Wendy Galeana

Gluten is a combination of proteins that’s most commonly found in wheat, barley, rye, and their familial grains. It commonly adds elasticity and a chewy texture to bread and wheat products, as well as aiding the rising process in baking.

A vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat but will eat foods made from animals. The moral reasoning is that it’s OK to consume foods from an animal that don’t result in the slaughter or mistreatment of that animal. Due to this reasoning, vegetarians will also generally consume only animal products that have been sourced ethically.

Sometimes referred to as the ‘cave-man diet’, paleo is a diet preference, not a diet based on food allergy or intolerance. and revolves around the consumption of high fat and protein and moderate carbohydrates. The moniker comes from following a diet that the cavemen would’ve consumed, being unprocessed foods that can be harvested or hunted.

Dairy is any product that’s produced with the help of our slow-moving, grass-eating friends, cows. Cow’s milk is used for cheese, yoghurt, cream, milk, and of course any products created with those products. Just like with gluten, there is both an allergy and an intolerance to dairy products. An allergy to dairy products is an autoimmune response and can be fatal, while an intolerance is gastrointestinal reaction to the enzyme, lactose.

Unlike a vegetarian diet, vegans will not consume any animal products, including meats and products derived from animals. While vegetarians choose to avoid meat often due to the treatment of the animals, vegans continue that line of thought but are against the animals being bred and placed in a captive environment for the sole purpose of exploiting their lifestyle for the creation of food. Due to its moral reasoning,  Veganism is a diet preference, not an allergy or food intolerance to these products. However, a vegan diet can be a good option for someone with a dairy allergy as it is very safe to consume vegan friendly foods.