Gluten-free diet

A gluten-free diet excludes wheat, barley, rye, and any food that contains those grains or has touched them in preparation. That last part (the cross-contact piece) is what makes the diet harder than it sounds; a gluten-free flour in a kitchen with a shared cutting board is not actually gluten-free by the time it reaches the plate.

For people with celiac disease the diet is the medical treatment, not a lifestyle preference. That distinction matters for Schedule A. The IRS rule that lets the GF premium count as a medical expense is the special-diet rule (see Revenue Ruling 55-261); the rule turns on the diet being medically prescribed to treat a medical condition. Someone eating gluten-free by choice does not have the same Schedule A path.

In practice the diet excludes the obvious wheat-flour products (bread, pasta, baked goods, breaded meats), the less-obvious wheat-derivative ingredients (soy sauce thickeners, malt vinegar, some seasonings), and a long tail of food-service surprises (shared fryer oil, sauces poured from gluten-containing dishes, restaurant flat-tops). Naturally gluten-free foods (most fruits, most vegetables, plain meats, plain dairy, plain grains like rice and quinoa) are safe as long as cross-contact is controlled.

Common pitfalls during the first year of the diet: oat products without a "certified gluten-free" stamp (oats are gluten-free by nature but often share equipment with wheat), restaurant menus that say "gluten-free" but use a shared kitchen, and processed foods where the gluten is in a thickener or a binder rather than the headline ingredient. See Cross-contact and Gluten exposure.

For the post-diagnosis primer, read Just diagnosed? Start here..