Celiac Disease Diet: Food Lists, Sample Menu, and Tips
Source: healthline / Pic: Pinterest / Author: Erica Julson
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that causes severe damage to the lining of the small intestine. Gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye — triggers its symptoms.
There’s currently no cure for celiac disease. A strict gluten-free diet — also known as the celiac disease diet — must be followed to allow your body to heal.
If you have celiac disease and consume even small amounts of gluten, damage to your intestines will continue, regardless of the absence of symptoms.
For those with celiac disease, avoiding gluten is essential but can be harder than it seems.
This article reviews the benefits of the celiac disease diet and provides lists of foods to eat and avoid, as well as a sample menu and helpful tips.
What Is the Celiac Disease Diet?
Anyone diagnosed with celiac disease must follow the celiac disease diet.
It requires avoiding gluten, a naturally occurring protein found in several grains, including wheat, barley, and rye.
When someone with celiac disease eats gluten, it causes an autoimmune response in their body that damages the lining of the small intestine.
As a result, the small intestine cannot properly absorb nutrients from food, creating symptoms like diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, and malnutrition.
The only way to prevent this damage is to strictly follow the gluten-free celiac disease diet.
SUMMARY
The celiac disease diet avoids gluten-containing foods to prevent autoimmune intestinal damage in people with celiac disease.
Potential Benefits
The celiac disease diet is required for anyone diagnosed with celiac disease and has many benefits.
Reduces the Symptoms of Celiac Disease
Many people with celiac disease experience uncomfortable symptoms, such as diarrhea, indigestion, abdominal pain, fatigue, and headaches.
Following a gluten-free diet for at least one year has been shown to improve these symptoms in more than 90% of people with celiac disease, significantly improving quality of life.
Intestinal symptoms like diarrhea tend to be the quickest to resolve — with some people experiencing relief after just two days on a gluten-free diet.
Overall, it takes an average of one month to see significant improvements in bowel movements, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Prevents Small Intestinal Damage
For people with celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an autoimmune response that damages the small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed.
Avoiding gluten prevents this autoimmune process, and the small intestine can heal and return to normal function.
This process takes time — so the earlier a gluten-free diet is started, the better.
In one study, up to 95% of children with celiac disease who followed a gluten-free diet for two years no longer showed signs of intestinal damage.
Recovery tends to be slower in adults — with 34–65% achieving gut healing in two years.
However, this number jumps to at least 66% — and up to 90% — after five or more years on a gluten-free diet.
Being vigilant about avoiding gluten is crucial. Exposure to even tiny amounts can hinder the healing of your intestines.
Improves Nutrient Absorption
Nutrient deficiencies are prevalent in people with celiac disease due to poor absorption in the damaged small intestine.
Deficiencies in iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin, and folate, as well as vitamins A, D, E, and K, are the most common.
In fact, unexplained iron deficiency anemia is one of the most recognized signs of celiac disease in adults.
Yet, supplementing will not always correct deficiencies in people with celiac disease if their intestines are still damaged and unable to absorb nutrients.
Following a gluten-free diet has been shown to repair the intestines enough to correct iron deficiency anemia within six to twelve months, even without taking a supplement.
Improves Fertility
Women with celiac disease have higher rates of infertility and may be at a greater risk of miscarriage than women without this condition.
Research suggests that the autoimmune response that gluten triggers in people with celiac disease may be to blame.
However, following a strict gluten-free diet has been found to improve fertility and reduce miscarriage rates.
May Reduce Cancer Risk
Celiac disease is associated with a three-times greater risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — an aggressive form of cancer that occurs in the lymph system.
Several studies have found that diagnosing celiac disease early and following a gluten-free diet can reduce this risk — but more research is needed.
Lowers the Risk of Osteoporosis
Up to 75% of people with untreated celiac disease have lower bone density and a higher risk of osteoporosis.
This may be due to poor calcium and vitamin D absorption, as well as increased inflammation that interferes with the bone-building process.
Research shows that diagnosing celiac disease early and starting a gluten-free diet can help stop bone loss and reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis.
SUMMARY
Following a gluten-free diet has many benefits for people with celiac disease, including reducing symptoms, allowing the small intestine to heal and properly absorb nutrients, and decreasing the risk of infertility, cancer, and osteoporosis.
Foods to Eat
There are many naturally gluten-free foods to enjoy on the celiac disease diet, including:
Animal proteins: Beef, chicken, dairy products, eggs, game meat, lamb, pork, seafood, and turkey.
Fats and oils: Avocado, coconut oil, olives, oils, solid fats, and butter.
Fruits and vegetables: In any form, including fresh, frozen, dried, or canned.
Gluten-free cereals and pseudocereals: Amaranth, buckwheat, corn, millet, quinoa, rice, sorghum, teff, and wild rice.
Herbs and spices: All fresh and dried herbs and spices are naturally gluten-free and can be enjoyed liberally.
Legumes: Beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, and soy.
Nuts and seeds: Any type, including almonds, cashews, chia, flax, pecans, pepitas, pine nuts, and walnuts.
There’s also a wide variety of specialty products, including gluten-free bread, cereals, flours, crackers, pastas, and baked goods.
SUMMARY
All animal proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, herbs, and spices are naturally gluten-free. There are many naturally gluten-free grains and specialty products, too.