The basic, traditional Mexican diet is essentially gluten free. Gluten is a type of protein commonly found in wheat, rye and barley, all of them introduced by Europeans and not included in the diet of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Corn, the subsistence carbohydrate of Mexico, is gluten free, and so are beans, sources of protein when consumed with corn, and amaranth, an important ritual food in ancient Mexico. Of the grains cultivated here after the conquest, rice stands out as being a gluten free Mexican staple food.

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