If you have decided to eliminate wheat from your diet, you have probably realized that wheat is in many things, and not just food! It is all getting clearer to me as I am finding out that the items I knew I reacted to for years have wheat in them. The bottom line? If you are avoiding wheat, you must read the labels on the food your purchase.
Things like cosmetics, hair care products, medications, and vitamins; who would have guessed some of them contain wheat derivatives?? Over the years I have tried many cosmetic brands, but have never liked how they make my face feel. Blushes, concealers, foundations etc all make my skin itchy/blotchy, and eye shadows make my eyes watery and itchy almost immediately upon application. Hair care products used to try to straighten or defrizz my wavy hair result in red bumps on my scalp. I always hesitate to take any form of medication since they seem to cause worse symptoms than they eliminate! Even the “natural” stuff I was taking to raise my iron stores contains wheat. Avoiding wheat was an easy decision for me.
Many foods you would not suspect contain wheat too; pudding, pie fillings, baking powder, coffee substitutes, chicken or beef broth, prepared sauces, falafel, ice cream, chocolate bars, candy, imitation bacon, deli meats like hotdogs, surimi, imitation crab or lobster, seasonings, soy sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, prepared mustard, even host/communion wafers!
Be sure to read the ingredients when avoiding wheat, putting back anything that contains gelatinized, vegetable, or modified starch, hydrolyzed plant protein, gum, and high-protein flour. Words like triticale, faro, dinkel, spelt, semolina, atta, bulgur, couscous, durum, einkorn, emmer, enriched, farina, gluten, graham flour, kamut, seitan, triticum aestivum, bran, and germ all mean WHEAT.
Bottom line? When avoiding wheat, be diligent and read the labels!
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
Very helpful, especially since I was totally unaware of some of these.