If you’ve recently found out that you have a wheat intolerance it can feel very daunting to begin an elimination diet. After all, bread alone is a staple of the western diet and wheat is such a common ingredient in many recipes. Luckily we’ve got a few tips on how to handle moving away from the wheat-stuff and towards a healthier, happier you.
Wheat Intolerance Tips
Switch up your main carb source
The simplest step to living wheat-free is to change up your starchy carb sources. Put down the bread and pasta and go find a bad of rice or potatoes. You could even go the extra mile and make a habit of using more veggies and less starch – cutting both calories and symptoms in one go. You won’t find your wheat intolerance bothering you with a plate full of veggies, rice or potatoes.
Experiment with different types of flour
Some of us love baked goods too much to completely give them up. Luckily there are a plethora of wheat-flour alternatives for use in baking that you can experiment with in the kitchen. Between corn, rice, chia, oat and quinoa flours you’ll feel spoiled for choice when you first dive into the world of wheat flour alternatives.
Check all labels
Always check the labels. It takes seconds to identify wheat in the ingredients list thanks to it being included in the list of allergens that must be labelled on food labels. It will quickly develop into a habit to check, and your gut will thank you for it. Better yet, if you can find the time, cooking as many of your meals from scratch is one way to avoid all wheat without fail. You always know what’s going into your home-cooked meals.
Batch your Meals
Speaking of cooking at home, it can be difficult to find the time to cook a meal from scratch every single night. So, we suggest cooking in batches. It often takes just as long to cook a meal for 2 as it would a meal for 10. All it takes is more of the ingredients. Even if it does take a little longer, it’s still far more time efficient to do the meal-prep in bulk, compared to individually. Take a leaf out of many a bodybuilders’ book and set aside some time every week to prepare several of your favourite meals. Just make sure that there’s plenty of room in the freezer and fridge!
Change your Mindset
What are you missing out on really? A temporary sensation of sweetness in your mouth? And then the much longer lasting uncomfortable symptoms that would proceed it? A switch in perspective can change fear of missing out on those store-bought cupcakes or office gifted biscuits, into a sense of freedom and thankfulness that you won’t be causing yourself unnecessary suffering.
Learning you have a wheat intolerance can be a very positive thing. It’s the first step to finally living symptom free and enjoying your food again. After eliminating it from your diet, you’ll find yourself less stressed, irritable and feeling healthier than ever.
Rather than a recipe today, we’re recommending a book which will help you if you’ve got a wheat allergy or intolerance.
Renowned neurologist Dr David Perlmutter blows the lid off a topic that’s been buried in medical literature for far too long: gluten and carbs are destroying your brain. And not just unhealthy carbs, but even healthy ones like whole grains, he links to dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, and much more.
If you want to arm yourself with science to change your lifestyle, here is the book we recommend.
Groundbreaking research on how gluten is damaging our minds – Grain Brain
