Gluten-Free Donuts

The Gluten-Free Diet

The Gluten-Free (GF) Diet: The GF diet is the prescribed medical treatment for gluten intolerance diseases such as celiac disease (CD) and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). An immune system response to eating gluten (storage proteins gliadin and prolamine) results in damage to the small intestine of people with gluten intolerance. The GF diet is a life long commitment and should not be started before being properly diagnosed with CD/DH. Starting the diet without complete testing is not recommended and makes diagnosis later more difficult. Tests to confirm CD could be negative if a person were on the GF diet for very long. A valid test would require reintroducing gluten (a gluten challenge) before testing. Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disease and confirmation of CD will help future generations be aware of the risk of CD within the family.

Dietitians developed the following dietary guidelines, for the Gluten Intolerance Group ® and Celiac Disease Foundation. These are in agreement with the Gluten Free Diet guidelines published by the American Dietetic Association, October 2000. The American Dietetic Association Guidelines were written through a cooperative effort of dietitian experts in celiac disease in Canada and the United States.

	The following grains & starches are allowed: Rice Corn Soy Potato Tapioca Beans Garfava Sorghum Quinoa Millet Buckwheat Arrowroot Amaranth Tef Monitna® Nut Flours
The following grains contain gluten and are not allowed: Wheat (durum, semolina, kamut, spelt) Rye Barley Triticale	Frequently overlooked items that often contain gluten: Breading Broth Coating mixes Communion Wafers Croutons Imitation bacon Imitation seafood Marinades Pastas Processed Meats Roux Sauces Self-basting poultry Soup base Stuffing Thickeners
The following ingredients are questionable and should not be consumed unless you can verify they do not contain or are derived from prohibited grains: Brown rice syrup (frequently made with barley) Caramel color (infrequently made from barley) Dextrin (usually corn, but may be derived from wheat) Flour or cereal products Malt or malt flavoring (usually made from barley. Okay if made from corn) Malt vinegar Modified food starch or modified starch (from unspecified or forbidden source) Soy sauce or soy sauce solids (many soy sauces contain wheat)

Can I Use Oats?

Based on numerous studies in the last several years, involving children and adults, using pure oats and store-shelf oats, around the world; research shows that oats do not appear to be harmful to persons with gluten intolerance in moderation. Recent discovery of the specific reactive peptide in gluten intolerance and research by Dr. Don Kasarda on the amino acid sequencing of oats vs. the now known peptide, would again clear oats as not having the reactive peptide sequence known to be problematic for gluten intolerance. Therefore oats are gluten free.

However, there is concern by the medical and research communities worldwide that the level of possible contamination of oats with gluten from unacceptable sources is too high. Therefore, GIG ® is not recommending the use of oats by the celiac community.

Today, as we know and understand research on gluten intolerance, the offending cereals that must be avoided are wheat, rye, barley and their derivative cereals.