3 Gluten-Free Resolutions for a Healthier Year
Going Gluten-Free in 2020?
If you have a sensitivity to gluten, keeping foods with gluten out of your diet is important.
However, that’s easier said than done when so many foods are made with gluten, or contain small amounts of gluten.
Ever seen one of these messages on a food label?
- May contain traces of wheat
- Produced in a facility that manufactures wheat
- Produced on equipment that manufactures wheat products
- Contains wheat, soy and milk ingredients. May contain traces of tree nuts
Note: When you’re sensitive to gluten, you may be able to tolerate small amounts without serious side effects. Or maybe you want to follow a gluten-free diet for other reasons. However, if you’ve been diagnosed with Celiac disease, no amount of gluten is safe to consume. If you’re serious about going gluten-free this year, here are three healthy gluten-free diet tips to adopt:
Resolution #1: Be a restaurant watchdog
Did you know the average person eats at a restaurant four times a week? Grab some fast food. Have a nice dinner at a sit-down restaurant. Go out with friends. It’s easy and convenient. More restaurants today offer gluten-free options, but if you’re serious about following a gluten-free diet, ask some questions. For example:
- Is the gluten-free food prepared on the same grill as other food?
- Are utensils in the kitchen cross contaminated with foods made with gluten?
- What’s in the food you’re preparing? Is any of it processed?
Be a restaurant watchdog, and you’ll do a better job of avoiding gluten when you go out.
Resolution #2: Read food labels
You might breeze through the store, checking off the items on your shopping list. But do you ever stop and read the labels and look at the list of ingredients? Foods you might think are safe to eat may actually contain gluten like ice cream, sauces and dressings, processed meats. Even licorice contains gluten.
Every time you go shopping, take a few seconds to scan the list of ingredients and read the label to follow a gluten-free diet.
Resolution #3: Cook at home
One of the best ways to follow a gluten-free diet is to cook at home more often using fresh ingredients. Too many processed or partially processed foods these days contain gluten. And if you’re sensitive or allergic, you just don’t want to risk it.
Need a little help preparing healthy, gluten-free meals made from fresh ingredients? Check out the selection on our Gluten-Free menu.
Note: Our gluten free frozen meals are dietician-designed to be healthy and without gluten in the ingredients, but they have not been individually lab tested. However, we have offered this list of items to our customers for several years and have not had issues with any products.