Gluten Free Food

Gluten free food has become a buzz word in recent years. Whether it is a diet fad or legitimate health concern has somewhat gotten lost in the excitement. Generally speaking, this type of food lacks a type of protein that is found in most flours. Essentially, this means that the food doesn’t contain wheat or most types of flours. This means breads, pastas, deserts, sauces, and a surprisingly large amount of other foods.

Celiac disease is the source of much of the concern over gluten and wheat. Basically, some people are naturally allergic to this type of protein and eating it can significantly hurt their body. Until recent years, this condition was not acknowledged or was overlooked, but now it’s becoming more commonly accepted as a condition that many people suffer from. As such many restaurants now offer menu items that are designated to be without wheat or other such products to help customers.

The easiest way to treat this disease and other allergic reactions to the protein is to simply stop consuming it. This may make it seem like many of our favorite foods are now banned, but in the last few years many bakeries and other food companies have begun using substitutes to produce cookies, breads, and pastas that don’t have any wheat in them. Once only found in health food stores, these products can now be found all over in major supermarkets.

As part of the concern over wheat and gluten containing products, people without celiac disease have begun to consider integrating wheat free products into their diet as well for health benefits. Much of this is centered on a concern over the carbohydrates in many products that contain wheat. Your body works very hard to break these down and some believe that your health can be improved by simply avoiding these.

There are many substitutes available to the home cook as well. Garbanzo bean flour and rice flour, used for centuries in other parts of the world, have taken the place of traditional thickeners and starches in recipes. Xanthan gum is also used for similar purposes. These products can usually be found in bulk food sections of large supermarkets. Be mindful as they don’t function exactly like flour, so a special cookbook written for wheat free recipes will be needed to cook with these ingredients.

Even if you don’t have celiac disease or are unconcerned with the health benefits, this type of food presents a new realm of flavor and texture that is well worth trying out.