Gluten-Free Made Easy

Today’s post is meant to be a quick, practical guide to help you with gluten-free eating. Gluten elimination can be helpful for a variety of health conditions. Some common things I find it helpful for are chronic pain, digestive issues, skin issues, thyroid health and allergies. 

Perhaps you just want to experiment with your diet. Or maybe you were told by a health care provider to go gluten-free. Whatever the case, you can use this guide to navigate the world of gluten-free eating.

With this article I aim to reduce any anxiety you may have about gluten-free eating. It may seem daunting at first. Doesn’t everything have gluten in it? What will be left to eat? Will I have to live off expensive, special foods?

There are actually many everyday foods that are delicious and naturally gluten-free. Below, I’ve listed some of them. For more information you can look at the Canadian Celiac Association’s website . Let’s dig in.

Foods that you can use as staples:

- Gluten free bread/ pasta/ wraps

- Chickpeas

- Quinoa

- Corn

- Gluten-free oats: oats are naturally gluten-free but they can be contaminated with a significant amount of gluten. If you need to be really strict, get oats labelled "gluten-free".

- Sweet potato

- Regular (white) potato

- Rice

- Cauliflower rice

- Zucchini noodles

- Eggs

- You can also skip the starch sometimes and have unprocessed meat, poultry or fish with vegetables as a main meal

Snacks

- Many brands of hummus are gluten-free, you can have it with veggies or gluten-free crackers

- Home made guacamole with veggies or gluten-free crackers

- Fruits or veggies

- Apple or banana slices dipped in peanut butter: nut butters are a grey area. Some are gluten-free, some are not. You’ll have to do some research before you pick one. Most are low in gluten so if you’re not strongly sensitive (i.e. a celiac patient) you may be fine. Almond butter is usually gluten-free.

- Bars labelled "gluten-free"

- Unseasoned nuts

- Plain popcorn

- Cheese (if you don’t need to be dairy free as well)

- Energy balls made with mashed dates and your favourite nuts and seeds

- Sweet potato or kale chips (homemade)

- Rice cakes: check the ingredients to make sure there aren’t any gluten-containing additives or get one labelled "gluten-free"

- Plain yogurt (you can add fruit and honey)

Treats (if you need to let loose once in a while)

- Home-made peanut butter cookies: see note about nut butters above

- Nachos and salsa: check salsa ingredients for additives containing gluten. Many nacho brands are gluten-free but always research before.

- Many common types of chips are gluten free

- Most ice cream and sherbet

- Chocolate chips

Note: don’t forget about drinks – drinks made with barley (like beer) contain gluten.

Of course, you can get adventurous and check out gluten-free websites and recipe books. They can teach you how to make gluten-free meals and treats.

If you need more help with your diet, reach out to me. As a naturopathic doctor I offer food sensitivity testing. If you’re curious about your food sensitivities, book an appointment or free 15-minute consult. We can talk about whether this test is the right fit for you.