<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I wrote this up for an acquaintance newly diagnosed with Celiac, and thought it useful to share with the list, especially for those newly dealing with Celiac. - David
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There are many sources of hidden gluten, and good strategies to avoid it.  Here are a few assorted tips, not grouped in any particular order.

There are good gluten-free breads, e.g., Food for Life Rice-Almond bread, which any health food store can order for you, and many stock (my Kroger supermarket even carries this).  

Note that people with Celiac disease often develop side allergies to other substances (it seems that the autoimmune reaction provoked by gluten can foster allergies to other foods that had been eaten concurrently).  People with gluten allergies are often also allergic to soy (but I seem to be okay with soy oil or lechitin).  I am allergic to soy, and also discovered, after some years, that I'm allergic to mustard (the pure mustard itself, not any other ingedient).

Hidden sources of gluten are barley malt, in many cereals and many chocolates (usually not the best imported brands; check ingredients).  Also natural flavorings in tomato based products, or hydrolized vegetable protein, which can be made from wheat.  Soy sauce contains wheat.

In restaurants, fish will often be cooked with a coating of flour.  In general in restaurants, don't assume you can go to any restaurant, ask the waiter about any food, and rely on the answers.  Very often, the information will be unreliable.  My practice for eating at restaurants is the following.  Eat only at restaurants in which the cuisine is unlikely to contain gluten, and in which you have reason to believe you'll get reliable information about ingredients (this requires, at a minimum, a waiter who can speak English well).   Most chain restaurants, e.g., Outback, should generally be avoided, because waiters and staff typically couldn't care less about your questions and there isn't time to get reliable answers.  There are certain exceptions, e.g. Cracker Barrel, in which you will generally get real information about food ingredients.  The advantages of the minority of chain restaurants that give reliable information is that once you identify dishes that are okay, you can keep ordering them anywhere.  Some chains provide information numbers or web sources to obtain ingedient information.

Chinese restaurants use a variety of sauces likely to have gluten contaminents, and due to the language barrier, should generally be avoided.  The exception is a small restaurant with a waiter who speaks fluent English in which you can get someone to make a stir fry using oil, salt, garlic and ginger only - no stock sauces.  It may take some trouble to get this the first time, but then you keep going back to the same restaurant and they'll know what you want.  I get a local restaurant to make a wonderful stir-fry with added eggs.

Indian and good quality Southwestern are cuisines that contain many dishes without gluten.  Don't assume any breads such as corn bread, lentil fritters, etc. are okay without carefully questioning.  Corn bread almost always has wheat.  Corn tortillas in a good southwestern restaurant are usually pure corn, but you do need to ask and be sure.  You'll ocassionally have someone tell you something is pure corn when it's pure wheat.  If you order something at a restaurant after questioning about ingedients and what you get is suspicious or questionable, ask again before eating it.  I've caught mistakes that way frequently even at usually concientious restaurants that I've eaten in previously.

NEVER eat anything deep fried unless you can be assured with confidence that the oil it is fried in was not used with any wheat.  Oil that was used to fry wheat is a very serious problem and must be avoided - this is not a question of small, trace contamination, but a serious problem.

When ordering fish, make absolutely sure that there is no wheat flour or breading used.  Waiters will often say there is no wheat when in fact there is.

There are many kinds of foods in restaurants that are generally safe.  These include fish (with questioning about coating), meat, baked potatoes, grits, many other items.  Avoid thick sauces without reliable reports on ingredients (only provided in a minority of restaurants).  In general, avoid all soups served at all but restaurants highly reliable about precisely reporting ingedients; there are just too many kinds of ingedients that could contain gluten.  Certain restaurants are very good about providing reliable information about ingedients - once you identify such restaurants, you can have a broader choice of dishes to choose from.  Many restaurants, including chains, serve breakfast all the time, and eggs are almost always ok.

People with Celiac disease often have some difficulties in food absorption even under reliable, gluten free diets.  Twinlabs Triboron plus is an excellent Calcium supplement - it has an optimal balance of Calcium, magnesium and boron, and is not expensive.  Calcium deficiency is a frequent problem with Celiac, and a minimum of 500 mg per day of calcium supplement is advisable.  It's not a bad idea to have a bone scan.  I had one a few years ago and found my bone mass was well below average.  This is no problem to catch at my age, but would have been a problem if I didn't begin calcium supplementation (this is something I need to periodically monitor).  Lactose intolerance is another problem more common with people with Celiac, but lactose-free milk is commonly available, and yogurt is fine.  I find that I do better in general with limited dairy consumption.

I have closely followed emerging research and recommendations on oils, and let me offer this advice; again, malabsorption is common with Celiac, and ability to handle the damage of non-optimal foods is dimished.  Oils are one food category in which it is really important to use only cold-pressed and preferably organic sources from a health food store (pesticides are highly soluable in fats).  Commercially processed oils develop impurities and have dimished contents of essential fatty acids.   Olive oil, sunflower or safflower oil, or Canola oil are all fine, but it's important that they be cold pressed and preferably organic.  Don't cook, however, with anything but oils that are more stable in heat, e.g., olive oil and peanut oil, or butter, and be careful not to cook anything at too high a flame or for too long.

Flax seed oil is a wonderful supplement - provides essential omega-3 fatty acids that are good for cardiovascular health, cancer-preventative, enhanced mental function.  There is no practical limit to how much you can take - a few teaspoonfuls per day of flax seed oil or fish oil are beneficial.  Alternatively, or in addition, flax meal is a wonderful supplement, e.g. a few tablespoonfuls per day with cereal, with a glass of liquid consumed at the same time.  This provides the omega-3s of flax seed oil, good source of fiber, aids colon health.  It's not hard to find ground flax meal at many health food stores and some supermarkets.  A good probiotic is another useful supplement.

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David E. Scheim, Ph.D.
3300 Old Farm Road
Blacksburg, VA 24060
540 552-8014  [log in to unmask]
"Preemptive War is immoral.  U.S. evidence was found forged.  Let the inspections work." 

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