Gluten-Free All-In-One For Dummies. Dummies Consumer

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      ✔ Nuts and seeds

      ✔ Homemade or store-bought gluten-free trail mix

      ✔ Gluten-free cereals and granola bars

      ✔ Chips and gluten-free crackers and pretzels

      ✔ Gluten-free cookies or brownies

      Before you pull out of town, check online for gluten-free restaurants along your route. Most fast food restaurants have gluten-free/allergen menus.

      You can also load smartphone apps to help you find restaurants in the cities and towns you’ll pass through. One favorite app is Find Me Gluten Free. It lists links to gluten-free menus of popular chains and also shows you where to eat gluten-free near where you are at any given moment. Easy!

      If you’re visiting a theme park or resort, a list of the gluten-free offerings is likely available online. Most places have a guest services phone number to call for gluten-free information as well.

      Are you flying any time soon? If so, chances are that you plan to depart from a major airport and may even stop at one or two along the way. If you find yourself searching for something to eat, rest assured that you can find good gluten-free food – from grab-and-go fare to gourmet cuisine – at most airports. You just need to know what to look for.

      

When you’re in the mood for a snack, keep your eyes peeled for fresh fruit, frozen yogurt (watch the toppings, though), nuts, some candy, dried fruit, many bagged chips, cheese, salads (no croutons, and choose oil and vinegar dressing), and coffee, including some coffee specialty drinks. Always check labels before you buy.

      Corn chips and potato chips are generally gluten-free unless they have wheat in the spices, like a taco flavor or sometimes barbecue flavor. It’s pretty safe to stick with salted chips, but check the labels. Some cool chip versions may be available at the airport as well; sweet potato chips, rice chips, bean chips, or veggie chips. On candy, watch out especially for malt and wheat in the ingredient list. Steer clear of anything with a cookie crunch or licorice. Did you know one of the main ingredients in Twizzlers is wheat flour? Find out what exactly to look for on food labels in Chapter 5 of this Book.

      When you need a bit more substance, look for national chain restaurants that have gluten-free menus. Most airports have their restaurants and stores listed on their websites, so you can make a plan before you take off. But in every setting involving food, stay vigilant about asking questions and using good judgment based on how you see employees handling things.

      

A couple of airlines offer a gluten-free meal for a fee if you call at least 72 hours in advance, but it’s safer to bring food on board. Mistakes happen, and you could end up with nothing to eat on a long flight if you’re not prepared with your own gluten-free stash. Often, there’s nothing gluten-free on airplanes, but hopefully that will change as more travelers stop consuming gluten.

      All U.S. airports allow you to bring food through security unless it’s in liquid form. You must purchase drinks inside the airport after you pass security. Anything from leftovers to trail mix should make it through security, although international flight security may restrict you from carrying fruits and vegetables. Check the latest rules and regulations online before planning what to pack if overseas travel is in your plans.

Chapter 2

      Glimpsing Good Reasons to Go Gluten-Free

      Maybe you’re new to the gluten-free lifestyle and you want to know what you can safely eat and how to turn it into a gluten-free gastronomic delight. Or maybe you’ve been gluten-free and are looking for some spice in your life and some giddyap in your gluten-free.

      Maybe you suspect you have some type of gluten sensitivity, and you’re trying the gluten-free diet to see if you feel better; or you’re trying the gluten-free diet to help manage your weight. Or maybe someone you love and cook for (or cook for and love) is going gluten-free and you’re doing your best to support, encourage, and nourish your hungry guy or gal.

      Why you’re cooking gluten-free doesn’t really matter, because you are. And that’s awesome. Because the gluten-free diet can be the healthiest diet on the planet, it may dramatically improve your health, both physical and emotional.

      For those of you who really want to dig into the details about the health benefits of a gluten-free diet, you may want to consider buying the companion to this book, Living Gluten-Free For Dummies. It contains everything you need to know about the medical conditions as well as practical and emotional guidelines for living (and loving) a gluten-free lifestyle.

      For now, here are the basics so you know why your health may dramatically improve when you go gluten-free. Too good to be true? Read on, friends, read on.

      Looking Into the Downsides of Wheat

      You’ve probably been raised to believe that wheat – especially whole wheat – is really good for you. Although wheat does offer some health benefits, the same benefits can easily be found in other foods without the unpleasant side effects that many, if not most, people experience. But here’s the bottom line: Wheat’s not good for anyone, whether you have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease or not. Here are ten big problems with wheat.

      The human stomach may not fully digest wheat. Cows, sheep, and other ruminant animals do just fine with wheat because they have more than one stomach to complete the digestion process. When the partially digested wheat leaves their stomach, it goes to another stomach where it is further broken down, then to another and another until the process is complete.

      Unlike our bovine buddies, we humans have only one stomach. When the wheat leaves our tummies, it’s not fully digested. Those undigested portions begin to ferment, and do you know what the byproduct of fermentation is? Gas. Icky, belchable, fart-forming gas. For many people, this accounts for the gas and bloating they feel after they eat wheat, whether they have gluten sensitivity or not.

      Recently, lots of books and articles have been written on the subject of pro-inflammatory foods. These foods are rapidly converted to sugar, causing a rise in the body’s insulin levels (read more about this in the later section, “Wheat can mess up your blood sugar levels”), causing a burst of inflammation at the cellular level. Almost everyone knows that blood sugar rises from eating sweets (cakes, cookies, and candy). But lots of foods not considered sweets have pro-inflammatory effects – foods that have wheat in them, like cereal, pasta, breads, and bagels. These foods can be high in simple starches; when these are broken down, they act the same as sweet foods, raising blood sugar levels, releasing insulin, and causing inflammation. Bear in mind that the inflammation occurs in all people, not just those with wheat or gluten sensitivities.

      It turns out that inflammation, once thought to be limited to “ -itis” conditions like arthritis, may actually be at the root of a number of serious conditions, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, СКАЧАТЬ