Are you someone that suffers from constant bloating, stomach aches and overall tiredness? Well that was me for most of my life until I realized the culprit was wheat and that I was celiac.  Since learning to live without wheat, my life has changed and I am on the road back to being healthy.  If you suffer from the symptoms I described, I encourage you to try cutting out wheat for a week and seeing what kind of difference that makes.  To help you do this, I’ve put together a comprehensive list of products that contain wheat, many of which you would never expect like the popcorn at movie theaters and ice cream…it really is crazy how much filler there is in food. If you are going to take this journey I encourage you to read all the labels and monitor how you feel right after you eat and an hour after you eat because each person takes a different amount of time to realize they are reacting to gluten.  My stomach will bloat out within 5 minutes so be aware of your body.

Here is a list from Lovetoknow.com outlining food that contain gluten.

Common Foods that Contain Gluten (unless you specifically buy gluten free)

  • Bagels
  • Biscuits
  • Bread
  • Bread crumbs
  • Breaded fish
  • Breaded meats or poultry
  • Bread pudding
  • Cake
  • Cereal
  • Chicken nuggets
  • Croissants
  • Cookies
  • Crackers
  • Croutons
  • Doughnuts
  • Dumplings
  • Flour
  • Flour tortillas
  • Fried vegetables
  • Graham crackers
  • Hamburger buns
  • Hotdog buns
  • Icre Crean
  • Ice cream cones
  • Macaroni
  • Melba toast
  • Muffins
  • Noodles
  • Pancakes
  • Pasta
  • Pastries
  • Pie crusts
  • Pizza crust
  • Pretzels
  • Rolls
  • Spaghetti
  • Stuffing
  • Tabbouleh
  • Theatre Popcorn
  • Waffles

Foods You Wouldn’t Expect to Have Gluten

You probably weren’t surprised to learn that cakes, cookies, and all the other floury snacks contain gluten. After all, they’re made primarily of wheat flour. The following list, on the other hand, may surprise you. These are foods that usually or often contain gluten. In some cases, wheat is added as a thickener; barley malt is often added as a form of natural flavor. You must read the labels of these items carefully to look for gluten-containing ingredients. Even better, look for products specifically labeled “gluten-free.”

  • Beer
  • Beverage mixes
  • Bologna
  • Candy (many candies are gluten-free, so read labels)
  • Canned baked beans
  • Cold cuts
  • Packaged cereals, even corn cereals
  • Commercially prepared broth
  • Commercially prepared chocolate milk
  • Commercially prepared soup
  • Custard
  • Fruit fillings
  • Gravy
  • Gum
  • Hot dogs
  • Ice cream
  • Non-dairy creamer
  • Potato chips
  • Pudding
  • Root beer
  • Syrups
  • Salad dressing
  • Soy sauce
  • Vegetables with commercially prepared sauces

Ingredients with Hidden Gluten

The tricky part is recognizing hidden gluten. By law, wheat must be clearly identified on labels. If wheat is listed, you know you can’t eat the food. Unfortunately, “wheat free” doesn’t equate to “gluten-free” and the law doesn’t currently require all forms of gluten to be listed. Since barely, rye, oats, and their derivatives are all natural foods, they can sometimes be listed under fairly innocuous sounding names. That’s why everyone with celiac diesease or gluten intolerance, including children, must learn to recognize sources of hidden gluten. Study the ingredient list of all prepared foods and avoid those containing:

  • Barley
  • Barley grass
  • Binders
  • Blue Cheese
  • Bouillion
  • Bran
  • Brewers yeast
  • Bulgur
  • Cereal binding
  • Chilton
  • Couscous
  • Durhum
  • Edible starch
  • Emulsifiers
  • Farina
  • “Fillers”
  • Hydrolyzed plant protein
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  • Kamut
  • Kasha
  • Malt
  • Malt flavoring
  • Malt vinegar
  • Matzo
  • Modified food starch
  • Monosodium glutimate (MSG)
  • “Natural” flavor
  • Rye
  • Seitan
  • Semolina
  • Some spice mixtures
  • Soy sauce
  • Spelt
  • Stabilizer
  • Suet
  • Teriyaki sauce
  • Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
  • Wheat
  • Wheat protein

This list may seem overwhelming but stick to lots of fruits, vegetables and protein. Oats should be gluten free but make sure you pick up a package in the organic section that specifies being gluten free. Also if you are gluten intolerant or celiac, often you are diary intolerant as well so if you are going to eat diary, eat it separately from other food to see if you become bloated from diary.

Good luck and if you have any questions, email me at pampurnell@gmail.com