Even if you weren’t cooking gluten-free, you’d want to give these gluten-free ingredients a go. Not only are these gluten-free grains acceptable substitutes for the traditional grains like wheat, rye, and barley, but these gluten-free puppies also offer unique characteristics: Amaranth: Amaranth is an excellent source of protein and has a pleasant peppery and nutty flavor.

A gluten-free diet isn’t just for those with celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Although eating wheat products, especially whole wheat, does offer some health benefits, the gluten can actually be harmful. Here are some reasons you may want to go gluten-free. Humans don’t fully digest wheat. The undigested portions of wheat begin to ferment, producing gas.

Wheat by any other name still has gluten and if you have celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant, you need to avoid wheat in all its forms and varieties. Beware of aliases like flour, bulgur, semolina, spelt, frumento, durum (also spelled duram), kamut, graham, einkorn, farina, couscous, seitan, matzoh, matzah, matzo, and cake flour.

Gluten is sometimes behind the scenes wreaking havoc on behavior and moods. Behaviors including “fuzzy brain” or an inability to concentrate — including attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) type behaviors — irritability and lack of motivation can be caused by gluten.

The list of grains forbidden to you if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance is a lot shorter than the list of grains you can eat. That's the good news. And the other part of the optimistic picture is that bad grains go by a name, so you can identify them when you see them. The grains you need to avoid on a gluten-free diet are: Barley and its derivative, malt (take malt vinegar out of your diet too, along with malted milk and those chocolate-covered malt balls — sigh).

Some people who have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity are underweight because their gluten issues prevent them from absorbing nutrients. So you may actually need to gain weight to be at the peak of health. When you go gluten-free, your gut usually heals quickly, and you begin to absorb nutrients and calories.

If you're on a gluten-free diet, you need to know what foods are safe to eat. Gluten-free foods are not hard to find — if you know what to include on your shopping list. Grains and starches you can eat safely You have lots of choices for gluten-free grains and starches. Even if you’re an old pro who’s been gluten-free for years, some of these may be new to you: Amaranth Arrowroot Beans Buckwheat/groats/kasha Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, besan, cici, chana, or gram — not to be confused with graham, which does have gluten) Corn Garfava Job’s Tears Mesquite (pinole) Millet Montina (Indian ricegrass) Oats (but they may be contaminated with wheat and other grains) Potato Quinoa (hie) Ragi Rice Sorghum Soy Tapioca (gari, cassava, casaba, manioc, yucca) Taro root Teff Glutinous rice does not contain gluten!

Things with flour in them (white or wheat) are the most common culprits when you’re avoiding gluten. The following foods are among the more obvious edibles and beverages that are gluten packed: Bagels Beer Bread Cookies, cakes, and most other baked goods Crackers Pasta Pizza Pretzels All these foods and drink are made with wheat or wheat flour, so they’re pretty easy to identify.