What is Gluten Allergy? What are Gluten-Free Foods for Babies, Kids & Family?
Gluten intolerance is an emotional and sensitive topic to touch upon for the parents especially mothers when they deal with their kids who are allergic to the Gluten diet. The family becomes a detective and suspicious of every other product and its ingredients to make a choice and immediately have to do their research for the toddlers and kid’s safety. Another crucial challenge is to make the kid understand their allergy and to stay away from Gluten-free foods, on the other side it’s always tempting to eat that we are restricted for, but making the kids stronger on this is a major challenge as a family.
What’s a Gluten Allergy?
How will I know my kid has a Gluten allergy? Should I take him or her to the doctor? Some of the common questions that are on the mind are answered here. So the Gluten which is found in wheat and other grains like Barley, Oats are the most abandoned ones primarily to start with and see the progress of the body to fight against the allergy.
A kid or person with gluten sensitivity or intolerance may show symptoms likely such as bloating, abdominal pain, eczema, and diarrhea. In Children, a gluten allergy seems very different than adults hence it’s crucial for parents to have a close look at their child’s behavior and diet in suspicion of showing gluten allergy. “Wheat-free” does not necessarily mean “Gluten-free” hence before purchasing any ready products or fresh products proper reading of the label is very important.
As a universal rule, we all know that traditional Wheat products such as Pasta, Bread, Crackers, and other baked goods are not gluten-free. But there are options for many gluten-free alternative flours and grains mentioned in the article below.
How can we detect Gluten Allergy?
Gluten allergies are tough to diagnose and conclude. As the symptoms mentioned above are quite common in other allergies as well. The only tried and tested way for a person to find if the child or adult is gluten allergy is to be tested. One of the most common is an elimination diet – removing gluten-containing foods from the diet for a certain time to see if symptoms disappear, being the basic test.
Other medical ways are IgE or cell-mediated test, which times reactions to various allergens or skin tests, blood test, stool test for gluten intolerance, is generally recommended.
Blood Tests
Skin prick tests, prick-in-prick tests, and lymphocyte activation tests are the few which can help in testing the results positively and identify rightly for positive or negative for a gluten allergy.
What about Gluten-Free Food Grains?
Naturally, gluten-free grains that can be enjoyed in a variety of creative ways for the taste buds to relive are a big list to venture on and try our hands-on for new dishes with these. Most of these grains mentioned can be found in the local grocery stores easily. It’s advisable not to purchase these food grains from bulk bins because of the possibility of cross-contact with gluten.
The following grains and other starch-containing foods are naturally gluten-free:
- Rice
- Cassava
- Corn (maize)
- Soy
- Potato
- Tapioca
- Beans
- Sorghum
- Quinoa
- Millet
- Buckwheat groats
- Arrowroot
- Amaranth
- Flax
- Chia
- Gluten-free oats
- Nut flours
- Almond Flour
- Besan
- Brown rice flour
- Dal
- Millet
Eggs and Dairy Products
- Butter (be sure it has no additives)
- Casein
- Cheese
- Cream
- Eggs
- Milk
- Sour Cream
- Yogurt- plain
The gluten-free diet foods available locally and naturally cost-effective are given below
Gluten-free Fruits in their natural state
- Apples
- Apricot
- Bananas
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe
- Cherry
- Cranberries
- Dates
- Figs
- Grapes
- Guava
- Honeydew Melon
- Kiwi
- Lemons
- Limes
- Mandarian
- Mangoes
- Oranges
- Papaya
- Passion Fruit
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapples
- Plantains
- Plums
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Tamarind
- Watermelons
Vegetables are also naturally free of gluten
- Avocado
- Beans
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Celery
- Corn
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Green Beans
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Mushrooms
- Okra
- Parsley
- Peas
- Potatoes (white and sweet)
- Pumpkins
- Radish
- Turnips
Other gluten-free foods
- Herbs
- Honey
- Jam
- Jelly
- Spices (most)
- Meat and poultry
- Juice
- Nuts
- Oils
- Seeds
- Fish and seafood
- Walnuts and Almonds
- Olive Oil, Coconut Oil
Common Foods That Contain Gluten
- Pasta and Noodles
- Bread and Pastries
- Crackers and Baked Goods
- Cereal & Granola
Anything else that uses “Wheat Flour” as an ingredient is what a person or kid with a Gluten-free allergy needs to keep in mind for their diet
How to choose and stay safe Gluten-Free Diet?
• Read the food labels when shopping
• Use Gluten-free substitutes in recipes with Gluten ingredients wisely
• Wide options are available for a Gluten-free diet; make an effort to do your research
• Research on cross-contamination is necessary
All that we need to remember is Gluten-free meals can be as delicious and as healthy as the normal ones, just enjoy your meals with your family and friends as normal as possible and stay on with your Gluten-Free diet dishes experiments in your Gluten-Free Kitchen.
TOTS AND MOMS too offers you variety of prodcuts from our store which are gluten free. Check out those at our stores. We have listed below a sample.
Gluten-free foods from TOTS AND MOMS
Ragi Rotti – Diabetic Friendly and Gluten-Free
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