How to Grocery Shop With Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an intolerance to anything with wheat, rye or barley. When first diagnosed with Celiac disease it can be hard to know what to buy and what to avoid at the grocery store. Seeing how wheat flour or wheat products are often used as a thickener and binding agent in food, a large quantity of foods are suddenly off-limits. Luckily, there are quite a few gluten free)\ foods sold today, and with a little investigation the dishes you are used to can be modified.
Instructions
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What to Look For
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While shopping, keep an eye out for the obvious ingredients such as wheat flour, wheat gluten, or wheat starch the entire time you are in the supermarket. These ingredients are certainly harmful but unfortunately the only obvious ones. Get to know the other names gluten can go by in order to steer clear of it.
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In the produce aisles, anything fresh can't be bad for you. Fruits and vegetables packaged in nothing but their own skin are absolutely free of wheat ingredients. The same applies to the meat section. The less processed your groceries are the safer you will be when you eat them.
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Avoid the impulse buys when it comes to soups, salad dressings, and most processed foods including microwavable dinner trays and instant meals. Most of these foods contain MSG (monosodium glutamate), or maltodextrin and unless you read the label, you won't even know you're eating it until the deed is done. A fresh salad, sans croutons, can be quickly sabotaged by the ranch dressing you use if you aren't careful.
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There's almost no need to enter the frozen food or chip aisles. Gluten is found hiding in the flavoring of most processed foods. Potato and corn chips are toxic if they are coated in wheat to amplify the taste. Even some types of French fries have wheat products on them.
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Shop the organic food aisles. Some grocery stores now have exclusive gluten-free sections while others ironically tuck the GF foods in with the organic whole-wheat ones. Keep your eyes peeled for gluten-free noodles, cereals, cookies, cakes and pancake mixes.
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Price compare anything you really like to make sure you're getting the best deal. A brand-name pizza could be $10 at one store and $6 at another. Living gluten free is expensive enough, so keep the costs as low as possible. It may be worth it to shop at different stores to complete the weekly grocery list if the price difference is large enough.
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Tips & Warnings
Teach family and friends about your disease. Too often you are going to be served a dish that you can't eat if your family doesn't understand what you shouldn't have. The more you educate those around you about what you can or can't eat the better off you all will be.
Don't cheat. If you eat wheat by mistake, move on. If you eat it with full knowledge of what you are consuming you need to keep in mind the risk factors involved with celiac disease. The only way to treat celiac disease is to never eat wheat again, and stick to it. Rice isn't always rice. Several products that promote that they are made from rice do have wheat flour or other varieties of wheat (semolina) included that could ruin your GF diet.
