A gluten-free diet is the only way to treat celiac disease, a digestive disorder that affects about 1 percent of the population. Gluten is a protein found in some grains, and it damages your gastrointestinal tract if you have celiac disease. Diabetes is characterized by an inability to regulate your blood sugar levels, either due to a insulin deficiency in Type 1 diabetes or to insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes. As with celiac disease, diet is the cornerstone of diabetes management. If you have both celiac disease and diabetes, proper meal planning is important to control both of your conditions.
Controlling Diabetes
The key to help you control your diabetes is to be consistent with your carbohydrate intake. Of all the nutrients in foods, carbohydrate is the one that directly influences your blood sugar levels. It is found in grains, starchy vegetables, sugar, legumes, fruit and some dairy products. Eating too much carbohydrate at once will quickly make your blood sugar levels above the desirable range of 70 to 130 mg/dL before eating or below 180 mg/dL two hours after a meal. Each of your meals should contain about 45 to 60 g of carbohydrates. Look at food labels to start tracking your carb intake or use an online tracking tool.
Eliminating Gluten
Gluten is in wheat, barley, rye and oats as well as all foods made from their flours or containing ingredients derived from these grains. Most breads, breakfast cereals, pasta, granola bars, muffins, cookies, crackers, croissants, couscous, bulgur and other baked goods contain gluten. Carefully read the ingredient lists of a food before buying it, because many foods you wouldn't suspect contain gluten actually do. Search for the words wheat, barley, rye, oats or gluten. For example, french fries, marinades, soy sauce, chicken nuggets and some seasonings may contain gluten, so label reading is crucial to ensure you avoid all sources of gluten. Even traces of gluten, coming from crumbs of gluten-containing bread in the jar or peanut butter or from frying your food in the same oil used for gluten-containing foods, can trigger your celiac disease symptoms.
Gluten-Free Products
With the increasing awareness regarding celiac disease and gluten, the food industry has developed many gluten-free products. You can now find these products in the healthy food section of most supermarkets, including gluten-free pastas, breads, breakfast cereals, entrees, sauces and snack foods. Most of these gluten-free alternatives use rice flour, potato flour or flour from other gluten-free starchy foods. Although these foods are appropriate for celiac disease, these gluten-free foods contain carbohydrates and you will need to pay attention at the amount of carbs you eat to keep your blood sugar levels under control. Often, gluten-free alternatives contain more carbohydrate per serving compared to the regular versions, so always double check the label when tracking your carb intake.
Natural Gluten-Free Foods
You don't need to pay extra money for specialized gluten-free products if you have celiac disease and can get all the carbs you need from whole, unprocessed foods that are naturally devoid of gluten. For example, gluten-free carbohydrates can be found in sweet potato, potato, butternut squash, fruits, milk, yogurt, millet, quinoa, rice, manioc, corn and legumes. As with any other carbohydrate-containing foods, limit your serving size to get just the right amount of carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar levels in the target range.
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