Nutrition
If you’re living gluten free due to celiac disease or a wheat allergy, you must make food choices that avoid gluten while balancing the nutrition you need and the flavor and variety you want. It’s easier than ever thanks to better product labeling and a wider range of gluten-free options on store shelves.
Start with the basics
These fresh food groups are the foundation of a healthy diet, they’re natural and gluten free:
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Dairy
- Nuts, beans, and legumes
- Meat and poultry
- Fish and seafood
For the rest of the products you buy at the grocery store, reading nutrition labels carefully is a must if you need to avoid gluten.
Try these swaps
Swap this: wheat pasta
For that: Chickpea or veggie pasta
Pasta is a staple in many homes, but traditional pasta made from semolina wheat is a “no go” for anyone avoiding gluten. In recent years, great swaps for wheat pasta have shown up on store shelves including pasta made from chickpeas and lentils. Pastas made from legumes get bonus points because they have more protein, fiber and minerals than wheat pasta.
Swap this: Wheat flour
For that: Potato, rice, or bean flour
You’ll find wheat flour in many processed baked goods, and it’s called for in most standard recipes. Look for gluten-free options at the grocery store. If you want to bake your own breads and treats, it just takes a bit of know-how and a few adjustments to substitute alternate flours — like potato, rice, buckwheat, or bean flour — for wheat flour.
Swap this: Wheat-based cereals
For that: Oats
Most people who need to avoid gluten can eat a moderate amount of pure oats. If you do eat oats, be sure to double-check that they are labeled “gluten free,” so they’re not contaminated with gluten during processing.
Swap this: Bottled salad dressing
For that: Homemade salad dressing
Many bottled salad dressings contain malt vinegar, soy sauce or malt flavoring, ingredients that contain gluten or are made from wheat. The good news? Gluten-free salad dressing is easy to make. You’ll find great recipes online for gluten-free vinaigrettes and creamy dressings, too.
Swap this: Chips and processed snack crackers
For that: Lots of things!
Snack time can be full of pitfalls because many popular snacks — packaged cookies, snack crackers and even some seasoned potato chips — contain gluten. Read the labels and be a ”gluten sleuth”. Popcorn is a tasty, safe bet. Also try hummus and veggies, cheese sticks or nuts and dried fruit.
Mom’s Meals® can help
We help take the guesswork out of mealtime for people who need to avoid gluten. Choose from a full menu of gluten-free, refrigerated, meal choices that are delivered right to your door. All the options on our gluten-free menu:
- Contain less than 20 ppm of gluten in each meal
- Are prepared following FDA guidelines
- Have been tested using the ELISA method to assess food for gluten
- Are created in our USDA-inspected kitchen following strict rules to ensure they are gluten free
