The Ultimate Guide to Going Gluten Free

Have you recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or you just want switch to a gluten free lifestyle? Going gluten free may seem like an overwhelming process, but we are here to help by providing you with a list of high quality resources to help make the switch to a gluten free diet easier.

Going gluten free requires effort, but it gets easier over time once you learn how to check food labels for gluten, find gluten free meals at restaurants, and how to travel safely while avoiding gluten.

Are you ready to get started?

Here’s how to use our guide: The chapters below are arranged in sequential order to get you started with a gluten free diet. Clicking each chapter will take you to that section of the guide. You can also use it as resource for a specific topic by clicking the links in the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – What is Gluten
Chapter 2 – Medical Conditions that Require a Gluten Free Diet
Chapter 3 – How to Start a Gluten Free Diet
Chapter 4 – Gluten Free Shopping Guide
Chapter 5 – Ordering a Gluten Free Meal at a Restaurant
Chapter 6 – Eating Gluten Free while Traveling Abroad
Chapter 7 – How to Cook Gluten Free Meals
Chapter 8 – Tips for Kids and Teens with Celiac Disease

Chapter 1 – What is Gluten

When starting a gluten free diet, a great place to start is with an overview of what gluten actually is. Gluten is essentially a protein which acts as a glue that holds the dough together. It is also used as thickening agent for some foods. The resources in this chapter provide you with more detailed insight into what gluten is.

Chapter 2 – Medical Conditions that Require a Gluten Free Diet

 

 

There are many reasons someone may switch to a gluten free lifestyle. If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, going gluten free is essential and it is very important to remove all gluten from your diet. Although gluten is found in a variety of foods, there are an increasing number of gluten free options available at your local supermarket and later in this article we cover tips for finding gluten free products while shopping.

Gluten intake for anyone with celiac disease can cause significant damage to the small intestine. Here you can learn all about celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and symptoms to look out for. There are many signs of celiac disease to look out for and if you think you may have celiac disease, be sure to contact your doctor.

Chapter 3 – How to Start a Gluten Free Diet

Once you decide that you are going to begin a gluten free diet, the next step to understanding how to eat gluten free is to learn which foods are safe to eat. Switching to a 100% gluten free lifestyle can be difficult because of the vast amounts of foods that contain gluten. To put this into perspective, wheat is the third largest crop in the United States. According to the National Association of Wheat Growers, farmers in the United States grew nearly 2.4 billion bushels of wheat on 63 million acres of land in 2008/2009.

When starting a gluten free diet, you should begin with a list of foods that you can trust and you know for sure are gluten free. This chapter includes several extensive lists of gluten free food along with information to help you get started on your gluten free diet.

Have you wondered which foods are gluten free?

Chapter 4 – Gluten Free Shopping Guide

When you decide that going gluten free is the path you are looking to take, you need to learn how to shop for gluten-free foods. In this chapter, you can find a list of resources that will make shopping for gluten free products much easier. With gluten grains present is such a large number of foods, it is important to know how to identify ingredients that contain gluten on a food label. Gluten is also used as a thickening agent for soups, salad dressing etc. For your own safety, we also included the FDA’s official requirements when listing a product as gluten free.

Chapter 5 – Ordering a Gluten Free Meal at a Restaurant

 

Eating out can be a frustrating experience for anybody with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. When eating at a restaurant, there are many issues to keep in mind. Servers may not be aware of which menu items contain gluten. Another problem is that gluten free food options may become cross contaminated while being prepared. These are a few issues you may come across when ordering a gluten free meal at a restaurant, but the resources in this chapter can help you find restaurants that have specific gluten free meal options.

Chapter 6 – Eating Gluten Free while Traveling Abroad

 

Planning a trip abroad? Traveling while gluten free can be complicated due to the language barrier, but it isn’t impossible and we have some resources to make the process much less stressful. We want you to enjoy your trip without worrying about how to order your meal, so we compiled some excellent resources for ordering gluten free food while abroad.

Chapter 7 – How to Cook Gluten Free Meals

 

There is nothing like a home cooked meal and there are many excellent gluten free meal ideas available. The benefit of cooking your own meal is that you can be sure to avoid cross contamination with products that contain gluten. When you decide to make your next home cooked meal, these gluten free dinner ideas are sure to be a hit. In this chapter you can learn all about the different grains and flours used when cooking your next gluten free meal.

Chapter 8 – Tips for Children with Celiac Disease

The best part of being a child is the carefree lifestyle where you can eat pretty much anything you want without the negative affects you experience as you get older. This isn’t the case for kids and teens with celiac disease. As a teenager, going gluten free can be very challenging since it can be difficult to eat out with friends, attend parties, etc.

To help you avoid the frustration often associated with having fun as a teen while on a gluten free diet, we put together a list of resources to help you overcome these challenges. One solution is to meet other kids with the same diet restrictions at a gluten free camp, but there are other options if your friends are able to eat gluten filled foods.