So I actually had just one cheat day after four months of starting gluten free. As a disclaimer, the only reason why I cheated was because this "cook off" that I had planned way in advanced, way before I started my gluten free diet. And it was of course a meatball cook off. Dope!!! I was the host and I love balls! I could not resist and try my friends balls! All different kinds and nationalities of balls! But that was my only cheat day! Instead of the cornucopias amounts of beers I had in my place, I was good and drank vodka.If I had to pick my favorite liquor, it would be vodka. But.....what is vodka made out of? Answer: Vodka can be made from any organic material that ferments. Many commercial vodkas are made from grains like rye, oats, barley, or wheat. Some other commercial vodkas are made from caraway, molasses, fennel, corn, grapes, aniseed, pepper, sugar cane, potato, honey, or cherries.
Oh crap! I thought. I'm drinking the wrong thing. Gin - made from juniper berries, tequila - made from the agave plant, rum - from sugar canes and sake - from rice. But I love vodka! So I did a bit more research on what I can or can't drink when it comes from hard liquor with my sensitivity. And the more I researched, the more I was falling in love with all liquors!!!
So this post is going to be similar to my vinegar post. But as I always have said, please do your research and read labels!!! So here we go.....It's all about the distillation process of the alcohol. It breaks down the gluten proteins and therefore is gluten free. With whiskeys/whiskys(whatever spelling you prefer depending on the country you're in...and yes, I used to be a bartender at the time), they are usually made by the three major glutens: barleys, ryes and wheats. UGH, for you celiac lovers that love whiskeys. Per Celiac Sprue Association, it is not recommended for the celiac disease allergen's, but the distillation process breaks it down to less than 20 ppm(parts per million) that it considered gluten free. That means for all you guys that have a gluten sensitivity, YAY!!!
There is a list of alcohols that is recommended that you can drink in celiac disease website. I remember, not too long ago, I had a horrible, crazy and stressful day at work and my coworkers and I had decided WAAAYY in advanced to go out for a libation or two or more.... Well, after work, my friend decided to start off the night with "Fireball" shots. My friend forgetting that I was gluten free, he realized that those shots were made out of whiskey and decided to tell me after we did a shot or two after my double tall vodka grapefruits. Awwww crap, I thought, my cheat day I guess. It was well deserved after a horrid day of work. After that, I began to do some research and realized, yes! I can drink those shots, hence because of the paragraph above! Thank you distillation process and parts per million! There's always a way out!
So for all you hard liquor folks that is reading my blog, here is my advice: If you have celiac disease, the true and real kind, my recommendation is to stay away from anything that has or had gluten. If you have more of a sensitivity, and you love your whiskeys, bourbons, vodkas, etc, etc, it's okay to drink it, but remember that there was gluten in there before the distillation process.
For more info about whiskeys and how it's broken down, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment