Diet and Food Guidance for Celiac Disease

• Look for "gluten-free" certification; beware "wheat-free" (may still carry barley/rye)
• Restaurants: ask about shared fryers, maida in gravies, sooji in upma, and choose tandoori/rice/dal over breads
• When in doubt, eat simply: dal-rice-sabzi-curd is a complete gluten-free meal

Nutritional watch-points

• New patients often need iron, folate, B12, vitamin D, calcium and zinc repletion - test and correct with the doctor
• Gluten-free packaged foods can be low-fiber and sugary; whole grains like jowar and bajra beat GF biscuits
• Weight and strength return as the gut heals - expect appetite to improve; keep food quality high

The first-month plan

Clean the pantry, set up separate boards and jars, stock safe flours, meet a dietitian if possible, and eat at home mostly for a month while learning labels. Strictness gets easy once the system is set.

A note on the classical food lists

Classical Grahani pathya - old red rice, shashtika rice, green gram soup with ginger and cumin, sweet pomegranate, warm water in sips - aligns naturally with gluten-free eating. But read old lists with modern eyes: the same texts include barley (yava), and the classics had no concept of gluten. Where a classical recommendation and the gluten-free rule conflict, the gluten-free rule wins - every time, without exception.

One-line summary

No wheat-barley-rye in any form, freedom across rice-millets-dals-and-produce, certified labels, separate kitchen tools - strict today, automatic within months, healing for life.