How to stick to a gluten-free diet after starting on it: A celebrity nutritionist offers tips

I realise that a gluten-free diet limits one’s choice of food items and upsets people, but it has helped me improve my health over the years. When I travel, I am not tempted to grab a few biscuits or some unhealthy snack during the taxi drive from the airport to the hotel.

If you do not consume beef, would you step into an eatery that serves it? And if you do step in, would you eat it even if your friends love ordering it? Will you eat pork if you are not supposed to? Or garlic and onions? Where does that mental conviction to not eat these food products come from? When a medical test shows that you are gluten-sensitive, why do you glare back and threaten to storm out of the nutritionist’s cabin when they say you should not eat wheat?

Science gives you the know-how to understand what is good, bad or ugly for your body. Choices to follow that are driven by your psychological discipline. Sometimes, I find religious discipline has a more powerful hold on dietary choices than scientific discipline. When you are visiting a friend, do you eat whatever is served? Or do you ask beforehand? In our country, we see that people will ask these questions only when it comes to religious discipline but do not follow through when it comes to scientific discipline. There is nothing wrong with telling a host beforehand that you are gluten sensitive and do not eat food items they may typically cook. You can even offer to bring along food that is more suited to your palate. Or, if you are as fussy as me, you can always arrive at the party already well-fed and nibble away at some items just so your host is not offended! But, of course, you can also blame it on a bad tummy!

These things are easier with friends but it could get a bit touchy at a family member’s home. Therefore, it is best to inform the hosts that chapati and bread would be off your menu. As an SOS, you can even consume a gluten-digestion enzyme capsule before a party. That helps to break down the gluten in case you consume it. However, the pill is not an all-time solution or feasible in the long run. For example, if you want a burger or a pizza, you would need to have two capsules for it to be effective. I do not recommend that because the body’s DNA would still pick up microscopic strands of gluten. However, this is a fail-safe method for occasional use.

Alcohol drinkers, especially those who have coeliac disease, should avoid whisky and beer because these two beverages are made from malted barley and wheat. The one beer in the market that is almost gluten-free is Corona, a Mexican rice-based beer. It is also my dietary recommendation for those who want to have a beer over the weekend. Gluten-free beer is made from a gluten-containing grain such as barley, wheat or rye. It is processed using enzymes that digest gluten particles into smaller fragments, which poses a low risk of causing an immune response in someone with a gluten allergy or intolerance. However, how effective the process is to remove gluten has not been scientifically proved.

The gluten content in these types of beer may vary. Gluten-removed beer could still cause an immune response in some people with coeliac disease. Therefore, gluten-free beers are not recommended if you have a severe gluten allergy. As far as whisky goes, the malt content in the alcohol is much lower than an actual malted beverage available in the market for children.

Three easy steps to stay off gluten:

• Going off gluten is a long process as there are many cultural and psychological factors involved. It can be done effortlessly with some practice.
• Ask for gluten-free options in restaurants and bakeries.
• Whisky and beer contain gluten. Gluten-removed beer is available in the market but its effectiveness is not proven.
  

Excerpted with permission from Wh(eat)less: A Guide to a Gluten-Free Life, Ryan Fernando, Rupa Publications.