If your doctor has recently diagnosed you with a wheat allergy, she's most likely given you a specific wheat allergy diet. The diet outlines what foods you can eat without worry as well as what foods you should never eat to avoid an allergic reaction to wheat. Although the guidelines for a wheat allergy diet are usually very straightforward, you should learn how to protect yourself from wheat-containing products at home and at restaurants.
Identification
A wheat allergy occurs when your body negatively interacts with one of four proteins found in wheat. If you are allergic to wheat, when you eat one of the four proteins--gluten, globulin, albumin and gliadi--your body erroneously identifies the protein as something that can harm you. Your immune system retaliates, causing symptoms such as diarrhea, difficulty breathing, hives or anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition marked by a weak pulse, chest pain or swelling of the throat, according to MayoClinic.com. Although doctors can prescribe antihistamines to help you combat your wheat allergy, the best treatment for a wheat allergy is to abstain from eating wheat products, according to MayoClinic.com. Therefore, a wheat allergy diet is an eating regimen that helps you avoid wheat and wheat-containing products.
Features
A wheat allergy diet emphasizes total elimination of all wheat products, including direct sources of wheat, such as breads and cereals, and hidden sources of wheat, such as soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and soups and sauces thickened with wheat flour. A wheat allergy diet also provides numerous substitutions for wheat products, such as replacing wheat cereals with rice cereals and using corn flour instead of wheat flour in at-home food preparation.
Considerations
Learning how to properly read food labels is paramount to your success on a wheat allergy diet, says Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. While many products clearly list wheat or gluten on the ingredient list, numerous hidden sources of wheat abound on food packages. Some hidden sources of wheat are dextrin, modified food starch and hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein, says Children's Hospital Boston.
FALCPA
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 2004, requires food labels on new products manufactured after January 1, 2006 to reveal if they have one or more major food allergens, including wheat. However, products that have been on the market before 2006 are not required to re-label their packages with the warning. Therefore, do not assume that the products you have been consuming for years will alert you to possible wheat-based ingredients in the form of an allergen warning.
Warning
Do not assume that any packaged food will remain wheat-free indefinitely. Sometimes food manufacturers change product formulations without notice, so it is wise to regularly check food labels to ensure that the products you buy remain wheat-free. Furthermore, do not assume that restaurant dishes are wheat-free based only upon the restaurant menu's description. Always have your server ask the chef if the item you want to order is wheat-free or can be prepared wheat-free.
