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Striving for a gluten free lifestyle can be overwhelming for someone recently diagnosed with a gluten allergy. Gluten can be found in everyday items that one would least expect. Not all things gluten are listed on a label making it easy to avoid. Some envelopes have gluten in the glue that most people moisten with their tongue without thinking about. Even your favorite lipstick could be a source of hidden gluten. Whether you wear the lipstick or kiss someone who does, this could be that source you have been trying to find and eliminate. Many toothpastes from several companies have added gluten. From the time a person wakes up, until he goes to bed, he must be constantly diligent in avoiding wheat and wheat gluten.

The most important thing a person with a gluten allergy must do is read labels. It is important to read every label every time you shop. Some manufacturers may change ingredients and begin to add gluten to their product at any time. It is not enough for the label to read, "wheat free", it must have the words, "wheat and gluten free". Every item in the store has the potential of including gluten or having been produced in a factory where wheat or gluten is also processed.

Realize that, unless specifically stated, all breads, crackers, cake mixes, pastas, cookies, pies, and pastries are made with wheat flour. People with wheat allergies are also allergic to rye, barley, and oats. To be totally gluten free, purchase products in the gluten free section of your grocery store. You can find cake, bread, and cookie mixes made with rice, flax, or potato flour. Soy flour is also available. Pasta made from rice flour normally must be cooked a little longer and the texture is slightly different, but it does make a fairly good substitute for the pasta made from wheat flour.

Do check the ingredients on the cereal boxes. Rice Krispies are not gluten free. There are some rice and corn cereals that are gluten free, however. The gluten free products offer a small selection of cereals that are usually quite costly. Gravy mixes and ready seasoning mixes for tacos, chili, fajitas, etc. are not gluten free. Gravies and sauces can be thickened with corn or potato starch instead.

By avoiding most processed foods, you can eliminate much of the gluten that was in your diet. Eating fresh vegetables and fruits, fish, poultry, and most dairy, should help you get the vitamins and nutrients you need. Vitamin supplements and many medications are not gluten free. Most processed lunch meats have gluten added.

It does not take long for someone to get into the habit of checking labels before purchasing. When eating out, do not hesitate to ask how a particular food is prepared. Potatoes, a food that is naturally gluten free, might be fried in oil that breaded foods are also cooked in, thus contaminating the potatoes with wheat gluten. Even trace amounts of gluten are harmful to those who are gluten intolerant or allergic.

Unless a person must avoid all gluten, she has no idea the extent at which gluten can enter the human body. With the number of people with wheat allergies increasing, more products are beginning to offer gluten free alternatives. By asking the managers, of the stores where you regularly shop, to carry a line of products that are gluten free, you make others aware there is a need for these products in your community. Raising awareness of this allergy and asking for gluten free products will encourage manufacturers to produce a wider selection of products to choose from and help lower the high prices of gluten free foods.

Learn more about this author, Barbara Stanley.
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