters made of wheat flour will become smooth and fall into place as they bake. Not so with gluten-free batters, which, says Fenster, “have to be shaped once in the baking pan. Moisten a spatula with either water or oil and make the top of the bread as smooth as possible. What you start with in the pan is what you get when it comes out of the oven.”

The Fiber Factor

Tip 12: Go for high-fiber gluten-free grains.

Don’t limit your diet to rice and corn, says Thompson. “There are so many grains that can add much-needed fiber to the diet. These taste great and are easy to use. For example, amaranth is a small grain that adds thickness to soups, stews, and chilies. Buckwheat is ideal for making pancakes. Quinoa is a cereal-like grain that’s as easy to use as rice. Teff has a nice, nutty flavor and easily makes a hot breakfast cereal. Millet flour can be used in savory corn bread recipes. Just substitute 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup of the cornmeal with millet flour. A little wild rice added to white rice adds a chewy texture and color,” she says.
Start slowly when adding high-fiber gluten-free grains to your diet. “Eating too much at once can cause abdominal pain and bloating,” Thompson says.

Tip 13: Try flaxseeds.

Flaxseeds are another way to add fiber and nutrients to gluten-free dishes. “Whole flaxseeds provide fiber, and that’s great,” says Case. “But the seed will pass through your intestinal tract undigested. Instead, grind the seeds so that you get the benefit of the omega-3 fatty acids inside. I bought a small, inexpensive coffee grinder for this purpose. It’s cheaper to buy the seeds whole and grind them yourself. The seeds will also be fresher. I put the ground flax in a plastic container and store it in my refrigerator.”
As with any high-fiber food, add flax slowly to your diet. “Start with a 1- to 2-teaspoon serving,” Case says. “You can work up from there. I add as much as 3 to 4 tablespoons of ground flax to my hot breakfast cereal.”

Tip 14: Go for the oats.

Oats are a doubly good source of soluble fiber that can lower cholesterol levels and insoluble fiber that aids the digestive system.

A number of studies conducted over the past decade show that oats uncontaminated by other grains are safe to eat on a gluten-free diet. “The key is to make sure the oats are truly gluten free,” says Thompson. Companies that produce gluten-free oats include Bob’s Red Mill, Cream Hill Estates, Gifts of Nature, Gluten-Free Oats, and Only Oats.

Cooking Tricks

Tip 15: Use rice flour for frying and thickening.

Rice flour is a bust for bread baking due to its gritty texture but a boon to fried foods, where its course quality is welcome. “Dredging foods in rice flour before frying gives this terrific crunch,” says Fenster. “It’s much better than using cornstarch or sorghum flour.”

Sweet rice flour, the type used to make sticky rice, is an ideal thickener for soups and gravies, Fenster adds. “Use a 1-to-1 ratio, meaning whatever amount of wheat flour is called for in a recipe, use the same amount of sweet rice flour.”

The advantage of sweet rice flour for thickening, Fenster says, “is that it doesn’t give gravies that glossy fake look—like a dessert—that cornstarch does. Also, it’s opaque. Cornstarch doesn’t lend any color to a dish.”

Tip 16: Try flour-free thickening.

You don’t always need to thicken dishes with flour, says Fenster. “For example, if you’re making a potato or corn soup or lentil chowder, then just use an immersion blender to purée a portion or all of the ingredients until you reach a desired texture,” she explains.

Tip 17: Make instant bread crumbs.

Gluten-free bread can take time and effort to bake. If it doesn’t come out perfectly, never fear. “You can make use of every last crumb by making breadcrumbs,” says Fenster. “Just pop the bread into a food processor for 20 to 30 seconds, and you have instant crumbs. I put them in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer. They’re handy when I need a topping for macaroni and cheese or vegetables.”

Tip 18: Keep gluten-free bread fresh and refreshed.

Freeze gluten-free bread immediately, says Bowland, “because it doesn’t contain preservatives and will go moldy faster at room temperature than will wheat-based breads.”

To reheat a slice of frozen gluten-free bread, try Fenster’s tip: “Pop it in the microwave on the lowest setting, 20% to 30%, for 30 seconds. It immediately gets soft, and you need to eat it right away. A higher setting or longer time in the microwave will make the bread hard as a rock.”

Tip 19: Prevent cross-contamination.

“Prevent cross-contamination at home,” says Case, “by buying condiments such as mustard, mayonnaise, margarine, and jelly in squeeze bottles. Then, there’s no chance of double dipping or having regular bread crumbs contaminate the condiments when a family member dips into the jar with a knife.”

Dining Out

Tip 20: Order gluten free.

When dining out, says Thompson, “ask if the restaurant offers a gluten-free menu. More and more restaurants, such as Legal Sea Foods, Bonefish Grill, and Outback Steakhouse, are doing so. If not, ask what menu items are gluten-free,” she says.

CAROL M. BAREUTHER, RD, is a U.S. Virgin Islands-based book author, radio and television program host, and freelance writer for publications such as Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, Veggie Life, Caribbean Travel and Life, and Shape.