Common Sauces with Gluten

Pre-made sauces are gluten landmines. This video tells you which to avoid and which are gluten-free.

Good Carbs Bad Carbs

Not all carbs are created equal. Some are actually food. Others will make you fat. Find out the difference here.

How to Eat a Gluten-Free Lunch at a Grocery Store

Learn how to eat a fast, healthy, cheap, and delicious gluten-free meal at any grocery store. This is more difficult than you might think.

Gluten-Free Garbage

Just because it’s gluten-free, doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Don’t buy stuff in boxes like these, buy carbs made from real food instead.

Gluten-Free New Year’s Resolution – How to Make It Stick

3 powerful tips for how to turn your New Year’s Resolution to eat gluten-free into reality.

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5 Toughest Parts of a Gluten Detox

Being gluten-free or doing a gluten detox isn’t that hard, but it isn’t that easy either. While eating healthy is natural, and substituting good foods for bad at home is very simple, some parts of being gluten-free are a righteous pain in the butt. Here are:

The 5 Toughest Parts of a Gluten Detox

1. Having to explain why you’re cutting gluten from your diet a hundred times. Be patient with your loved ones. They don’t yet understand how bad gluten is for you (and everyone), but if they didn’t care, they wouldn’t ask. It will help if you can tell them your doctor told you to go gluten-free or that you have tests showing your sensitivity/allergy, but even if you don’t, if someone cares about you, he or she will get it eventually.
2. Eating at restaurants. Most restaurants in the States are catching on and denoting the gluten-free options on the menu. Don’t trust the waiters and waitresses, however, because they often don’t have any idea what has gluten and what doesn’t.
3. Eating meals prepared by friends or family who don’t understand or care that you’re suddenly gluten-free. “No, honey, this is not just an annoying phase. I really can’t eat this stuff ever again. It makes my stomach hurt/brain foggy/joints hurt/digestion poor/etc.” Don’t break down and eat it though. Remember how crappy you’ll feel later, and the whole next day, if you do. Gluten stays in our bodies for six months after we eat it, inflaming our stomachs, damaging our joints, clouding our brains, and messing up our skin. It’s just not worth it. If you were allergic to peanuts, you wouldn’t eat a PB&J sandwich just because someone made it for you, so don’t eat that lasagna either.
4. Learning to cook in a new way, using quinoa, rice, buckwheat flour, gluten-free pasta, etc. instead of regular bread, pasta, flour, oats, and so on. Gluten-free options aren’t difficult use, and many of them taste great, but they do take some getting used to and experimentation. They cook and bake a little differently, and taste a little different in recipes. Not bad, just different. Keep at it though, because in a few weeks, you’ll never know why you ever thought it was so hard.
5. No more pizza (unless you make it yourself). There’s really no getting around this one, though some pizza joints are finally beginning to offer gluten-free options. If you’re dairy-free too, which is also a great idea for most people, then finding pizza that works for you is even harder. When you do find a good restaurant, shoot us an email and let us know. We’re making a list of the best gluten-free-friendly restaurants that we’ll eventually post on a Google map.

If you’re just going gluten-free now and/or are starting a gluten detox, try not to get overwhelmed. It does get easier, and eventually, if you’re like many gluten-free folks, if you’re like me, many of your family members and friends will soon be gluten-free too. It just takes some time. In the meanwhile, get creative, keep a healthy snack in your bag or car at all times (in case dinner is all pasta and bread), and be patient. It gets much easier, I promise. Your body will thank you for keeping to the plan.

10 Easiest Substitutes for Foods Containing Gluten

One of the problems of switching to a gluten-free diet is not knowing what to substitute for all the foods we normally eat, such as pasta and bread. Here is a list of some great substitutes for the most common foods that contain gluten. The first item has gluten, and everything after the arrow does not.

 

1. Bread  -> gluten-free bread, corn tortillas, a bed of spinach (instead of, say, burger buns)
2. Flour tortillas  -> corn tortillas
3. Pasta  -> gluten-free pasta, rice noodles, risotto, spaghetti squash
4. Soy sauce  -> tamari (aka gluten-free soy sauce)
5. Crackers  -> gluten-free crackers, corn chips, potato chips, veggie chips, raw veggies
6. Cookies  -> gluten-free cookies
7. Wheat flour -> Buckwheat flour, cornmeal, rice flour
8. Oats/Oatmeal -> Gluten-free oats/oatmeal, rice, quinoa, grits, buckwheat
9. Beer -> Gluten-free beer, wine, various liquors
10. Pizza  -> Gluten-free pizza crust (it does exist!), sushi

It’s not hard to substitute gluten-free for food with gluten. But you do need to be careful. That said, I’ve found that over time, my tastes have changed, and I don’t really want breads and pastas anymore. I eat more whole (i.e. unprocessed) foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts.

As a vegetarian, I have also learned to center meals around more nutritious, non-glutinous foods, such as tofu and quinoa, rather than pasta, bread, and other doughy things. You could do the same even if you’re not a veggie like me.