Gluten-free diet

Bread making you bloat? Feeling uneasy after tucking into your breakfast cereal? Switching to a gluten-free diet can be an easy way to cheer up unhappy tums.

Celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Miley Cyrus are advocates of the gluten-free lifestyle and tennis sensation Novak Djokovic even wrote a book about it! So what’s all the fuss about? Cutting out foods which contain gluten mimics the diet followed by sufferers of Coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition in which eating gluten causes the body to produce antibodies that attack the gut and can lead to serious long-term health problems. 

Although a sensitivity or an intolerance to gluten does not carry the same health risks as coeliac disease, it can provoke unpleasant digestive problems such as bloating and stomach cramps. It’s no surprise then that more and more people are opting to include less gluten in their diet.

So what can you eat? Gluten is a protein which is found in wheat, barley and rye – the components that make up many of the typical ‘everyday’ foods we eat. Before you despair that a gluten-free lifestyle will mean an eternity of bland breakfasts and drab dinners, read on for gluten-free gastronomical delight!

A restricted diet used to mean it was hard to enjoy a healthy, balanced and delicious diet, particularly when it comes to eating out. Now, most large chains cater for specific dietary requirements – Pizza Express make gluten-free pizza bases and Zizzi offers an entirely separate menu which details gluten-free choices. Or why not try these healthy restaurants next time you’re out and about?

There’s also a LOT of info out there now. You wont be short of inspiration, just type ‘gluten-free recipes’ into Google and a huge range of blogs and recipes will appear. We heart glutenfreegirl.com.

The free-from aisle in the supermarket is packed full of food substitutes – even bread and pasta aren’t off the menu if you’re intolerant to gluten – hooray! Try Genius for gluten-free bread and Doves Farm for flour. You could also start incorporating new foods into your diet – swap couscous for quinoa or amaranth to get started.