So you have heard about the gluten free diet? But you want to know more?
- What is Involved?
- What Can You Eat?
- What Can You Drink?
- What Are The Benefits?
- What Are The Downfalls?
Whether you choose to eat gluten free because of food allergies and intolerance or to lose weight – a gluten free diet is a smart choice.
What is Involved in a Gluten Free Diet??
Removing all products contain gluten – a protein found in wheat, barley, malt and rye.
What Can You Eat?
Being gluten free opens up a whole new world of ingredients you may have previously over looked. There are a range of gluten substitutes, gluten free flours, legumes, and ingredients you can start to use in every day cooking. You will find you supermarket has a range of gluten free products including gf bread, pasta, spreads, stocks, sauces, biscuits and so on.
It can be hard coming up with breakfast and lunch ideas at times – so i like to cook twice as much dinner as I need and put the rest in a Tupperware for lunch the next day.
Get some gluten free recipe ideas…
What Can You Drink?
Drinks can be interesting, milk, water, and most juices are fine – it pays to check the label just to be safe (beware of barley in some soy milks)
When it comes to alcohol you want to check labels before you drink. There is a debate about triple distilled liquor having trace elements of gluten in it. I still to gluten free vodkas, gluten free beer is available, wine (although in some European wineries they use a flour paste to seal the wine barrels so it pays to test to see what wines work for you).
The benefits vary from person to person.
Often we eat to many starches and processed foods – by cutting out gluten you may take a healthier approach to your diet – be weary of gluten free products as sometimes they substitute gluten to fat and sugar.
Personally when I first went gluten free I lost 10 kgs in a 6 month, got rid of my eczema, asthma and felt generally happier, more alert, no brain food and had a glow about me. This was from doing a low stress diet where I cut out any possible allergens and lives on meat and verge for 4 weeks. Then slowly introduced possible allergens one day at a time to look for adverse reactions (please note i exercised during this time and also gave up dairy and processed sugars This was under the supervision of a trained professional).
I find when I introduce to many carbs and processed foods into my diet – my body seems to give back my old symptoms as a reminder to look after it better.
What are the downfalls?
Yes i will admit there are some:
- The envy of others eating gluten free
- Learning to read labels
- The occasional gluten poisoning when dining out.
- Finding gluten free foods on the run.
- Traveling gluten free.
But it gets easier with time – that’s why I have started glutenfreekiwi.com and glutenfreeaussie.com to help people deal with allergies.