Gluten-free diet medical community that people should consult a physician before going on a gluten-free diet, so that a medical professional can accurately test for coeliac disease or any other gluten-induced health issues. Although popularly used as an alternative treatment for people with autism, there is no good evidence that a gluten-free diet is of benefit in reducing the symptoms of autism. A gluten-free diet is a diet that strictly excludes gluten, proteins present in wheat (and all wheat varieties such as spelt and kamut), barley, rye, oat, and derivatives of these grains such as malt and triticale, and foods that may
Wheat gluten (food) imported to the West in 1969 by the American company Erewhon. Wheat gluten is also called seitan (, ; Japanese: セイタン), mianjin (Chinese: 麵筋), milgogi(Korean: 밀고기), wheat meat, gluten meat, or simply gluten. Wheat gluten, called "miàn jīn" in Chinese (traditional: , simplified: , literally "dough tendon"; also spelled "mien chin" or "mien ching") is believed to have originated in ancient China, as a meat substitute for adherents of Buddhism, particularly some Mahayana Buddhist monks, who are strict vegetarians (see Buddhist cuisine). One story attributes the invention of imitation meat to chefs who made it for Chinese emperors who, traditionally,