FIX MY BELLY
Is This Alcohol Gluten Free?
Alcohol is one of the greatest pleasures of life. It's good for a night out, socializing after work, and when you're spending time with family and friends. On the other hand, if you are someone who suffers from gluten sensitivities or celiac disease, it can be a nightmare!
That said, no need to worry as we will look at a few popular types of drinks and see if they're safe for you as someone who has issues with gluten.
In this post, we’ll look at:
- Is Fireball gluten free?
- Is Sake gluten free?
- Is Baileys gluten free?
- Is Brandy gluten free?
- Is Coors Light gluten free?
- Is Jack Daniels gluten free?
Fireball
What is Fireball?
Fireball is a mixture of whisky, cinnamon and sweeteners. Prior to distillation, the mash is made with grains. It was first produced in Canada in the 1980s and has less alcohol than your typical whiskey.
Is Fireball Gluten Free?
Fireball should be gluten free because the gluten is usually removed during the distillation process. However, you must be careful because it is made with grains. In addition, you should always be cautious of additives, as they may add gluten to your drink.
One suggestion would be to look at other reputable cinnamon whiskey brands and see which ones claim to explicitly be gluten free.
Further, you should know that Fireball is one of those things that doesn't have a universal reaction. This means that some people with gluten sensitivities are able to tolerate it easily, whereas others cannot. If you're reading this, you probably have an idea of how far you can take things with your food and liquid intake. This should give you a sense of how you may react to Fireball.
Lastly, if you are having issues with fireball (or other drinks) and attributing it to potential gluten, this might always be the case. People with digestive problems can generally have negative reactions to alcohol.
Sake
What is Sake?
Sake is a Japanese drink that is made with rice, water, a mold and yeast. It can be served hot, warm or cold. The alcohol content is about 15%, which is generally higher than beer or wine, but not too extreme when compared to other alcoholic drinks.
Is Sake Gluten Free?
Yes, sake is considered gluten free as it is made from fermented rice and rice is naturally free of gluten.
Again, just be careful with additives and always make sure that nothing else has been added which may have negative effects for you.
Baileys
What is Baileys?
Baileys is an alcoholic drink that is made of Irish whiskey, cream and cocoa. It's pretty low in alcohol content and unsurprisingly, it comes to us from the land of the Irish!
Is Baileys Gluten Free?
On the Baileys website, they confirm that their ingredients don't contain any gluten, however, they don't guarantee the product to be gluten free. Similar to other companies, this is likely them protecting themselves as they cannot legally confirm that cross contamination at all times, which is common and reasonable.
While you need to use your own judgement, many people who have celiac disease can drink Baileys without issues.
Brandy
What is Brandy?
Brandy is a distilled alcoholic drink that is made with fermented fruits. If it's made with grapes, it basically becomes distilled wine. It's considered relatively strong when comparing its alcohol content to other drinks. Brandy was first produced in France but is one of the most popular liquors worldwide.
Is Brandy Gluten Free?
Brandy is naturally free of any gluten because it's made with fruits. However, as we saw with other types of alcohol, you want to be careful with other additivities or flavours which may have gluten.
Coors Light
What is Coors Light?
Coors light is a light beer made from water, barley malt, hops, and corn yeast. It originally came to us from the United States. Coors light is "light" for a reason as it has around 4% alcohol content.
Is Coors Light Gluten Free?
Unfortunately, most beer isn't gluten free because it's made with grains that contain gluten and Coors Light is no exception. Coors Light is not safe for people with gluten sensitivities.
For some time, Coors did have a gluten-free product. You can still find some gluten-free beers but just be sure to see if they explicitly mention on their labels that they are indeed gluten free.
Jack Daniels
What is Jack Daniels?
Jack Daniels is a whiskey that is made from corn, rye, and malted barley, that goes through distillation process. It contains about 40% alcohol content and is famously from Tennessee in the United States.
Is Jack Daniels Gluten Free?
Yes, the official Jack Daniels website confirms that Jack Daniel's Black Label Tennessee Whiskey contains no gluten.
As a note, it’s interesting to see that Jack Daniels is able to state that it doesn’t have any gluten. As we saw with Fireball (another type of whiskey), it’s highly likely that any gluten-containing ingredients are removed during the distillation process.
Conclusion
Drinking is always a good time. But depending on your gluten sensitivities, certain drinks may cause you issues.
In the post, we looked a few popular types of drinks. It’s important to emphasize that while we can determine which types of alcohol “should” or “should not” be safe, you should always take two factors into account: possibilities of cross-contamination and any ingredients (such as additives).
At the end of the day, the human body is very complex, and everyone’s gut issues are different. This means that it’s best if you use your own judgement to figure out how much you can tolerate. In fact, if your symptoms are not too severe or painful, exploring with different drinks probably has a net positive result for you because you’re that much closer to being more accurate with your gluten or other sensitivities.
Finally, if you suffer from any digestive issues (whether it’s gluten sensitivities, celiac disease, IBS, Crohn’s, or any other condition), it’s probably best to stay away from all alcohol as much as possible. This is always easier said than done but it might be beneficial to try. There's evidence to show that alcohol is quite harmful for your gut. Other than being helpful in social settings, there isn’t much evidence to support that alcohol is good for your digestion problems.
