Shopping Gluten Free

What You Can Eat on a Gluten Free Diet

Let’s face it, when we want a tasty dessert, eating gluten-free, shall we say, can be challenging to put it mildly. Unless you are eating at a dedicated gluten-free restaurant, dedicated bakery, or a gluten-free friendly establishment, your choices of gluten-free desserts can be limited to none.

When we are eating in a category other than desserts, our food choices are much more diverse and far-reaching. With so many food choices, 

eating gluten-free can be fun and push us out of our box to explore and create new dishes and desserts. Being gluten-free can even make us an advocate for gluten-free that tastes good!

When you’re out and about, whether shopping or dining, keep this list handy! Although extensive, this is not a complete list of all gluten-containing foods. Your best defense is to be an informed, excellent label reader and check out the label before you buy every time you shop. Don’t ever assume that jar of nuts or trail mix doesn’t have gluten because it says gluten-free on the box. Make sure to read through all the ingredients, then look to see if there is a warning for cross-contamination.

What you CAN eat on a gluten-free diet

Foods that are listed below are listed in their natural state. They are not seasoned, in mixes, or mixed with other food, spice, or liquid food matter.

• Fruits and vegetables
• Unsulfured dried fruits
• Fresh meats and fish 
• Milk, eggs, cheese, butter (except Roquefort)
• Beans, peas, legumes
• ​Almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts and other raw/natural nuts 
• Carob and cocoa powder​
• Corn/blue corn, cornmeal, polenta, cornflour, corn pasta

• Arrowroot
• Guar gum
• Xanthan gum
• Tapioca flour and starch
• Buckwheat either whole grain or flour 
• Quinoa, whole grain, quinoa flour, quinoa pasta 
• Rice, whole grain, white or brown rice flour, rice pasta 
• Potato, root or potato starch and flour
• Tapioca, whole pearl, tapioca starch, and flour
• Millet, whole grain, flour 
• Amaranth, whole grain, amaranth flour
• Teff, whole grain, Teff flour 
• Oats, only those that are certified gluten-free
• La Choy brand soy sauce and teriyaki sauce are gluten-free
• ​Hard alcohol, such as vodka, whiskey, brandy is gluten-free
• Apple cider vinegar, white vinegar​

What You Should NOT Eat on a Gluten-Free Diet: Foods to Avoid

These foods are a BIG NO-NO if you are eating gluten-free, especially for an allergy, gluten intolerance, or celiacs disease. Stay away from these foods: pretend they are the light you want to move away from at the end of the tunnel!

• Gluten-containing grains and grain products (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, triticale, durum, semolina)
• Tabouli 
• Beer (unless a beer made from a non-gluten grain)
• Soy, tamari and teriyaki sauce, unless specifically labeled gluten-free
• Flour tortillas 
• Wheat germ, wheat starch, wheat flour, basically anything labeled “wheat.”
• Ramen noodles, unless they are made from rice.
• Pasta made from gluten-containing grains
• Durum semolina (pasta flour from wheat)
• Couscous 
• Soy sauce or teriyaki sauce (unless specifically labeled wheat-free) 
• Graham crackers and graham flour
• Crackers with gluten-containing grains listed above
• Malt, barley malt, malt flavoring, malted foods
• Maltodextrin
• Monosodium glutamate 
• Stuffings
• Breaded foods, bread crumbs 
• Fried foods, even if made with non-gluten grains. Frying is the most straightforward process to cross-contaminate your food!

Foods to use cautiously because gluten can be a sneaky ingredient...

Gluten can be sneaky and show up in foods you would never suspect. Gluten is used as a filler and thickener in many foods. Why? Gluten is easy, cheap, and readily available. Wheat flour can be where we least likely expect it to be (and usually when we least WANT gluten to be in our diets).

​For example, I was at a soft-serve yogurt bar, and half of their yogurts listed gluten as an ingredient. The good 

news is, the gluten-free flavors were labeled at this one shop. Now you’re talking! If everyone would just label their food, the world would be a better place, now wouldn’t it?

Double-check these foods BEFORE you eat them. Gluten has a way of sneaking into the foods we don’t expect, but we are smarter than gluten now, aren’t we?

Breakfast Items

• Rice cereal (see ‘What’s Up With Adding Gluten to Everything?’ section below)
  
• Oat cereals, usually they have wheat added, or they are made in a factory with gluten-containing grains. Unless they specifically read certified gluten-free, assume they could be contaminated.

Condiments, drinks, and dressings

• Low fat spreads and butter substitutes
  
• Salad dressing and any type of dressing that is creamy in texture
  
• Spice mixes
• Non-dairy creamer
• Oats if not certified gluten-free

Desserts

• Ice cream, spumoni, gelato, and frozen yogurt
• Pudding 
• Chocolate truffles and chocolate-filled confections

Main Dishes

• Soup
  
• Meatloaf, usually the gravy is not gluten-free
  
• Meat and tomato sauce
  
• Chicken pot pie, unless it is specifically gluten-free
  
• Salad dressing
  
• Canned vegetables and canned veggie mixed
  
• Canned, dry soup mixes or pre-packaged soups
• Hot dogs
• Commercially prepared meats

Snacks and supplements

• Nut mixes, especially those that are flavored
• Granola or nut bars
• Protein bars, meal replacements, protein powder

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