Giving up wheat.... What do I eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Off topic, perhaps, but why in the world would you try to do this if you are not really gluten intolerant? Dumb idea to simply do it for "diet" reasons.

I am not "allergic to gluten," but I sure do feel a ton better when I eliminate it or eat it in extreme moderation. The american diet is so wheat focussed that it creates a huge imbalanced; for instance, OP didn't even know what to eat if it wasn't wheat, that is a problem! But, of course, if you don't have an actual allergy, you should not be replacing things with fake products designed to replicate wheat (i.e., "gluten-free" packaged goods). You should be replacing it with vegetables, fruits, and proteins. If you want grains, stick to brown rice and quinoa. Basically, eat a healthy diet and stop eating so much processed food (like wheat).

[Anonymous]

Other than pasta, pizza, bread, and baked goods what is wheat is in? It seems less restrictive to give up wheat than restrict all carbs..unless you love Italian food. Sugar, dairy, other grains like regular rice, fruit, vegetables aren't wheat.

Am I missing something? Its seems odd that people can't think if something to eat after giving up wheat and others are suggesting Quinoa?

[Anonymous]

Meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts.

Breakfast--eggs cooked in coconut oil. Salad of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Lunch--ground meat cooked with onions, tomatoes, squash, carrots, etc. On a bed of cooked kale and spinach.

Dinner--chicken thighs with broccoli and cauliflower.

Snacks would be fruit and nuts.

I don't miss the "other stuff."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other than pasta, pizza, bread, and baked goods what is wheat is in? It seems less restrictive to give up wheat than restrict all carbs..unless you love Italian food. Sugar, dairy, other grains like regular rice, fruit, vegetables aren't wheat.

Am I missing something? Its seems odd that people can't think if something to eat after giving up wheat and others are suggesting Quinoa?

It depends how closely you need to watch for wheat / gluten. My kids is a celiac, so we need to read labels on everything, and you would be surprised where you find gluten / wheat - standard oats are generally at high risk for cross-contamination, sometimes french fries are coated, regular soy sauce has gluten, maltodextrin is generally OK in this country because it's usually made from corn here but you can't be sure, etc.

I also think it's a question of how pervasive wheat is in your diet - I know personally it is/was extensive for me - cereal, bread, pizza crust, pasta, couscous, etc. Not always the whole meal, but a significant component, and suddenly removing it from the family diet did leave a big hole that we needed a little bit of time to figure out how to fill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Not always the whole meal, but a significant component, and suddenly removing it from the family diet did leave a big hole that we needed a little bit of time to figure out how to fill.

I agree with you. I am the poster above with endometriosis. It was so hard for me to give up wheat. I used to bake my own bread, would always do whole grain and experiment with nuts. I have not been able to find a good recipe for bread/muffins with tapioca starch or any other non gluten flours. Same goes for dairy. I never liked milk (and what is sold in the stores is so far away from milk anyway) but cheese....it was so difficult to give up cheese and it took a while. Goat milk and goat cheese are better so i still have goat cheese every once in a while. I changed the wheat crackers to rice crackers. Gave up pizza and use brown rice pasta when i crave pasta. I use quinoa a lot .

[Anonymous]

We've gone largely gluten-free for similar anti-inflammatory reasons for one family member. (Inflammation can drive a lot of auto-immune diseases.)

The main thing is, don't focus on GF substitutes for favorite wheat foods. That just leads to a lot of processed crap. Instead, eat whole natural foods that happen not to have gluten. Lots of veggies, good low-fat protein sources, and for grain-based things, you can use (in moderation) corn-based things (polenta, tortillas), oats (oatmeal's a wonderful breakfast), rice (California organic, to minimize the arsenic it sucks up from the soil in places like Texas, Arkansas, China, and India), wild rice (which is a grass, not rice), and alternative grains like quinoa and millet.

Eventually you will miss baked goods. Instead of paying out the nose for Udi's from the freezer case (which is the best GF processed brand, but still not that good), get on the blogs, and bake your own. Our favorite blog is Gluten Free Goddess. Her basic GF bread is the best bread I've ever had, and incredibly easy to make. We've also gotten great recipes there for GF pancakes, muffins, and pizza dough.

I just picked up a good-looking GF cookbook from Williams Sonoma, that looks like the recipes are easy and mainstream, using widely available stuff, and not at all earthy-crunchy. You might look for that or something similar on amazon.

[Anonymous]

BTW, cauliflower is a wonderful, versatile vegetable. Pureed it's a great potato substitute. And can take a lot of different flavors.

And brown rice sucks up more arsenic from the soil than white rice. (The arsenic gets stored in the bran and the hull, not as much the white part, whatever that's called.) Sad but true--rice is the one thing where it turns out the white processed version of it is actually better for you despite having less fiber and fewer nutrients. Just use it in moderation.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Thanks so much for advice. Op here.