Gluten free recipes are used to prepare food for individuals who must eliminate gluten from their diet. Gluten, a protein compound found in high concentrations in wheat, is a hidden component of diets throughout the world. It can also be a common cause of allergic reactions in otherwise healthy people. For those who are allergic, gluten free recipes are essential. Gluten can affect people with wheat allergies. Individuals with Celiac Diseasehave gluten allergies and cannot eat gluten, due to possible intestinal damage.http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-cause Gluten is present in wheat, barley and rye and is usually found in bread

The following ingredients can be used as alternatives to wheat flour.

• Rice: Rice flour can be used for many of the same applications as wheat flour, though the result is usually a different consistency. Rice bread tends to have a moist, heavy quality.

• Sweet Rice: Sweet Rice flour is a sweeter rice, that is used in small amounts for baking.

• Quinoa: Quinoa flour does not come from grasses or grain. Quinoa comes from the beet family,which is also know as Goosefoot family

• Amaranth: Amaranth flour or grain has a stronger flavor,then other gluten free flours.Amaranth should be used with bland flours,for baking.

• Corn: Corn flour is a heavier flour.

• Corn Starch: Corn Starch is a lighter flour used with other flours.

• Garbanzo Bean: Garbanzo Bean flour is of the bean family.

• Chickpea is of the bean family.

• Garfava: Garfava flour is a mixture of fava, and garbanzo bean,the bean family. Garfava is a heavier flour.

• Millet: Millet flour is a heavier flour used with lighter flours for baking.

• Sorghum: Sorghum flour is a heavier flour and is a bit sweet,with a strong taste.Use with other flours.

• Potato: Potato flour is a heavier flour,use with lighter flours.

• Potato Starch: Potato starch is very light,used with heavier flours,for baking.

• Tapioca: Tapioca flour is very light,tasteless.Used with heavier flours for baking.Tapioca is from the Spurge family of plants Euphorbiaceae.

As the need for gluten free recipes is associated with Celiac disease, the history of the recipes is tied closely to the history of the disease. The history of the disease dates back to 250 A.D., Aretaeus of Cappadocia when the doctor discussed patients with issues of the bowels. Dr. Samuel Gee of the United Kingdom,offered the first clinical accounts of children and adults with Celiac Disease in 1888. The association of wheat with the disease was noted in 1952 by Dr. Willem Karel Dicke, a Dutch pediatrician who indicated an intestinal reaction to the ingestion of wheat.http://www.csaceliacs.org/CD.php