I'm often asked about food allergies or intolerances, and I asked a friend to give us some insight into living with the challenge of overhauling a diet.

My friend Dixie Stanforth, a lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin, was diagnosed with celiac disease last year. In addition, she is allergic to casein, a protein found in dairy foods.

At first, the challenge of knowing what to eat was overwhelming, but soon she was navigating the grocery store shelves and restaurant menus and learning what she needed to do to stay symptom-free.

The benefits of removing gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley) and casein from her diet were almost immediate. One of her most troubling symptoms was joint inflammation, and within one month she felt better than she had in years. This was an important milestone for someone as active as Stanforth -- a personal fitness trainer and avid hiker and cyclist.

I asked her to offer some tips that would be helpful to others who struggle with food allergies.

• Learn all the words that mean that gluten might be in a product and read all food labels every time you shop. These products can contain gluten: enriched flour, graham flour, bouillon cubes, deli cold cuts, french fries, tortilla chips, self-basting turkeys, soy sauce, malt flavorings, rice mixes and even Communion wafers. Gluten-free substitutes can be found for many of these foods, but it takes some detective work to decode labels.

• Eat fresh foods as much as possible. Even minimally processed foods might contain ''natural flavorings,'' which contain gluten. Some chewing gum can be dusted with gluten-containing powder, making it off limits.

• Check a variety of sources for information on the Web. Surf wisely. Stores like Whole Foods contain a lot of helpful information on their website and carry a wide variety of gluten-free foods. Another good source is the Celiac Awareness Campaign from the National Institutes of Health (www.celiac.nih.gov). In addition to providing examples of gluten-free diets, you can subscribe to a free e-newsletter.

• Eating out is difficult, but not impossible. Be proactive with the wait staff. For example, in one of Stanforth's favorite restaurants, she knows that she can eat only four of the 85 items on the menu. The Celiac Awareness Campaign reports that restaurants are responding to consumers' needs for gluten-free foods. For example, P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro has more than a dozen menu items made without gluten, including dishes made with rice noodles in place of wheat noodles, with a gluten-free soy sauce.

• Get creative with rice. Stanforth says a rice cooker is her favorite kitchen appliance, and she makes batches of brown rice and uses it to replace wheat. She makes a brown rice breakfast bowl, uses it as a base for Italian meals and piles on sautéed vegetables.

• Take food with you when you travel. At the airport, about the only thing you can eat with certainty is a salad, so travel with gluten-free energy bars, fruit and nuts for those times when your flight is delayed.

• Don't let your guard down. After symptoms disappear, don't be tempted to eat gluten-containing foods because that can cause long-term damage to your health. A healthy diet not only controls the disorder, but offers a host of other positive benefits for short- and long-term health.

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