Treatment Options

There are no drugs to treat celiac disease, and there is no cure. The only treatment is lifetime avoidance of gluten. This means no breads, baked products, pastas, or cereals made with wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, barley, or oats (although there is currently some controversy over oats, which will be discussed shortly).

Gluten-Filled Foods
To Beware
The following ingredients signal a food contains gluten:
Barley                        
Beer                           
Bread crumbs             
Bulgur                        
Cereal extract             
Couscous                   
Cracker meal        
Durum
Farina                         
Flour (unless derived    
      from a safe grain)
Graham
Kamut
Matzoh, matzoh meal
Oats
Rye
Seitan
Semolina
Spelt
Triticale
Wheat (including bran,
germ, starch)

The following ingredients may contain gluten:*
Brown rice syrup
Caramel color
Dextrin (if it is wheat derived)
Flour and cereal products
Hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein (HVP or HPP)
Malt, malt flavoring, malt vinegar
Modified food starch
Soy sauce
Textured vegetable protein (TVP)

* These ingredients should not be eaten unless you can verify that they are not derived from grains known to contain gluten.

But the list doesn't stop there. Many ingredients in processed foods are derived from the off-limit grains, including thickeners, fillers, and stabilizers in foods such as canned soups, luncheon meats, salad dressings, ice cream, pudding, pie, chewing gum, beer, canned tuna, and hot dogs, to name just a few. Even medications and mouthwash may contain gluten.

If you have celiac disease, the following are important safety steps to help you avoid gluten:
  • Know the many ingredients that may harbor the forbidden gluten.
  • Check the label of every food very carefully.
  • Contact food and medication manufacturers if ingredients are unclear or there is any question.
  • Get guidance from a doctor or dietitian experienced in working with people who have celiac disease.
  • Learn from others who suffer from the disease.
  • Avoid a food if there is any doubt about its ingredients, because every exposure to even a small amount of gluten causes intestinal damage.
Safe Foods

What foods are "safe" for people with celiac disease? Fresh meats, fish, and poultry; milk, eggs, and unprocessed cheeses; dried beans; and plain, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables are all safe to eat.

As for grains, corn and rice are the most readily available safe grains. Pure oats may also fall into this category. There are studies under way to test whether oats are safe for celiac sufferers, but the jury is definitely still out on them. Oats contain less gluten than wheat, and some people with celiac disease report that they can tolerate at least small amounts of oats without experiencing symptoms.

But pure oats are very difficult to find, and oats can easily become contaminated with wheat or other gluten-containing ingredients during processing. So the prudent advice for now is to avoid oats.

Many people with celiac disease rely on homemade products that use wheat-flour substitutes, such as rice, tapioca, potato, or soy flours. In addition, specialty food companies offer gluten-free breads, pastas, and other grain-based products (see the Get Help for a Gluten-Free Diet sidebar). What's more, with increased awareness and diagnosis of the disease, more gluten-free products are finding their way onto grocery-store shelves.

While the gluten-free diet may sound daunting at first, checking labels quickly becomes second nature, and it's not a bad way to see what other effects -- in terms of calories, fat, vitamins, and other nutrients -- a food may have on health. And for most people with celiac disease, their relief in finding a solution to their symptoms, and their ability to fend off the complications of untreated celiac disease, make the diet seem a small price to pay.

Leading a gluten-free lifestyle will be challenging, but hopefully the information in this article will enlighten you on how to keep this condition from slowing you down.

Get Help For A Gluten-Free Diet
If you have celiac disease, there are organizations that can help you cope. One is the Celiac Disease Foundation (contact them at 818-990-2354, or visit their Web site at www.celiac.org), and the other is the Gluten Intolerance Group, or GIG (call them at 206-246-6652, or visit their site at www.gluten.net).

Both nonprofit groups can help you learn more about the disease and provide advice, resources, and support from other patients to help make living with it easier.

Publications International, Ltd.

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.