NO-ALLERGY DIET: WHEAT-FREE DIET
Bread was so basic to the Roman diet that the word was synonymous with food. Most of us today still eat bread or a similar grain food at least two or three times a day. Cereal or toast for breakfast. A sandwich for lunch. Noodles, pasta or breaded fish or chicken for dinner. Plus crackers, biscuits and cakes. And a flaky-crusted pie or quiche now and then.
Wheat is by far the most popular grain in the West, where people put a premium on light, springy baked goods and pasta. However, gluten – the elastic protein in wheat that makes baked goods springy and light – is a prime cause of wheat allergy. Some people are sensitive not only to wheat but to grains low in gluten like barley, rye and oats. Symptoms commonly caused by wheat or gluten allergy are: eczema; abdominal problems like indigestion, cramps, colitis, bloating, gas and diarrhoea; and respiratory problems like asthma and hay fever. Wheat and gluten sensitivity is now being recognized as a possible cause of headaches, depression and even symptoms resembling neurosis and schizophrenia. (Coeliac disease, a food-related illness that responds to the elimination of grain from the diet, is not an allergy.)
Much of the problem can be solved by cooking foods yourself rather than buying prepared foods. To sidestep wheat or gluten completely, however, you have to know a few tricks. Commercial bread and baked goods labelled ‘wheat-free’ or ‘gluten-free’ don’t always hold to their word. Getting bread to rise without gluten is like trying to make a fluffy souffl? with too few egg whites. So some bakeries add just a little wheat anyway. Other bakers and food manufacturers may list wheat in a disguised form. Look out for products that list not only the obvious – flour, wheat flour, wheat starch, gluten flour or cracked wheat – but also monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein or durum flour.
Malt is derived from barley or other grains and is a hidden source of gluten. Most dry breakfast cereals and baked goods contain malt in some form.
Start a wheat-free diet by eliminating just wheat. If you still experience symptoms, eliminate wheat plus barley, oats and rye.
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