Gluten- is a Latin word meaning "glue". It is a protein in wheat and other species of grains in the same family of grains that acts as a glue to make grains bind together. It helps keep foods made out of it keep their shape and stay together.
The list of unsafe foods is very long and can be very over whelming. I could try to list them on my own but it is so detailed that I decided to share links to the most complete listing I could find. Here is a link to Celiac.com. They have the most complete list of everything that a person with Celiac should stay away from:
Unsafe Foods, Additives and Beverage List
Now for what you can eat also a very long list and Celiac.com also has the best and most complete list around:
Safe Foods, Additives and Beverage List
