Doctors and dieticians recommend a gluten-free diet for those diagnosed with coeliac disease or other types of gluten sensitivity. However, you can always ditch foods containing gluten for personal reasons, such as believing it is a healthier option. Regardless of the reason, many people struggle to make this change. In this article, we cover a few tips that can help make things much easier if you are considering ditching gluten.
Learn What Foods to Avoid
Before making the switch, it is important to know which foods contain gluten so you can avoid them. These foods include all varieties of wheat, rye, and barley as well as all their extracts and derivatives, including beer made out of these grains.
But what about oats? Some oat varieties contain gluten, but you can find ones certified and labelled gluten-free.
Read the Labels When Shopping
Another tip that can help you go gluten-free is reading product packaging. When doing so, you are looking for three things. These are a gluten-free claim, the ingredients list, and the possibility of contamination during manufacture or packaging.
The first two are self-explanatory. The third requires careful reading. The product might not contain ingredients with gluten in them, but they might have been manufactured or packaged in a plant that also handles those containing the protein.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Many foods containing gluten are filling foods, which is why they are included in many dishes. But what happens if you cannot include them in your plate? Eat more fruits and vegetables instead. These food categories have many benefits, but the one we are interested in is their filling potential.
If you eat fruits and vegetables with sufficient fibre, you will stay fuller for longer and not need other foods. There are also the added benefits of these foods being great for your hair, nails, and skin. They also contain essential minerals you may otherwise lack from changing your diet.
Get Advice and Support
Switching to a gluten-free diet can be challenging because it entails changing what you eat and embracing a new lifestyle. Struggling with the change is one of the reasons many people revert to typical diets after a few weeks or diets.
However, this might not be an option for you if you have coeliac disease. This is an autoimmune disease that causes a severe reaction to gluten if someone with the condition ingests foods containing the protein.
Talking to a gluten-free coach to arrange for 1:1 sessions and getting advice from a specialist dietician like Ali Walsh can be incredibly useful when making this transition. The coeliac coach can also provide guides, books, and online courses that make things much easier when struggling with the change.
Going gluten-free can be incredibly helpful, especially for those diagnosed with coeliac disease or other types of gluten sensitivity. However, it is also crucial that you do not make this dietary change without consulting your doctor or a specialist dietician first. Given the go-ahead, the tips above should provide an excellent foundation for starting your journey to going completely gluten-free.
