A gluten free diet is one that does not include foods that contain the
protein known as gluten. Gluten can be found in wheat, malts, rye,
triticale, and barley. It is commonly used as an additive in foods to add
more flavor, to thicken foods, to stabilize foods, and is often labeled as
dextrin. A diet free from gluten is the only type of treatment that has
been medically accepted for the condition of celiac disease, wheat allergies,
and dermatitis herpetiformis.
In some cases, a gluten free diet may not include oats. The medical
community is not sure whether or not oats irritate celiac disease patients,
or if they cause issues because of cross contamination in processing
facilities.
The phrase gluten free is used to indicate either a complete lack, or a
miniscule amount of gluten. In most cases, gluten free means there is a
harmless amount of the protein since a complete absence is unlikely. For
the most part, consumption of fewer than 10mg of gluten on a daily basis is
unlikely to cause any allergic reactions or problems in gluten sensitive
patients.
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