Clean vs Dirty Gluten-free Diet
A life without gluten may sometimes feel like an impossible dream. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. With so many varieties of gluten-free foods and ingredient substitutes available these days, the options are endless for making the switch to a gluten-free diet. But why would you want to make the switch in the first place?
There are many reasons why someone might want to avoid gluten. Some individuals suffer from a condition called Celiac Disease that means they are unable to consume gluten due to the damaging effect it has on the small intestine. Others are unable to consume gluten because they suffer from sensitivities to the protein.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Some other grains containing gluten include spelt, kamut, farro, and semolina. It acts as the ‘glue’ in certain dishes, giving them their form and substance. Gluten is most commonly found in foods like pastries, breads, bagels, and cereals. However, it can often be found hiding in other, less obvious places, such as salad dressings, sauces, alcoholic beverages, and even beauty products.
Consuming gluten if you are gluten-sensitive can cause discomfort and other issues. The reason for this is that gluten can make your intestinal wall weak or permeable, allowing minute particles to pass into the bloodstream. This can cause many problems including bloating, abdominal pain, abnormal bowel habits, joint pain, foggy mind, headaches, anxiety, neurological dysfunction, and skin conditions. The research demonstrating these effects is plentiful.
It isn’t a FAD, it’s a FACT: gluten may have a negative effect on a person’s health. For some, the effects are immediate and considerable; for others, they are less obvious, but can still be detrimental over time. Knowing this, what other options are available when seeking to reduce or eliminate the amount of gluten in your diet?
There are a plethora of gluten-free food options available when cooking, baking, or seeking a snack. The trouble is, there are a lot of unhealthy (aka dirty) options that are crowding out the healthy options, creating a lot of misconceptions and misunderstanding among consumers. Here are a few examples that will provide some insight into what a clean versus a dirty gluten-free diet may look like:
Clean Gluten-free: Vegetables, fruits, gluten-free whole grains and flours (brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, oats, almond, coconut, millet, sorghum, arrowroot), nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, pasture-raised meats and poultry, sustainably and wild-caught fish, healthy fats (coconut, avocado, ghee, extra virgin olive oil).
Dirty Gluten-free: Pre-packaged foods labelled ‘gluten-free’ that also contain high amounts of sugar, additives, preservatives, colours, and rancid oils. You will notice packaged foods labelled ‘gluten-free’ as a marketing tactic to get you to buy their product even if it is otherwise unhealthy. Here are some unhealthy ingredients (not an exhaustive list) that may be included in a ‘dirty’ gluten-free packaged food:
MSG (other common names include monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, textured vegetable protein)
Caramel colour
Vegetable oils (canola or corn)
Natural flavour
Artificial flavour or colour
Added or hidden sugars (white refined sugar, agave syrup, corn syrup, maltodextrin, glucose syrup, cane sugar, dextrin, diastatic malt, evaporated cane juice to name a few)
While there are a lot of unhealthy gluten-free packaged foods lining grocery store shelves, there are many foods out there - including packaged goods - that are wholefood based and qualify as clean gluten-free foods. My tips to seek out the cleanest gluten-free foods are as follows:
Shop for foods without an ingredient list and instead buy the food as the ingredient. Apple, avocado, chickpeas, carrot, cabbage, kale, pasture-raised beef, almonds are a few examples.
Read the ingredient list of all packaged foods to make sure there are no unhealthy ingredients. If it is a food that you can buy in the produce section or can pronounce, you will be heading in the right direction!
Avoid packaged foods that have long ingredient lists.
Be careful when you see ‘gluten-free’ on a food label. Read the ingredient list to make sure there is no funny business going on with this product.
Educate yourself and learn about healthy brands to ensure you are buying and consuming a good product.
A gluten-free diet can provide many benefits. Do it correctly and ‘clean’ and the results can be exceptional. Educate yourself, learn about food products, read your labels, and buy fresh, local food to ensure you eat for your health - the clean gluten-free way!
Looking for recipe inspiration? Check out my two cookbooks for healthy, wholefood, gluten-free, and dairy-free recipes!
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