Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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I am having tests done as it is suspected that I have celiac disease. Do whole grains when spouted still contain gluten? I eat 100% sprouted grain bread (no flour just ground up sprouts). Does the sprouting process change the gluten in the grain? Would appreciate your input on this--can't seem to find anyone who knows the answer on this one. Thank you! -Susan

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Dear Susan,

Technically, sprouted grains do contain small amounts of gluten. Although sprouting activates enzymes that start to break down the gluten protein, some gluten remains. While some gluten-sensitive people can tolerate sprouted bread, I wouldn’t recommend it for people with diagnosed celiac disease. If you are gluten sensitive and want to know if you can tolerate sprouted bread, the only way to know for sure is to eliminate 100% of the gluten in your diet, wait until you are symptom-free for two weeks, and then introduce only the sprouted bread to see if you have a reaction.

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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