Tag Archive for: Gluten Free Diet Plan For Dummies

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A Step-By-Step Gluten-Free Diet You Can Follow

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Starting any new diet can be challenging. However, by taking several small steps at the beginning, and by making sure you have a plan you know you will be able to stick with, getting the ball rolling on a new diet doesn’t have to be impossible by any means. We aren’t saying it will be challenging, but a little research is definitely going to go a long way.

That thought can definitely be applied to a gluten-free diet. The more you learn about the basics of a gluten-free diet, the easier it will be to make necessary changes to how you shop for, prepare, and eat food.

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Getting Started On Your Gluten-Free Diet

One of the great misconceptions with a gluten-free diet is that it’s terribly limiting. This isn’t really true. Yes, you have to cut a few things out, but the list isn’t as substantial as some will have you believe. A gluten-free diet can involve many steps. Here are the basics to guide you in the early stages:

Identify the gluten-free groups

Fruits, veggies, many kinds of meat and poultry, many kinds of fish and seafood, dairy, and beans/legumes/nuts are all safe food groups. Obviously, within this range alone, you can begin to see the possibilities.

Learn about grains

There are many, many grains you can actually eat on a gluten-free diet. This can include rice, tapioca, beans, soy, potatoes, and gluten-free oats are just a few.

Learn about the alternatives

There are numerous gluten-free alternatives available these days. An important step in embracing a gluten-free diet is to learn more about those alternatives, and find the ones that are going to appeal to you. Using alternative flours and grains, you should be able to find some appealing possibilities. However, it is important to make sure you’re reading labels carefully, ensuring that you are actually purchasing something that will be gluten-free.

Learn about the things you can’t have, or the things you need to be very careful about: Read the labels carefully for products like soups, sauces, beverages, vitamins, supplements, and medicines.

Find a good 7-day program to get going

A good 7-day gluten-free diet plan is ideal for getting started on the right foot. You can use one of these plans to establish a clear idea of your meals, drinks, and even snacks.

Consult a nutritionist

If you can afford it, consider seeking out the advice of a professional nutritionist. They can help you to fill in the blanks with your new diet.

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The Myths of a Gluten-Free Diet

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Before we start with the myths (and some facts) about a gluten-free diet, we would need to stress out that such a diet is a must for celiac diagnosed people and people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

The first is a condition where gluten causes an adverse reaction damaging cells and can lead to a serious situation. The second is if your body cannot tolerate gluten but the end effect is not as severe as the celiac disease. In both cases though, a gluten-free diet is the solution.

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Weight loss and a healthier lifestyle

Most modern health related magazines will urge you to be gluten-free as you will be losing weight and you will be in better physical shape. Those kind of statements are not proven to anyone who is not sensitive to gluten. If your current diet is revolving around pasta, bread and cookies and you switch to naturally gluten-free foods like vegetables, fruits, eggs and milk – of course you will get healthier and you will lose weight but the reason is not the gluten itself.

Less gluten equals better stomach

Another myth that has been blown out of proportion. According to some studies, if you remove gluten from your diet, your digestive system will improve significantly which will result in a healthier lifestyle. Well yes, but only if you are sensitive to gluten. If you are not, there is absolutely no evidence proving that you and your stomach will be in better shape if you cut down on gluten.

Gluten-free foods are healthier than the rest

The same magazines that are trying to insert the gluten-free fashion in our lives will be putting this information in our brains – gluten-free foods are healthier than their counterparts. Since manufacturers cannot use gluten-containing grains like wheat when producing some foods, they need to substitute them. A great way to make such a substitution is to add fats and sugars – more than they were before. It is a great way to market the products with a “gluten-free” label but that does not mean that all of us have to purchase that food.

No alcohol

If you are gluten sensitive, you would need to cut down on some of the beverages in your life. Beer is probably the biggest enemy of a gluten-free diet and you need to remove it. On the other hand, you can become a bigger wine person, as wine does not contain gluten.