Just Diagnosed: A Celiacs Guide

If you’ve just been diagnosed with celiac’s disease, you may feel like you’re starting from scratch and figuring out how to feed yourself again. But don’t worry, this will pass and your new style of eating will soon become second nature!

A basics guide for the newly diagnosed celiac will vary depending on your location, budget, and other dietary preferences. Living in certain locations may give you a leg up because the culture is already rice, corn or potato-based, rather than wheat-based. Or maybe you live in a city that offers tons of restaurants and health food stores that cater to special diets. You may also have additional limitations like a vegan diet or other food allergies. Dairy allergies are unfortunately very common for people with celiacs.

This first section is what to watch out for, but it’s always worth asking questions and reading labels! If the label includes a gluten allergen notice or keywords, avoid that item. Use your best judgement and skip that food if you’re unsure about it.

Foods to avoid when dining out:

• Bread products like pastries, sandwiches, pancakes, cookies, pies, cakes and crackers
• Wheat-based noodle dishes
• Shared fryers
  • Don’t eat fried foods if other foods in the restaurant are breaded in wheat flour or marinated before frying
  • Even things like fries may be breaded or marinated

• Shared toasters and prep space
  • Sensitivity to cross-contamination will depend on the person
• Dark sauces and marinades
  • Anything with malt vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoison sauce
• Japanese curries
• Imitation crab
• Malt liquors and beers
• Soups
  • Especially creamy soups or gazpacho, which can include bread or flour

• Breaded items
• Gravy
• Omelettes or scrambled eggs
  • Diners often add some pancake batter to the egg mix for fluffiness
• Meatballs

Grocery items to avoid:

• Bread products like pastries, sandwiches, pancakes, cookies, pies, cakes and crackers
• Wheat-based noodles
• Canned soups
• Cold cereal
  • Often includes barley malt extract for flavor

• Oats that are not certified gluten free
  • See our article about certified GF oats for more info
• Malt liquors and beers
• Vegan meat subs
  • Anything that is seitan-based or includes vital wheat gluten in the ingredients is a no-go
• Licorice candy

Words to keep an eye out for:

• Malt or barley extract
• Modified food starch
  • Depending on the country of origin, this may be wheat-based
• Soy-marinated

• Breaded
• Yeast flavoring extract
  • Could be derived from barley, here’s our yeast article for more info
• Allergen labels for wheat, barley, rye, gluten

Alternative words for gluten-containing flours:

• Kamut
• Spelt
• Einkorn
• Emmer
• Durum
• Semolina
• Triticale
• Bulgur
• Graham
• Farina

Now that you know which foods should be avoided, let’s focus on what you can eat! A gluten free diet can be a chance to break out of old food routines and learn about the many cuisines of other cultures. Lots of these foods are cheap, healthy, and easy to prepare once you’re in the habit. Certain cuisines will be good options for takeout, but other types of cuisines are really tricky. Gluten Guide is about highlighting these options! We have lots of other articles that go more in-depth, so here we’ll just outline the basics to get you started.

Gluten free staple foods:

• Beans, lentils, peas
  • See our chickpea flour article
• Veg
• Rice
  • See our rice flour article

• Quinoa
• Amaranth
• Buckwheat
• Teff
• Corn

• Sorghum
• Millet
• Arrowroot
• Tapioca / cassava
• Potatoes

• Fruit
• Meats, fish, eggs
• Nuts and seeds
  • See our almond flour article
  • See our chia article

This should be more than enough to get you started, but head on over to our Resources page if you’d like more inspiration!