Category:Gluten-free Recipes

Foods in this category are either always safe for the Celiac diet, or will require choosing the correct variety of one or more ingredient(s) - but will not require changing the recipe.

Why Gluten Free?[edit]

This diet is necessary for those with Celiac Disease, and can be useful for those suffering from an allergy to one or more of the grains this diet excludes. Some people find that a gluten-free diet is beneficial for children with autism. It should be noted, however, that there is no evidence for an autism-gluten link. Since Celiac Disease is often still undiagnosed, it is likely that autists who are seemingly benefitting from a gluten free diet, are simply undiagnosed celiacs. Hence, they are benefitting because they are celiacs, not because they are autists. This distinction is important, because wheat and gluten are high quality food sources, not to be rejected on the basis of unfounded speculation.

It is important to note that Celiac Disease is NOT itself an allergy, but an auto-immune disorder - the body rejects its own digestive proteins used to process gluten and produces antibodies against them. In essence, the body is fighting itself, in the presence of gluten, and doing damage to the small intestine in the process.

How can gluten be avoided?[edit]

Careful and constant reading of ingredients is necessary to purchase truly gluten free foods. If flour (which means "wheat flour" unless otherwise specified), starch (including "modified food starch", "food starch"), malt, or any grain containing gluten is present, do not purchase the food. Unfortunately for the Celiac it may be necessary to also investigate every step of the handling of the products, due to widespread wheat contamination of certain foods by way of shared equipment, containers, and processing rooms. Finally the utensils, equipment, and surfaces for cooking and eating must be free of accumulations containing gluten, especially ones which have been hardened on by heat, especially in toasters and bakeware.

A gluten-free diet can only be achieved by complete removal of all gluten from your foods, medicines, and any cosmetic products which will accidentally enter the GI tract (in practice, probably all of them); reducing the amount will not be a sufficient treatment.