Someone asked about how to start a gluten free diet. Here is my answer in two steps
First, get the gluten out of the house.
- Give or throw out any food or spice without a certified gluten free label.
- Give or throw out items that do not have a gluten free label.
- Throw away any utensil, storage, or cookware that is plastic or wood.
- Heavily scratched non-stick cookware needs to go.
- Cast Iron needs to be cleaned with soap and water and re-seasoned. Enameled cast iron is fine as long as it isn’t heavily scratched.
- New grates for the grill and a significant cleaning for your flat top grill
Now with a clean house, we can start.
Second, buy gluten free foods. Here are the rules for buying foods.
- Buy un-seasoned fish, shellfish, beef, chicken, and pork. These may not be labeled gluten free. If they are unseasoned, they will be gluten free.
- Buy fresh fruits and vegetables only
- Buy only gluten free or certified gluten free foods.
- Buy eggs, milk, and yogurt, make sure the yogurt is marked gluten free.
That is all. The rules in the beginning are no more complicated than that. People will talk about reading labels or modified food starch. Let’s just keep it simple in the beginning. It will make the transition to gluten free eating much simpler.
It may also feel like your food options are limited. If you typically purchase many processed foods, prepare for a big change. This will significantly alter how you eat.
It will take a long time to shop the first few times you go. Unfamiliar brands and looking for the gluten free label may make shopping take longer. This is normal.
Gluten free processed foods cost about twice as much and are half the quantity of their gluten counterparts. Stay away from them in the beginning.
Finally, as you get the hang of gluten free eating, reading labels and adding more processed foods will come. In the beginning stick to the basics and you will learn a lot!