The Hidden Ingredients in Gluten-Free Products You Need To Know About

Over the past decade or so, gluten has become a hot topic and the term “gluten-free” has become something many of us look for on food labels and equate with the word “healthy.” While celiac disease only affects an estimated 1 percent of people , it’s been said that as much as 30 percent of the population in the U.S. has cut gluten out of their diet. 

This has led to a dramatic rise in gluten-free products, especially gluten-free alternatives to products that ordinarily contain gluten, like bread, pasta, and crackers. With every food movement like this, there are upsides and downsides—in this case, the downsides include gastrointestinal issues, like bloating, gas, constipation and diarrhea thanks to the gluten-free starches found in many of these gluten-free products. 

So, let’s talk about this unexpected side effect of going gluten-free. Here’s what you need to know about gluten-free starches, including the pros, cons, and what you should look out for.

What are gluten-free starches?

Gluten itself is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, and it acts as a binder and texturizer in food —it gives foods stretchy, thick, moist, and chewy qualities. Gluten-free starches are carbohydrate-rich ingredients that are used to mimic these qualities, without triggering an inflammatory response in people with celiac disease, as gluten does. They’re what make your gluten-free pancakes taste light and fluffy like the ones you had as a kid and what make your gluten-free bread not taste like cardboard.

Common examples of gluten-free starches include:

Where do you find gluten-free starches?

Most gluten-free starches are either sold in whole form—think corn or potatoes—in a flour or powder form—think rice flour, tapioca starch, corn flour—or they are used as ingredients in packaged foods and baked goods. This includes gluten-free cookies, gluten-free cakes, gluten-free breads, and plant-based, non-dairy milks (like almond, cashew, macadamia, etc.). Even homemade recipes can include gluten-free starches, using them to add volume and thickness to foods like soups, sauces, and other desserts and confections.

As the gluten-free movement has increased in popularity, the food industry has started using more of these gluten-free starches in their products. Offering gluten-free alternatives to their products allows them to add more customers to their base without sacrificing their gluten-eating customers. Not to mention, the term “gluten-free” has managed to become synonymous with “healthy,” so slapping a Certified Gluten Free label on a product carries weight. Of course, gluten-free does not always mean a food is healthy—and nowadays, it can often mean the opposite. Why? Because gluten-free products often contain processed ingredients, added sugar, and other synthetic ingredients.

The pros and cons of gluten-free starches

The upside of gluten-free starches is relatively straightforward: they are gluten-free, which makes them safe for people with celiac disease. Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disease, and when someone with celiac disease eats gluten, it triggers an immune response, and the body starts to attack what it perceives as an invader, including the gut lining. In the long-term, this response can cause damage to the gut, particularly the small intestine. In the short-term, the person with celiac who eats gluten will experience diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, vomiting, and/or fatigue. For them, eating gluten totally disrupts their gut health, and causes them pain and discomfort. You can see now why people with celiac rarely make exceptions—for many people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, it’s also not worth it.

It used to be the case that if you had celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you were destined for a life without bread, cereal, baked goods, and pancakes. That’s where gluten-free starches come in! They have allowed us to create gluten-free versions of these typically gluten-filled products, with tastes and textures that mimic the real deal. As a result, many people who would normally miss out on foods they love don’t have to. Needless to say, they aren’t exactly the same, but for someone with celiac or gluten-sensitivity (like me) who loves bread, these gluten-free alternatives scratch the itch. If you’re in the gluten-free world, sometimes you just crave a piece of gluten-free bread that doesn’t taste like cardboard. That’s the magic of gluten-free starches.  

The cons of gluten-free products, on the other hand, aren’t as straightforward. And the worst part is that many people aren’t aware of them! I’ve had numerous patients come to me with GI issues like bloating, upset stomach, gas, and diarrhea, and when we investigate their diet, we discover that gluten-free starches are the culprit. This isn’t the case for everyone—many people do fine eating gluten-free starches—but even still, gluten-free products often contain other gluten-free thickeners and gums, which can pose problems for your long-term health. In other words, just because it’s gluten-free, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily healthy for you.

For example, let’s take oat milk. When you make oat milk at home, you use just a few ingredients: oats, water, maybe some salt or vanilla extract. That’s it. Now, let’s look at the ingredient list on Planet Oat’s Original Oat Milk .

It’s not especially a long ingredient list, but you can clearly see ingredients like dipotassium phosphate, a stabilizer, and gellan gum, a food additive. These are used to improve the texture and smoothness of the milk, and to keep it from separating. 

So, what does this have to do with gluten? Well, if you look at the label on Planet Oat’s Original Oat Milk, you’ll see a list of ingredients and allergens that this milk is free from, and gluten is on that list. If you have celiac disease or you’re avoiding gluten, you would probably pick up that oatmilk without thinking twice, because it says it’s gluten-free. Unfortunately, the gums, thickeners, and additives can cause GI issues. So while this oat milk is gluten-free, you could wind up having a secondary reaction to these ingredients. They’re gluten-free, but they’re not gut-friendly, and if you’re someone dealing with gastrointestinal issues, these ingredients could be the “why” behind your symptoms.

The same goes for dairy-free. Many gluten-free products contain ingredients that can cause GI issues, which can be frustrating for people who are trying to make healthy choices.