The basics
The wheat-free diet is eaten by people who have an allergy to wheat, one of the most common food allergies in infants, young children, and adults. These people are required to eliminate all foods that contain wheat or wheat products, as well as some nonfood items, specifically cosmetics, that contain wheat, in order to avoid unpleasant reactions.
- Read labels carefully to determine if a wheat product is included and avoid any food you’re not sure about until you are able to verify that it is wheat-free.
- Learn the scientific and general terms for wheat, such as gluten, flour, and modified food starch.
- Ask manufacturers of medications, cosmetics, and other nonfood items if they use wheat in their products.
Best bets: Grains and starches such as buckwheat, millet, oats, potatoes, rice, and rye. A wheat-free diet is different from a gluten-free diet. Please see our section on gluten-free diet for more information.
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Why do people follow this diet?
Most people who are allergic to wheat are allergic to the protein in wheat. Exposure to wheat dust can cause respiratory symptoms, including asthma in susceptible people. In rare cases, hydrolyzed wheat in body cream has caused hives.
What are the symptoms?
Wheat allergy symptoms may include any of the common symptoms of food allergies, including skin rashes or hives, gastrointestinal distress, breathing problems, or many other possible symptoms. In severe cases, a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis may occur. To avoid an allergic reaction to wheat, ask about ingredients at restaurants or others’ homes, and read food labels. Be aware that processed foods can be a source of hidden (unlabeled) wheat. For example, “flour” usually means wheat. Individuals who have celiac sprue (gluten-sensitive enteropathy) need to avoid all foods containing gluten, including wheat. A gluten-free diet excludes all foods containing wheat, rye, and barley. The following is a list of foods that should be avoided on a wheat-free diet. This is not a complete list and it would be prudent to consult with a health care professional for more information.
What do I need to avoid?
To avoid wheat and wheat products ask about ingredients at restaurants and others’ homes, and read food labels. The following list is not complete. Consult with a healthcare professional before making any significant changes to your diet.
- Bulgur wheat
- Couscous
- Flour, including cake and pastry, durum, gluten, graham, wheat flour, whole wheat flour
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) or texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
- Semolina
- Wheat bran
- Wheat germ
- Wheat starch
Note: Buckwheat is not wheat. It’s listed below in Best Bets.
These foods may include wheat. Use with caution, if at all, and read the label carefully:
- Baked beans
- Baking powder (some)
- Biscuits
- Bouillon cubes and extracts
- Bread crumbs
- Breaded foods
- Breads
- Cakes, pastries, or cookies (commercial or prepared)
- Canned fish
- Cheese sauces or spreads (unless known to be wheat-free)
- Cloudy lemonade and ginger beer (some)
- Commercially prepared fruit pie fillings and jams
- Commercially prepared gravies, salad dressings, sauces, or condiments containing wheat flour
- Commercially prepared mustard
- Crackers
- Creamed or scalloped potatoes (unless thickened with cornstarch)
- Creamed or scalloped vegetables (if thickened with flour or topped with bread crumbs)
- Creamed products
- Egg dishes thickened with flour
- Luncheon meats
- Malted milk and drinks
- Meat and poultry containing flour
- Meat tenderizers (if made from monosodium glutamate [MSG])
- Muffins
- Mustard powder (some)
- Pancakes
- Pasta noodles
- Pre-molded hamburgers
- Pretzels
- Pudding (commercial or homemade, thickened with wheat flour)
- Rolls
- Sauce and gravy mixes
- Sausage (unless they are pure meat)
- Soups containing commercially prepared noodles, macaroni, or spaghetti
- Soup mixes and bases
- Soy sauce, Tamari (unless wheat-free)
- Stewed fruits thickened with flour
- Sweets dusted with wheat flour to prevent them from sticking
- Tomato sauces
- Waffles
- Wieners
Best bets
Items marked with a (G) should be avoided by those who are sensitive to gluten:
- Almond: flour and meal
- Amaranth: whole (as hot cereal, flour, puffed
- Barley (G): whole hulled, flakes, flour
- Buckwheat: whole groats, cereal, flour (raw or roasted)
- Cassava: flour (whole root, dried, ground; tapioca starch is refined from this)
- Chestnut: flour
- Chickpea: flour
- Flaxseed: flour and meal
- Hazelnut: flour and meal
- Jerusalem artichoke: flour
- Kamut (G): whole, flakes, flour, pasta
- Legume flours: yellow and green pea; red and green lentil; white, lima, and pinto bean
- Millet: whole grain, flour
- Oats: Scotch style, flour, oat bran, rolled flakes
- Pearled millet: whole, flour
- Potato: flour, starch
- Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah): whole, flour
- Rice (short, medium, long grain): whole, flour, pasta, puffed, cakes, crackers
- Rye (G): flakes, flour, crackers (that contain no wheat)
- Soy: flakes, grits, soy flour
- Spelt (G): whole, flakes, flour, pasta
- Tapioca: starch flour, “pearls”
- White sweet potato: flour
- Wild rice: whole, pasta
- Yam (true yam): flour
Are there any groups or books associated with this diet?
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
www.aaaai.org
Food Allergy Network
www.foodallergy.org
International Food Information Council Foundation
www.ific.org
Celiac Disease and Gluten-Free Diet Support Page, with information on
wheat-free foods, manufacturers, and recipes
www.celiac.com
Bibliography
Houba R, Heederik D, Doekes G. Wheat sensitization and work-related symptoms in the baking industry are preventable. An epidemiologic study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1998;158:1499–503.
Krause, MV and Mahan LK. Food Nutrition and Diet Therapy. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Company; 1984.
Lauriere M, Pecquet C, Bouchez-Mahiout I, et al. Hydrolysed wheat proteins present in cosmetics can induce immediate hypersensitivities. Contact Dermatitis 2006;54:283–9.
Scibilia J, Pastorello EA, Zisa G, et al. Wheat allergy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in adults. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2006;117:433–9.
Varjonen E, Petman L, Makinen-Kiljunen S. Immediate contact allergy from hydrolyzed wheat in a cosmetic cream. Allergy. 2000;55:294–6.
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The information presented in the Food Guide is for informational purposes only and was created by a team of US–registered dietitians and food experts. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications. Information expires February 2010.
