Shopping Tips For Living A Gluten Free Life
On paper, going gluten-free is fairly easy. In the real world, however, things are a lot more complex.
Adopting a gluten free diet and lifestyle is far from easy, and it’s certainly not just something that you can do on a whim.
Preparation is very much the key to success when it comes to going gluten-free, which is why we’re going to be taking a look at several shopping tips to help ensure you give yourself every chance of success on your new healthy lifestyle.
Try New Sections In The Grocery Store
If you’re new to the world of gluten-free produce, chances are you will also be new to the gluten-free, specialty, and ‘free-from’ sections of your local grocery store. You’ll be amazed by just how many different products you encounter when you branch out a little and start exploring. Who knows, you may even discover a new favorite product?
Be Wary Of Oats
By now you should know that oats, whilst being gluten-free, can still trigger flare-ups because of cross-contamination. You can of course purchase gluten-free oats which guarantee the oats themselves to be completely safe, but you may still need to be careful. This is because oats contain another protein called ‘Avenin’ which is structurally very similar to gluten. This means that it can sometimes cause similar symptoms.
If you try oats and find yourself experiencing no adverse side effects, by all means stick with that same brand.
Find New Staples
If previously, some staple carbohydrates included things like bread and pasta, once you go gluten-free, it will be quite the shock to the system at first. This is where it pays to find new staples to replace those that used to upset your stomach, but which you relied so heavily upon.
Instead of pasta, consider gluten-free noodles perhaps? Instead of bread, consider things such as Quinoa.
We can’t guarantee that you will enjoy every gluten-free product you encounter, but if you don’t try you won’t know.
Remember That Wheat-Free Isn’t Gluten-Free
When shopping and reading the labels of food packaging, it’s important to remember that wheat-free is not the same as gluten-free.
Remember, although found in wheat, gluten is also found in ingredients such as rye or barley.
Again, this is another reason why it’s so important to always check food labels before purchasing any new products.
Make A List
Finally, before you even leave the house to go shopping, the first thing you need to ensure is that you have a shopping list handy.
Don’t just walk into the store and see which gluten-free products you can find, instead, write everything that you are going to need down on a list as that way you won’t forget anything, and you will likely get finished up much quicker as well.
Well, that’s a few shopping tips to consider when going gluten free, in the next part of the guide we will look at a sample menu that you can follow in your journey to living gluten free.
