Gluten-free living: Practical solutions

Useful shopping and cooking advice for people who need to avoid gluten.

A member of your household has just been diagnosed with coeliac disease. Your life is hectic enough as it is without having to learn a whole new way of selecting and preparing food. You think of all the foods you won’t be able to use and start to melt down.

This scenario is all too familiar for New Zealanders as more and more of us are diagnosed with coeliac disease. Put simply, this disease means you are sensitive to gluten (the main protein found in wheat and several other grains) and have to eliminate it totally from your diet for life. This is where the problem lies; so many products on our supermarket shelves contain flour or other forms of gluten, even those we least expect (like stock cubes!). Learning which foods you can safely use, and how to adapt recipes to be gluten-free, is the key to staying sane.

Getting started

Before you rush ahead and make changes, make sure you really do have coeliac disease. A suggestion by an alternative health therapist is not enough to turn your life upside down. A small bowel biopsy organised by your doctor is necessary to confirm a diagnosis. Then you can begin your journey towards living gluten-free.

Step 1: Identify foods you can eat

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein that occurs naturally in some grains, particularly wheat, rye, triticale, barley and possibly oats. There is conflicting research about whether oats can be eaten safely on a gluten-free diet; for this reason oats are usually grouped with the grains containing gluten.

Grains containing gluten are used as ingredients for a wide range of prepared and commercial foods. Wheat flour alone is found in thousands of products. Any product containing even tiny quantities of gluten must be totally avoided by people with coeliac disease; it is not a matter of ‘a tiny amount won’t harm’.

Foods containing gluten

While it is obvious certain products contain gluten (breads, pastries, cakes, muffins, biscuits, cereals and pasta), there is a large number of products where it is not so obvious. There are several ways to learn about which foods contain gluten:

• Visit a dietitian. They will talk you through any concerns and point you in the right direction with food. This is a very important first step for anyone newly diagnosed with coeliac disease.
• Get the MFD commercial food list for gluten-free foods. MFD (Manufactured Food Database) food lists are available free of charge in New Zealand for a range of allergies. There are two lists on offer for people with coeliac disease; low-gluten or gluten-free. The low- gluten version lists foods that are both gluten-free and very low in gluten (contains trace amounts). According to MFD; “In New Zealand, the low-gluten standard has always been recommended as a safe and appropriate treatment for the vast majority of people with coeliac disease.” The gluten-free version lists foods that are declared gluten-free. It is best to check with your doctor or dietitian before deciding which list to use. Use your list to feel secure when shopping and very soon you will be in the habit of gluten-free food selection.
• Contact the Coeliac Society of New Zealand (Inc).This society aims ‘to improve the awareness and understanding of the disease within our community and to promote and improve the quality and supply of gluten-free foods available through the food chain. As well as useful advice about gluten-free foods, it also lists eating establishments throughout New Zealand that serve gluten-free food.
• Explore the gluten-free section of your supermarket.Because of increased demand for gluten-free foods, most supermarkets have a section devoted to them. Products include bread, muffin, pastry and pancake mixes, flour, stock powder, soy sauce and many other alternatives to commonly used foods containing gluten.
• Read food labels. All food labels must contain an ingredient list. Once you know what to look for, this is another way to check if the product contains gluten. Avoid products containing:
  - wheat, flour, wheat starch, wheat germ, wheat bran, enriched wheat flour, bulgar, spelt, durum, couscous, semolina
  - oats, oatmeal, oat bran, oat flour, rolled oats
  - rye, rye flour
  - triticale, triticale flakes
  - barley, barley flour, barley flakes
  - cereal, flour, bran, some types of hydrolysed vegetable protein, starch, hydrolysed plant protein (often found in stock cubes), modified food stach, cornflour made from wheat
  Food additives listed as numbers can be worrying. Most of these do not contain gluten, but modified starches (1400-1450) are of most concern; if they contain gluten it should be specified on the label.

At the end of the day, we are reliant on manufacturers to tell us if there are gluten-containing ingredients in a product.

If in doubt, contact the manufacturer, your local Coeliac Society or a dietitian.

What's left to eat or drink?

There is a tendency amongst people newly diagnosed with coeliac disease to focus on and grieve for the foods they cannot have. While that’s natural, a more positive approach is to focus on the foods you can eat. There is a whole world of delicious gluten-free ingredients that can make for a very satisfying diet.

Once you have identified the foods you can eat, the next challenge is to put them together in a way that is satisfying, delicious and nutritious. This means understanding the new gluten-free ingredients you are substituting and how they work.

GLUTEN-FREE GRAINS, FLOURS AND THEIR PRODUCTS
Corn Corn-based breakfast cereals Polenta Unflavoured popcorn Taco shells, unflavoured corn chips Cornflour made from corn or maize
Rice Rice Rice flour Rice breakfast cereals Baby rice cereals Rice bran Plain rice crackers / cakes Plain rice noodles
Other grains and flours Wild rice Sago Tapioca Buckwheat Potato flour Arrowroot Millet Amaranth Quinoa
Flours made from legumes: Soy flour Yellow split pea flour Chickpea flour

PRODUCTS THAT MAY CONTAIN GLUTEN

Baked beans/creamed corn Baking powder Crumb coatings for meat, fish or poultry Sausages Processed meats Soups Stock cubes/powder Sauces Gravies Dressings/mayonnaise Products containing malt such as breakfast cereals, malted milk drink powders Maltodextrin (this can be made from rice, corn, potato or wheat starch) Cornflour (check it comes from corn rather than from wheat) Custard powder Curry powder Mustard Cocoa, drinking chocolate, cooking chocolate Beer, lager Some beverages Some modified starches or thickeners Coffee substitutes

Eating out

Because of increasing interest in gluten-free foods, more and more cafés and restaurants are providing gluten-free options and clearly identifying them in menus. If gluten-free options are not identified, don’t be afraid to ask; most chefs are only too happy to keep customers happy. The Coeliac Society of New Zealand has a comprehensive list of eating places that provide gluten-free options.

Step 2: Learn to cook the gluten-free way

Wheat flour

The greatest challenge to cooking without gluten is finding a suitable replacement for wheat flour. This is because wheat flour gives particular properties to foods which can be difficult to achieve with gluten-free substitutes.

There are three key functions of wheat flour in recipes:

1. StructureIt’s the gluten in wheat flour that makes it so ideal for bread and other baked products. Liquid added to flour causes the gluten molecules to join together to form a rubbery elastic mass. This mass has the capacity to stretch and rise due to the action of baking powder or yeast. As such, it provides a structural framework on which other ingredients are held. Flours without gluten do not provide the same elastic matrix for the structure and textures we associate with bread and baked goods.
For one cup of wheat flour in baking, substitute:
1/2 cup soy flour plus 1/2 cup either potato flour, cornflour or arrowroot
1/2 cup soy flour plus 1/4 cup potato flour plus 1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup rice bran plus 1/4 cup rice flour plus 1/4 cup arrowroot

2. Thickening/bindingFlour is often used to thicken or bind products such as soups, stews, batters or sauces. In most cases cornflour, arrowroot or potato flour can be used instead.
For two tablespoons of wheat flour, substitute:
1 tablespoon cornflour, arrowroot or potato flour.

3. CoatingFlour is often used to coat products like fish or schnitzel before dipping in egg and crumbs. It forms a good base for the egg and crumbs to cling to. Corn or rice flours work well as a substitute here.
For 1/2 cup of wheat flour, substitute: 1/2 cup cornflour or rice flour.

WHEAT FLOUR SUBSTITUTES
Cornflour While this should be made from corn or maize, many versions are actually made from wheat. Check the label to ensure you buy the genuine article. Cornflour is best used for: Thickening; because cornflour has greater thickening ability than wheat flour, when substituting use half as much (1 tablespoon cornflour for 2 tablespoons flour) In baking; while not good by itself as a substitute for flour in baking, a combination of cornflour plus another gluten-free flour such as rice or soy flour works well. It is good used in sponge cakes.
Rice flour This can be used in muffins, biscuits and some cakes. Recipes may require more liquid and may take longer to bake and the end result is slightly drier and more granular.
Soy flour This has a strong taste when raw but this flavour is largely lost during cooking. It is best combined with cornflour in biscuits, chocolate cakes and fruit cakes.
Potato flour This is very good as a thickener. It also works well combined with cornflour in biscuits or sponges.