gluten?

[Anna Hart]

I am thinking about lessening the amount of gluten that we eat. Any ideas on how?

[reader99]

Gluten occurs naturally in wheat, barley and rye. Read all labels and avoid anything made with those. That means anything made with wheat flour - bread, pastries, pancakes, waffles, cake, flour tortillas... That's the big picture. There is also sometimes gluten in things like salad dressing and various processed foods. If you google 'hidden gluten' you'll find sites like this: http://www.healthcastle.com/gluten_hidden.shtml

[Yppej]

You said lessen, not eliminate. I would look to increase your consumption of other foods that you like that are similar nutritionally - other grains such as rice, corn, and if you have the budget for them (I don't) exotics like quinoa, as well as filling complex carbohydrates like potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. Oatmeal doesn't contain gluten but may be cross-contaminated by it, so if you have only a sensitivity and not full-blown celiac disease you may do fine with it as well.

[JaneV2.0]

Surprising numbers of people seem to be sensitive to gluten, or at least long-standing symptoms disappear when they quit eating it. If you only lessen your intake, you won't see much--or any--improvement. If I had an inkling of a problem with it, I'd eliminate it entirely for awhile to find out.