What is the gluten free diet

The term ‘gluten free diet’ can be a bit confusing because it isn’t a diet in the way that most people understand it – it’s not designed to help people lose weight. It’s a way of eating that helps you heal your gut so you can start absorbing all the nutrients you need from the food you eat.

Here we briefly discuss some of the facts about the gluten free diet so you have the knowledge you need to change your diet after your diagnosis.

If you have been medically diagnosed with coeliac disease then your immune system has been reacting to gluten and damaging your gut. To get better, you must remove gluten from your diet, which is the only treatment for coeliac disease. Gluten is found in the grains wheat, barley and rye.

At a glance

If you have coeliac disease you will have to avoid gluten for life.
A gluten free diet is the only treatment for the condition
Gluten is found in the grains wheat, barley and rye
On the gluten free diet you can eat many foods including meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, rice and potatoes
You can also eat gluten free substitute foods and processed foods that don’t contain gluten
You can tell whether gluten is in a food by learning about allergen labelling – it sounds scary, but you get used to it once you know how

What food can I eat?

On the gluten free diet you can eat any food that by its nature does not contain gluten, such as:

Meat
Fish
Fruit and vegetables
Rice
Potatoes
Lentils

You can also eat processed foods which don’t contain gluten, such as ready meals and soups. Our Food Information Service lists thousands of products that are suitable for a gluten free diet. You can access these online, on our app or via our Food and Drink Guide.

Some ingredients are confusing as they can be made from wheat, but the final ingredient is gluten free, for example glucose syrup. We have more information on food labels below.

Some people can’t tolerate oats as they contain a protein similar to gluten, called avenin. You can read more about oats here.

To help you shop, we recommend using our Coeliac UK Live Well Gluten Free app which will let you scan items to tell you whether we list these as suitable for a gluten free diet. You can find more information on this here.

There are also gluten free substitute foods available, such as specially made gluten free bread, flour, pasta, crackers and biscuits. These are available in the free from section of the supermarket and health food stores.

What drinks are ok for me to have?

There are plenty of soft and alcoholic drinks which don’t contain gluten, and are suitable for a gluten free diet:

Fruit juice
Flavoured water
Tea
Coffee
Cider
Wine
Sherry
Spirits
Port
Liqueurs

The following drinks are NOT suitable for a gluten free diet:

Barley squashes
Beer
Lager
Stout
Ales

There are also specially made gluten free beers and lagers available. Check out our Food Information Service to search for a product, or click here to learn more about gluten free beer.

This information is based on the advice of our Food Standards Committee, Health Advisory Council and/or the Prolamin Working Group.

Food and Drink Information

We know that living gluten free touches all aspects of your life. That’s why we have a range of exclusive, expert and even award winning services to help make living gluten free easier. Click here to find out more about our food and drink guide, product search tool, and our venue guide.

Health and wellbeing

Living with coeliac disease is about more than just managing your diet. Your overall health and wellbeing, from medication to hospital visits and even gut health, play a crucial role in improving your health. This section brings together important resources to help you take care of your overall health as you manage coeliac disease.