Gluten free shopping may weigh you down if you’re new to your gluten free diet. These shopping five tips will help make your diet easier to follow.
Shopping gluten-free does not have to be difficult or onerous. It may seem that way at first, but it gets much easier with practice. These tips provide some handy shortcuts.
1. Always Read Ingredients
This is the most important tip. It is more than a tip; it is a rule. If you have a gluten allergy, or especially celiac disease, you cannot afford to make assumptions.
2. Visit the Gluten Free Section
Just about every store I go into these days has a gluten-free section. Make life a bit easier on yourself and see what you can replace in your regular diet with specially formulated gluten-free versions.
3. Avoid Prepared Foods
Wheat is a cheap filler and prepared foods are full of cheap fillers. Other than gluten-free prepared foods, you’ll be frustrated if you focus on prepared foods.
4. Buy Basic Gluten Free Ingredients
If you avoid prepared foods, what to buy instead? Fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables are all always gluten-free. Semi-prepared items like breaded raw fish are an exception. See the List of Gluten Free Food section for a growing list of ideas.
5. Explore New Foods
Embrace the opportunity to discover new foods you’ve never tried before. There are more gluten free options than you might think, and you may pass many of them unnoticed, every time you go shopping.
6. Buy a Gluten Free Cookbook
You’ll find entire sections on gluten free cooking at almost any bookstore. Browse them and choose one you think you might like. This will give you new ideas and show you how to prepare your old favorites in a new gluten-free way.
What is your experience with gluten-free shopping? Share your tips and questions, leave a comment.