Going Gluten-Free…. For Your Health
You’re not alone in feeling taken advantage of by food companies who see the multi-million dollar gluten-free food market as their next big boom. The more I learned about the gluten-free diet and how this “niche market” is bleeding us all dry while contributing to even more health concerns angers me. Not everyone is blessed with a good paying job and unlimited funds for food shopping.
You deserve to know the truth about why eating gluten-free seems so expensive as well as how you can outsmart the system. Before reading further, I want to share with you a couple of shocking points.
Consider these two statistics for a moment:
1. The average household of four wastes 25 percent of all food brought into the house. This can mean throwing away nearly Rs.5,500 each year.
2. Eating a gluten-free diet can be 242 percent more expensive than a non-gluten-free diet.
Shocking, yes?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18783640
You already pay a heck of a lot more to eat gluten-free and to then throw 25 percent of the money you’ve spent on that expensive food in the trash. Ouch!
Sure, you could opt for a tax credit if you’ve got a celiac diagnosis and lots of time to spare itemizing your grocery bills throughout the year. But for the rest who lack a doctor’s note confirming that a gluten-free diet is mandatory or anyone who has better things to do with their time, this isn’t the most practical option, nor does it help you with that 25 percent of waste headed for the trash.
Though I’ll certainly explain why gluten-free food can be more expensive, it’s important for you to have these two points. They emphasize why the tips and tricks I will share with you are valuable and work. Plus, they allow you to start the process of becoming an educated and savvy consumer who has the mindset and initiative to outsmart the food companies (and organizations promoting them) that make a fortune off our issues with gluten.
So whether you are conscious of the total at the bottom of your grocery bill each week or you have all the money in the world to spare, make the most out of your food investment without compromising your health. At the end of the day, that 25 percent food/money waste could turn into a vacation or some other opportunity for you and your family to enjoy life more.
This is not intended to replace your doctor’s or nutritionist’s advice. Rather, it’s an answer to a problem that the majority of people who need to eat gluten-free due to a health concern like Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity– how to eat healthy and gluten-free without going broke.
The worst feeling in the world is feeling like you’re being penalized for eating gluten-free when in reality you have to for your health. With your diagnosis in hand, you know you must avoid gluten or else trouble will ensue. Your “trouble” might look different from mine, but at the end of the day, getting “glutened” just isn’t worth it.
By avoiding gluten, you may have noticed a peculiar phenomenon at play—it costs more to eat gluten-free.
I’m probably not saying anything you don’t know or haven’t yet experienced. Whenever I ask our community what their biggest complaint of the gluten-free diet is, I’d estimate that 95 percent of people say it’s the cost.
In the beginning stages of going gluten-free, it’s okay to swap out your gluten-filled favorites for those that are gluten-free. But these foods should never be a part of your gluten-free diet long term, as it is for so many. This stage should be intended as a transition to get you going and off of gluten-based food.
Once you get the hang of eating and cooking gluten-free, then it’s wise to begin slowly removing your reliance on those products and focusing your diet more so on whole foods. This simply means eating food that is as close to its natural state as humanly possible.
An example of this is choosing brown rice instead of a hamburger bun made from rice flour. Ideally, you should focus on eating real food, so more meats, vegetables, fish, fruit, nuts, seeds, gluten-free grains, and legumes. Your diet can also include eggs and some dairy, if you can tolerate them.
Eating cheap is going to ruin your health. The demise of the health of anhouseholder revolves around the rise of cheap, highly-processed food. Highly-processed gluten-free food is no different.
If you have not heard this before, allow me to spare you years of confusion: the “gluten-free” label does not necessarily mean that a product or item is “healthy.” That is a pervasive lie that’s been perpetuated by the media, celebrities, health professionals, food companies, and bloggers. Do yourself a favor and start to question every single product that has any claim attached to it in regard to healthfulness.
BECOME SAVVY
The word “savvy” is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “practical understanding or knowledge of something” and having “practical know-how.”
People who are savvy are viewed as intelligent and wise. They make good decisions based on what they have available to them. Price tag fixation is not the answer you’re looking for when it comes to saving money. It’s not about being cheap or eating gluten-free “on a shoestring.” Those approaches to a gluten-free diet will get you nowhere, except eating cheap processed food and feeling lousy.
Instead, it’s about eating well and becoming savvy by making good use of the resources (both money and food) that are available to you. This way you can know that you are making the best possible decisions to support your health. And it doesn’t require that you compromise any part of what’s important to you—namely, your health and your bank account.
What do you think ……….?
The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice .All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.
Thank you … gluten-free products usually have more ingredients in them than in traditional wheat products to make up for what’s missing from gluten-free flours such as bulk and the ability to bind together. Therefore, they have to add binding agents like eggs, dairy,and various gums (e.g. xanthan gum) to give a similar consistency and texture as the traditional non-gluten-free items you are accustomed to.
Gluten-free products cost more is that, despite celebrities who talk about the wonders of the “gluten-free diet” and the mainstream media that cannot seem to help itself from constantly trying to undermine any part of the way we eat, it is still considered a niche market in the grand scheme of grocery items.
Pre-packaged foods, in general, are more expensive because you are paying for convenience. You are paying for someone else to do all the work for you—chopping, assembling, and mixing. That’s the main factor right there.