The thought switching over to a gluten-free diet can be very overwhelming. It seems like gluten is in everything. One of the biggest challenges is that most people aren’t clear which grains contain gluten and which ones do not. Once you have this distinction clear it is easier to get a handle on the whole concept of gluten-free eating.
Most people already know that wheat contains gluten but there are a number of other grains to watch out for as well. Most conventional packaged foods contain one ore more of the gluten containing grains. There are a lot of gluten-free alternatives available to replace your usual staples.
In general, whole grains are ideal. It’s important to remember even if a product is gluten-free it doens’t necessarily mean it is healthy. Label reading is just as important with gluten-free foods as it is with conventional foods.
I’ve put together a list of the most commonly know grains and separated them into two groups. The first list of grains all contain gluten so if you are trying to begin a gluten-free diet you should avoid these grains. The second list is a group of grains that are safe to eat on a gluten-free diet.
The interesting thing about nutrition is that there are many theories and diets that work wonders for some people but can also cause a complete disaster for others. Sometimes nutrition theories become popular due to some (weight loss) success stories and turn into fads that can last decades. The low-fat craze is the nutrition myth that sticks out most in my memory. Most people know now that low-fat is not necessarily a good thing. Many food products are a result of nutrition fads and popular theories and most of the time these food products really aren’t healthy. Food companies come up with some pretty convincing points in their marketing but most of them don’t make much sense in reality.
