Tag: gluten-free

Avoiding Dogmatic Diets

If I were to sum up the diet trends of the past few decades, it would be something like this, with all apologies to Michael Pollan: eat more vegetables, eat less meat, eat whole foods instead of processed foods.

Pretty simple, and it’s a philosophy I practice (almost) every meal. I don’t like dogmatic approaches to diet — I mean, except the part where no gluten will ever be part of any meal I eat. That’s not so much dogmatism as it is keeping me healthy and alive. Continue reading “Avoiding Dogmatic Diets”

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”

Is A Gluten-Free Diet Unhealthy?

There is no doubt that the gluten-free diet is trendy in some circles. And with every trend, there must come a backlash. Experts (and I use the term extremely loosely) opine. Other (loosely-defined) experts counter. And so it goes.

Unless you are celiac, or fall on the celiac spectrum (which includes various types of gluten intolerance), you do not have to be gluten free. As I discussed in a previous piece, many people have a gluten-free diet recommended to them to deal with inflammation issues. The caveats I noted still apply. Continue reading “Is A Gluten-Free Diet Unhealthy?”

Broccoli and White Beans with Goat Cheese and Lemon Dressing

If you’d asked seven-year old me how I often I’d eat broccoli as an adult, I’d have probably put the number at about “never”. Poor, deluded seven-year old me. It turns out I eat broccoli (and its relatives) all the time.

I love this salad. It has roasted broccoli (fact: all vegetables are better roasted), beans, cheese, and a lemony dressing. It’s basically a summer salad that happens to be filling, delicious, and vegetarian if you omit the anchovies (plus, ahem, gluten free!).

Gluten-Free Ingredient Crush: Sweet Potatoes

As I meal plan and cook, I find myself falling in love with certain ingredients (see: everything I’ve ever written about lentils), and using them in lots of creative ways. Gluten-Free Ingredient Crush posts will focus on those ingredients, and how they can amp up your gluten-free meals.

Recently, I wrote about sweet potatoes, and my love of this veggie has only increased. As a child, my only encounters with sweet potatoes came at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, as part of a huge meal featuring more side dishes than I can comprehend to this day, the sweet potatoes were cooked in butter, covered with brown sugar, and, honestly, were left off the dessert table more from tradition than anything. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Ingredient Crush: Sweet Potatoes”

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”