Basic practices for organising your coeliac pantry

Around 2 out of every 100 people in our country suffer from coeliac disease.

Coeliac disease is a reaction of the immune system to the consumption of gluten, a protein found in the seeds of many cereals such as wheat, barley, rye or spelt.

If you have this disease, eating gluten triggers a response in your immune system that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing some nutrients.

Some of the most common symptoms are usually intestinal discomfort, diarrhoea, sometimes alternating with periods of constipation, slow digestion, nausea or tiredness.

If you have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance or are gluten intolerant, it is important to keep in mind some basic practices that will help you to organise your pantry:

Choose natural foods

The less processed the food is, the better you know what it contains and whether it is gluten-free.

In addition, choosing natural foods will enrich your diet nutritionally and energetically, and make you feel much more energetic.

Natural foods that should be on your table every day include:

Vegetables:

Let them be plentiful and in all colours. You won't have any problems with them. Round, root and leafy vegetables. Be guided by the time of year and seasonal vegetables. If you can, make sure they are organically grown and cook them using cooking methods that help to maintain their vitamins, such as steaming, blanching or quick sautéing.

Now that it's spring, choose purifying vegetables, it's the best time to eliminate what's left over.

Go for celery, leek, spring onion, artichoke, wild asparagus, broad bean, pea, dandelion, turnip greens, mushrooms...

Legumes: 

None of them contain gluten, so it will be easy to choose which one you take.

Legumes are nutritionally rich foods. They especially provide us with proteins, many of which are of high biological value, and are also rich in slow-assimilation carbohydrates, fibre and micronutrients.

In spring, give preference to small, light pulses such as coral or green lentils. You can also use dried peas, which are delicious in creams.

Start preparing the legume in salads or pâtés for more refreshing dishes.

Azuki pâté combined with celery is delicious. And if you already know hummus, made with cooked chickpeas and tahini, try our suggestion: add a touch of umeboshi paste, which with its salty and vinegary taste will help balance the dish and enhance its flavour, resulting in a delicious hummus.

Cereals:

Believe it or not, there are plenty to choose from. Cereal is a very nutritious food, one of the best sources of slow-assimilation carbohydrates, so important for keeping your energy stable.

In spring, it is good to give preference to those with a more refreshing quality.

If you like rice, choose long grain, basmati or wild rice. They are lighter and delicious in salads.

Quinoa, a pseudocereal, is ideal for warm season consumption, also known for its high protein value, and is delicious in salads and light stir-fries.

Polenta is another great, quick and easy option for cooking. It can be easily integrated into desserts and breakfasts in the form of creams or custards. Derived from corn, it is refreshing and very nutritious.

Although not as refreshing, millet and buckwheat are very versatile in the kitchen and are also gluten-free. Fonio, amaranth and teff are less well known and perhaps less practical in the preparation of dishes, but equally interesting from a nutritional point of view.

If you don't usually drink milk, you will surely be familiar with drinks made from cereals. Nowadays you can find rice drinks, soya drinks and also gluten-free oat drinks, which are very practical for making desserts because of their creamier texture.

And if you want a ready-made dessert, try amasake, a sweet and delicious cream made by fermenting cereal with koji, which transforms the cereal into a delicious cream. The millet and rice variants are suitable for coeliacs.

Fruit

This is another food group that does not pose any problems. Seasonal foods with a slightly acidic taste are ideal for toning up the liver, an organ associated with this season: strawberries, kiwi, lemon, loquats...

Seaweed:

In addition to being perfectly suitable for coeliacs, they have many health benefits, as many of them contain alginic acid, which helps eliminate toxins and protects the intestinal walls.

In addition, its high mucilage content protects the intestinal mucosa and regulates its functions.

The ones that stand out most for their contribution to intestinal health are wakame and kombu, two seaweeds that are really easy to integrate into our meals.

Kombu is commonly used for cooking pulses. 1 cm of seaweed per person is sufficient to improve the digestion of legumes.

Wakame, known for its use in the preparation of miso soup, can also be incorporated into salads after soaking for 15 minutes.

Agar agar is known for removing residues such as heavy metals, pesticides or radioactive substances from the intestines, as well as for treating constipation thanks to its mildly laxative properties, regenerating and softening the intestinal walls.

It is most commonly used to make refreshing jellies.

Seeds and nuts:

Sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flax, chia, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts...

Make the most of these little gluten-free gems.

If you want to put special emphasis on taking care of your gut health, flax and chia contain mucilages that act as prebiotics to feed gut bacteria. You simply need to soak them to get them to form easily.

As you can see, a diet based on natural, unprocessed foods can be varied and rich in the nutrients you need to feel good.

Organise your shopping around them and you will see how much you enjoy eating healthy.

Article written by Isabel Morenomacrobiotic consultant and creator of Macrosano.