Category: Gluten-Free Living

Diet and Overall Health

In my extended circle of friends, acquaintances, vendors, and colleagues, there has been a steady drip of bad news, particularly in the past week. Three people in that overall group have been diagnosed with illnesses directly attributable to their diets. One is making active, if a bit misguided (which I’ll get to in a moment), changes in his diet. One will be facing tough decisions over the next few weeks.

And the third isn’t ready to do a darn thing about it. That’s another story for another day. Continue reading “Diet and Overall Health”

Reducing Inflammation

The one thing I didn’t realize before gluten and I broke up forever was how swollen my body was, just from gluten. You will often find people who lose several pounds right after eliminating gluten from their diets — this is mostly due to the water they’ve been retaining, and, frankly, should be a clue to many of us about what impact gluten-containing ingredients have on our diets (see Tip of the Week below). Continue reading “Reducing Inflammation”

Gluten Free Doesn’t Have to be More Expensive

Last week, I clicked on an article talking about how much money being gluten free costs a person. My eyes widened, my head hurt, and I sighed out loud. Since I was in my office, sighing was better than screaming. Because articles like this miss the point.

Okay, truth. Yes, if you buy gluten-free processed foods, you will pay a premium. No question. No argument. Depending on your source of data, you will pay a decent double- or triple-digit percentage more for a gluten-free version of a food than the non-gluten-free version. So, yeah, that makes your GF diet expensive. Continue reading “Gluten Free Doesn’t Have to be More Expensive”

What Is Gluten Free?

Even though the gluten-free diet is constantly in the news, there’s a lot of confusion about what it means. Particularly when it comes to determining what foods are and are not gluten free. Actually, it’s pretty simple: foods that contain wheat, barley, or rye (including triticale, which is a hybrid of wheat and rye) are not gluten free.

All other foods are. Continue reading “What Is Gluten Free?”

Gluten Free and Eating Grains

I read one of those articles. You know the type: yeah, yeah, it’s okay to be gluten free but, wait!, what about all those great nutrients you’re missing because you aren’t eating enough grains. Think twice, oh gluten-free one, think twice!

We know we cannot eat anything with wheat, barley, or rye. We’re all cool with that (or, if not cool, understanding). But, it turns out, wheat, barley, and rye are not the only grains in the world. Who knew? Just because you’re gluten free, it doesn’t mean you’re missing out on the benefits of whole grains.

Well, now that we’ve settled that…. Continue reading “Gluten Free and Eating Grains”

Gluten Free and Paleo Diets

Much to my surprise, the Paleo diet has maintained serious traction in our fad diet-inclined world. I will admit I once made fun of this particular way of eating, but have changed my mind. That’s not to say I buy into everything Paleo proponents believe, but as I’ve changed the way I eat, I see strong parallels.

(That being said, I remain extremely amused by the lengths some in the Paleo community go to when it comes to to potatoes. It’s like they twist and bend the rules to eliminate this one food item — a food that, based on my understanding of Paleo, is a slam dunk for the diet. I digress….) Continue reading “Gluten Free and Paleo Diets”