Celiac Disease And Gluten-Free Diet

What is Clieac Disease? Who is Gluten-Free Diet Applied?

Expert Dietitian Özge Uçucu / 2021-09-27

Almost all of us have heard of the "gluten-free diet" buzz at least once. Or, we may have seen the phrase “gluten-free” in capital letters on a packaged product we picked up at the grocery store. Is this so-called "gluten" substance so harmful? Who should or should not follow a gluten-free diet? Does a healthy person also need to eliminate gluten from their life? I have compiled the answers to these questions and this blog post about the "celiac" disease for you.

What is celiac?

Celiac disease can be explained as an allergic digestive system disease that causes deterioration of the structures that provide digestion in the intestines and therefore prevents the absorption of nutrients. The reason for this damage in the intestines is a protein called "gluten", which is found in many foods such as wheat, barley, oats and rye that we consume today. Therefore, patients with gluten enteropathy (allergy) should not consume gluten foods.

Celiac disease is actually a genetic disease, that is, it can be said that it is a hereditary disease. Celiac disease can occur at any time in a person's life. Celiac disease can sometimes occur after an operation, childbirth, pregnancy, stress or viral infection, or it can come to light for no reason. The disease can be seen in children, adolescents, middle-aged people, and the elderly.

What should individuals with celiac disease pay attention to?

Celiac disease requires an individual to drastically change their diet. However, this does not mean that one's life will be difficult. Only the person diagnosed with gluten enteropathy needs extra care and attention to everything. For this reason, nutrition becomes more important than anything else in celiac disease. Patients should definitely not consume gluten-containing foods. For this reason, it is beneficial to prepare a special nutrition program by a dietitian for patients. Because not consuming gluten-containing foods does not mean that people will have to eat foods they do not like. If the patient completely reduces his or her nutrition so that there is no gluten in it, this may bring some problems such as weight loss. However, with a healthy nutrition program, there is no such thing as involuntary weight loss. If a person with celiac disease wants to lose their excess weight for their own health, to overcome the problem of obesity or obesity, they can lose weight in accordance with their disease and get rid of obesity and obesity problems with a weight loss program prepared with a dietitian.

What should be the diet in celiac disease?

In celiac disease, nutrition is the most important issue. For the diagnosed patients, a nutrition program should be prepared in collaboration with a nutritionist and dietitian, taking into account the needs of the patient's body and lifestyle. This nutrition program should become the lifestyle of the patient and the patient should stick to this program in every food he will consume. Because the only treatment for celiac disease is a lifelong diet therapy. Therefore, patients should pay attention to the foods they will consume throughout their lives. If a good diet program is prepared for the patients, the patient can have a nutritional habit full of gluten-free foods without giving up the foods that they love and are suitable for their palate. With many gluten-free products currently sold out, the patient can prepare and consume delicious foods that are suitable for their previous eating habits.

What should individuals with celiac disease not consume?

There are all kinds of foods that contain wheat, barley, rye and oats among the foods that should not be consumed in order to avoid gluten allergy. To give an example of this type of food; flour, bulgur, pasta, bulgur pilaf, cake, crackers, vermicelli, couscous, semolina, cookies, ice cream cone, bread, bagels, cakes, biscuits, wafers, ready-made tomato paste, various meal and dessert sauces, tarhana, ketchup, floury soups and sweets made with flour.

At the same time, people with gluten allergy should not consume foods such as fish or chicken prepared by dipping in breadcrumbs or fried. Similarly, malt beverages, beer, vodka and gin are among the beverages that these people should not consume because they contain gluten. Since vinegar, chocolate, pudding, chewing gum, ketchup and mayonnaise may contain gluten, people with celiac disease should not consume such foods.

Nutrition in celiac disease may seem difficult, but living with celiac disease and nutrition in celiac disease will not be difficult at all when a nutrition program is prepared according to the lifestyle of the person, the needs of the body and the foods he likes, together with a nutrition and diet specialist.

In addition, many gluten-free products are produced that can be consumed by patients with gluten enteropathy. These include gluten-free flour, gluten-free pasta, gluten-free noodle, gluten-free chocolate, gluten-free crackers, gluten-free cake, gluten-free semolina, gluten-free gullaç, gluten-free tarhana and gluten-free biscuits. Since patients cannot consume foods made with flour sold outside, they can prepare and consume those foods at home by using these gluten-free flours. Gluten-free buckwheat and gluten-free oats are also commercially available. Moreover, since much healthier foods will be prepared in this way, it may be possible to prevent the risk of obesity or obesity.

What should celiac patients pay attention to in their diet?

From the moment the patients are diagnosed with celiac disease, they should be fed by following the nutritional rules in celiac disease and without consuming gluten foods.

Patients should read the labels of the foods they will buy from the markets. If they are going to consume an unlabeled food, they should be especially careful. Consuming a gluten-containing product by mistake may cause severe symptoms in the patient. Similarly, caution should be exercised in the consumption of gluten-containing drugs, shampoos, creams or cosmetic products.

In particular, patients should pay attention to the consumption of natural foods such as milk, meat, vegetables, eggs and fish.

When foods are to be cooked or prepared, care should be taken to ensure that those foods have not touched gluten-containing foods in any way. Particular attention should be paid when ordering this in places such as restaurants / cafes.

Since foods that do not contain wheat may contain gluten, patients should be careful in the consumption of these foods.

Patients should not consume any food that they have no idea about the content of.

People with celiac disease sometimes may not get as much vitamins and minerals as they need. For this reason, it is always beneficial for them to make nutritional programs that will meet the missing vitamins and minerals in this type of body with the help of a specialist.

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