My first step was to determine what I could and couldn't have. Keeping a focus on the 'could' list instead of the 'could not' list, I found that fruits, vegetables, rice (white, brown, wild), quinoa, nuts, dairy products, potatoes, corn, beans, meats, wine, fats, sugar, and most chocolates are naturally gluten-free. I needed to stay away from wheat, barley, and rye, including things cross-contaminated by them, and words in ingredient lists that I don't see often, like kamut, spelt, and triticale.
Most of us don't just pick up a wheat plant and start munching away. The wheat is hidden in many of our foods. Luckily, there are many gluten-free substitutes in grocery stores, including the super stores like Walmart and Target, for almost everything that has gluten. I was a little worried that I would have a big craving for baked goods or pasta, so I bought a bag of gluten-free flour, and a bag of gluten-free pasta. I'll talk about cravings (or lack thereof) in a future blog. Here are some things that were in my life that I needed to avoid during my experiment of being gluten-free:
- flour
- plain old pasta (again, there are many gluten-free options).
- things made with wheat flour, like cookies, breads, cakes, gravy, cereal, soup, crackers, breading on meats (but there are gluten-free options for everything that I want)
- most oats, due to cross-contamination, although Trader Joe's sells a gluten-free bag of oats for oatmeal.
- some salad dressings, sauces, and condiments contain gluten, but many are fine.
- Malt is bad, so I couldn't order a malt if I wanted one, but I could order a milk shake, just not one that has Oreos or another gluten-laden add-in.
- Beer was out, but I could have wine.
- Many candies are fine, but there are some that are not: Kit Kat bars have little cookies in them, and surprisingly (for me) red licorice is not gluten-free
- I couldn't have gravy made with wheat flour, but I could make it with corn starch, or with gluten-free flour
Luckily, the list of what I could have was long. Most of what I make on the grill was fine. I could have plenty of carbs with potatoes, beans, corn, and rice. Most of the Chex cereal, Pebbles cereal, and the brown-rice Rice Krispies are gluten-free. I loved the pecan Nut-Thins crackers. Fruits, veggies, nuts, and dairy products were all fine.
Armed with some information, I embarked on this experiment to see if the inflammation in my joints would be reduced. Tune in to a future blog to see what happened…….
