HealthInfo Aoraki South Canterbury
People with coeliac disease have a permanent intolerance to gluten.
Gluten is a protein that is in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Gluten is also in dinkel (also called dinkel wheat and spelt) and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).
If you have coeliac disease, gluten damages the lining of your small bowel (small intestine) causing inflammation.
The lining of your small bowel normally has tiny finger-like projections called villi. Villi help you absorb the nutrients from your food. When you have coeliac disease, your villi partially or completely disappear.
Gluten does not cause this damage in people who do not have coeliac disease.
There is no cure for coeliac disease. The only effective treatment is to follow a strict gluten-free diet. You will need to do this for the rest of your life. A gluten-free diet means avoiding foods that contain gluten.
By not eating gluten, the inflammation in your bowel goes away and the villi regrow. This means you can absorb the nutrients in food properly and any symptoms you have get better.
It is important to eat a gluten-free diet even if you do not have any symptoms. This is because you can still damage your small bowel by eating gluten even without symptoms.
Choose foods that are naturally gluten-free. For example, fresh and frozen vegetables and fruit. Rice, milk, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, nuts and seeds. Also, legumes (cooked dried beans, split peas and lentils) and unprocessed meat, fish and chicken.
Foods to include |
Foods to avoid |
||
---|---|---|---|
Grains |
Flours |
Grains |
Flours |
Rice |
Rice flour, ground rice and rice bran |
Wheat and kibbled wheat |
White and wholemeal flour |
Buckwheat |
Buckwheat flour |
Semolina, couscous |
Bran, wheatgerm and bulgur |
Maize (corn) |
Maize cornflour or cornmeal |
|
Wheaten cornflour and wheat starch |
Millet |
Millet flour and polenta |
Dinkel wheat or spelt |
Dinkel flour |
Sago |
Arrowroot and soy flour |
Rye |
Rye flour and rye meal |
Tapioca |
Tapioca flour, pea flour and potato flour |
Barley (and kibbled barley) |
Barley flour |
Quinoa |
Quinoa flour |
Oats |
Oat flour and oat bran |
Amaranth |
Amaranth flour |
Triticale |
|
Teff |
Teff flour |
|
|
Sorghum |
Sorghum flour |
|
|
Baked goods |
Baked goods |
||
Gluten-free pasta* made from corn, rice, millet, buckwheat or legumes Gluten-free bread, crackers, biscuits, snack bars and cake* |
Most pasta, spaghetti, lasagne, fettuccine and so on Most commercial breads, crackers, biscuits, snack bars and cake |
||
Breakfast cereals |
Breakfast cereals |
||
Cereals made from millet, buckwheat, corn or rice. These include gluten-free muesli, porridge, cornflakes and rice bubbles* |
Cereals made from wheat, rye, barley or oats, such as Weet-Bix, Honey Puffs, bran flakes, muesli and so on |
||
Milk and milk products |
Milk and milk products |
||
Cow's milk (fresh, dried, evaporated or long-life), goat's milk, hemp milk, rice milk and almond milk Some soy milks, most brands of yoghurt* and plain tofu Butter, cheese, fresh cream, sour cream and most ice cream |
Commercial milkshakes, thickshakes, frosty shakes, malted milk, oat milk and some soy milks Some yoghurts, cream cheeses and some flavoured ice cream Some sour cream, processed cheese and spreads Synthetic cream |
||
Vegetables and fruit |
Vegetables and fruit |
||
All vegetables and fruit – fresh, dried, frozen and most canned |
Vegetable and fruit pies, vegetables or fruit in batter or breadcrumbs, some potato products, such as wedges and croquettes |
||
Meat, fish and chicken |
Meat, fish and chicken |
||
Fresh beef, fish, chicken, lamb, pork, turkey and game Smoked or cured pure meat, such as bacon or ham Gluten-free sausages |
Meat, fish and chicken coated with breadcrumbs, cooked in batter or bought already marinated Most sausages, cherrios and luncheon sausage. Some salamis, meat pies and paste Fish fingers, fish cakes, fish pies and paste and fish canned in sauce. Chicken pies and chicken stuffing |
||
Soups, sauce, relishes and gravies |
Soups, sauces, relishes and gravies |
||
Homemade gluten-free soup, sauce and gravy Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce – check label) |
Some canned and packet varieties Most soy sauce, some Worcestershire sauce and Bisto |
||
Drinks |
Drinks |
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Tea, coffee, fruit juice, cordials and fizzy drink Cocoa, most drinking chocolate and carob Wine, gluten-free beer, cider, whisky, gin, rum, vodka, port and sherry |
Horlicks, Milo, Ovaltine and Bournvita Commercial milkshakes, thickshakes, and lemon and barley cordial Beer, ale, lager and stout |
||
Miscellaneous |
Miscellaneous |
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Gluten-free baking powder, baking soda and cream of tartar Some custard powder, fresh and dried herbs Vinegar (white, balsamic, wine and cider) Plain or salted nuts and seeds (including linseed and chia seeds), peanut butter and tahini Sugar (white, brown, raw, castor and some icing sugar), golden syrup, honey, molasses, oils and margarine, guar gum and xanthan gum |
Some commercial baking powders Wheaten custard powder, some mustard and curry powders, some spices and some stock powders and liquids Malt vinegar, Maltexo, Promite, Marmite, Vegemite and packet suet Some flavoured and dry-roasted nuts, liquorice, some sweets and wheatgerm oil Some flavoured potato and corn chips Some filled chocolates and chocolate bars Ice cream cones, communion wafers and most icing sugar Some medicines – check with your pharmacist |
*See Coeliac New Zealand's Crossed Grain Gluten Free Shopping Guide for a suitable variety. FoodSwitch also has a filter you can set to see only gluten-free foods.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
Information about coeliac disease, eating gluten-free and reading food labels. It also has gluten-free recipes and shopping guides.
Handy tips for adapting recipes and eating out.
Hundreds of recipes for gluten-free foods.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed November 2023.
See also:
Review key: HICOA-25716