Gluten is a highly allergenic type of protein found in the grains of cereals such as wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt.  Wheat has the highest proportion of gluten out of all the grains, containing about 80% of it's total protein as gluten, which is why intolerance to wheat and wheat products is the most common.

In modern society commercially grown wheat is extensively hybridized, and in such a way that it has been engineered to contain much more gluten than it did just a few generations ago.  This wheat that has been bred specifically for a higher gluten content, is the likely reason that we are seeing much more gluten sensitivity that we have in the past. Grains with a higher gluten content are much prized in the bread baking industry, as they produce a much lighter and fluffier bread.

Most people do well with reducing or eliminating gluten containing products out of their diet:

1)  Replace bread with dehydrated flax crackers or use a large cos lettuce leaf as the base for a wrap type sandwich.  If you still choose to have bread, look for ones that use the safe grains: Buckwheat, rice, corn, quinoa, & amaranth. (although buckwheat is not actually a grain!)

2)   Replace cooked oat porridge with sprouted buckwheat porridge.

3)   Eliminate processed and packaged food - there are very few processed foods that don't contain some type of wheat or gluten.  Learn a raw dessert recipe that uses nuts and dates as the base rather than pastry.

4)   Replace Soy Sauce with Tamari, the wheat free version.

5)   Replace pasta with fresh Zucchini spiraled into noodles Being gluten free doesn't have to be chore, it is simply learning a few alternative choices to keep the gluten content of the diet to a minimum.

Leisa Wheeler is amazing! She runs raw retreats in five star accomodation all around Australia. Leisa is a proven health mentor and raw food coach. We thank her for her permission to reuse her article. You can read more about Leisa's retreats HERE. We've directed quite a few people to Leisa's retreats and have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback we've received. Well done to Leisa and her Team and keep it up!