You may have been noticing discomfort after eating for some time, that your digestions are much heavier than before and your belly swells, also appearing a lot of gas. As these alterations in your digestive system do not disappear, you decide to go to your doctor who, upon hearing the symptoms you are explaining, asks you first if you usually take foods such as bread or pasta in your day, and you, obviously, answer yes. So, he recommends that you get tested to find out if you are celiac.
Indeed, the result of the test is positive and you have to face your new reality, since you suffer from celiac disease and you will have to change your eating habits completely, so your shopping cart will vary in a radical way, since you will have to leave out of it and your kitchen any product that contains gluten. And one of the most common questions when you are diagnosed with celiac disease is what foods you can eat, such as: can celiacs eat rice? In we explain it to you.
What is celiac disease?
Before specifying what kind of food, you can eat if you are celiac, it is convenient to explain what celiac disease is and how it can affect our body. This pathology is an immune-mediated systemic disease that is caused by the intake of gluten, that is, when we take any food that contains this compound, our body automatically reacts against it, causing us, in addition to the symptoms that we will explain later, a deterioration of the intestinal mucosa that progressively prevents the correct assimilation of nutrients from all foods.
Symptoms of celiac disease
This disease can be symptomatic (shows the symptoms), subclinical (symptoms do not appear but the tests are positive) and latent (they still keep the intestinal mucosa intact). Among the most common symptoms, the following stand out:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Abdominal pain
- Anemia
It can also affect on a psychological level, since eating does not usually generate positive sensations, but negative ones. If you have doubts, this other article on How to know if I am celiac may help you.
When we have finally found out that all the problems of the digestive system that we suffer are due to this alteration, we must focus on food.
Does rice have gluten? – here the answer
One of the most common questions that arise when we are told that we are celiac is what foods we can consume, and one of the most doubtful is rice. If you love paella or Cuban rice and you are celiac, we have good news for you.
Rice does not contain gluten, so it can be included in the diet of all those people who are celiac, in addition to other cereals such as corn, quinoa or millet. Celiac disease is an intolerance to gluten present in wheat, rye, barley and oats. So, there are a lot of foods that you can consume.
Gluten-containing foods – beware!
When you have already been diagnosed with celiac disease, you have to change the way you eat in your day to day, because you can no longer consume foods that contain gluten, because the only treatment is a diet free of this component.
Many basic products such as bread or pasta, and other less basic ones, such as pastries, contain gluten and you need to change them for others that do not have this compound. At first it may seem very complicated, since we are very accustomed to bread being a food that we include in almost all our meals of the day, but you will discover that you can take gluten-free bread and that you also have other options to replace it.
List of gluten-free foods
If you are celiac there is no reason for your diet not to be balanced since you can eat a lot of food:
- Cereals and pseudocereals: as we have explained before you can consume rice, quinoa, millet, corn, sorghum and even buckwheat without problem.
- Fresh meat, fish and seafood (frozen and preserved).
- Vegetables, tubers and fruits.
- Legumes (not containing grains of wheat), nuts, spices and condiments.
- Sugar, honey, sweeteners and pure cocoa.
- Drinks: all kinds of wines and spirits (gin, brandy, rum) and soft drinks.
We recommend that you be very careful with any processed food and that you observe the label with caution to check that it does not contain gluten before ingesting it.
Now that you know the answer to can celiacs eat rice? you may also be interested in this other article on What to Eat If I'm Celiac.
