Going Gluten-Free: Beat the Challenges with Ease

Cutting Out Gluten Is Not as Simple as One, Two, Free

When I went gluten-free, I swore I wasn’t going to go Gluten-Free.

Following advice from William Davis MD in his up-for-debate “Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health”, my plan was to eat foods made from ingredients that did not contain gluten and leave it at that. A simple diet of protein, dairy, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds was the way forward, and there was no need to complicate matters.

As you may have found, and I certainly have, it’s not as easy as that.

Spend some time with me. We’ll explore the two approaches available to us. We’ll weigh up the pros and cons of each.

Grab a coffee (but not a cake!) and let’s see what we can find.

The First Lesson: Foods that naturally contain no gluten

An idea difficult in the contemplation, but surely easy in the execution, no?

For those of us who cannot (or will not, out of choice) eat gluten, there remains an entire planet full of bountiful bites on which to chow down. Forget the Food Pyramid, put to one side your detailed analysis of macro- and micro-nutrients. Build your meals and snacks from good-quality ingredients and you will have a balanced and healthy diet.

If your eating for the day contains protein, dairy, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds then, other medical matters notwithstanding, you’re on the right track.

Eating these foods in their least processed form is even better, but as long as your diet is built on this firm foundation, you will not go far wrong. The method opens up an essentially infinite table of meal choices. The minimally processed ingredients listed can be purchased much cheaper than items from the bakery or cereal aisle in the supermarket.

All in all, it’s a guaranteed win, right?

Then, hear endeth the first less…–Wait. What?

You’re BORED?

Hmmm.

You raise a good point.

While cooking and eating from this lovely list will give us everything we need, and nothing we don’t, from a nutrition point of view, where’s the joy?

Where’s the pretzel? Where’s the birthday cake? And WHERE’S THE TOAST?

As I’ve mentioned in other stories, my mother was a well-thought-of amateur baker, and I was brought up on homemade bread, biscuits and cakes of all kinds.

There’s a reason why clever supermarket planners pipe the air from the in-store bakery through the ventilation system, people, and it’s got nothing to do with cheap ducting.

As I watch my family order soup and bread for starters, steak and kidney pie for mains, and black forest gâteau for dessert, my heart sinks faster than a gluten-free fajita.

I tried for so very long to avoid the “Free From” aisles and the goodness contained therein. Believing myself to be doing the right thing regarding both “clean eating” and household expenses, I resisted the temptations of the fake bakes.

But, a life without joy is no life at all.

Let’s turn our attention to the alternative.

The Second Lesson: Bite the bullet, and the biscuit

I love my cousin Sharon; she’s ace.

I come from a large family with many branches, but Sharon is one of those truly good people who try their utmost to do the right thing for others. It was she who reminded us that one of our local supermarkets has a much more extensive Free From aisle than many of the other outlets. Coming up to Christmas, when all my heart desired was a mince pie, this was welcome news indeed.

My fiancée netted me a huge haul of gluten-free goodness from there, and my Christmas holiday was as full of joy as Good King Wenceslas himself could have arranged.

But day-to-day, if I’m being completely honest here, those gluten-free alternatives are almost always a significant compromise.

The Texture

Not quite there, is it?

There are some excellent products available. There is one famous UK bakery whose loaves, ciabattas and buns are about as close as you can get, texture-wise, to the real thing. Even so, when you’ve gone gluten-free, you know you’re settling for dry, airy emptiness where squidgy softness used to dwell.

As bitter crumbs fall, chiming onto your plate, you accept that at least you’re not holding an entirely naked piece of ham.

And you can taste the butter.

The Taste

That baking chain, mentioned above, who makes at least half-decent bread?

Yeah. Don’t buy their crumpets.

I didn’t used to mind a good sourdough loaf. You know: back when I could eat what I wanted. But surely not everything has to taste of that, right?

It all seems to be made from potato, rice and tapioca, and, last I looked, none of those taste anything like whatever those crumpets are.

Sliced bread tastes too sweet. Pie pastry has a lack of richness. Cake, as if to offset the bread, tastes too savoury.

Life is full of compromises, and it’s no one else’s fault that I have had to cut out gluten.

But, my goodness, I could do with a proper Cornish scone right now.

The Expense

Our world persists in its state of economic crisis.

Partly fallout from the COVID-19 years, but with wars and other political predicaments at hand, there seems to be no escape from rising costs and wages that do not keep up.

I wanted to save the family money by avoiding the customised “coping” foods. In their recent study, Coeliac UK found that a gluten-free loaf can cost over four times as much as its more traditional counterpart. They are campaigning for fairer pricing at the retailer, but we form a small fraction of any food outlet’s customer base.

Since trade among humans was invented, we have always had to pay more for “luxuries”, but, as the dietary restrictions are not a choice for many of us, it would be nice to think that progress in cutting costs could be made.

The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating

So, we mount a campaign of compromise.

My experience over the last couple of years has shown me that I can cut several of my old favourites out of my diet, and not miss them at all. Where I have a real craving for a particular item, or I feel the need, the longing, to fit in, I invest a little time and money investigating the brand or recipe that suits me best. My advice to you is to do the same.

Cut out what you can, stick to those good, natural foods, and treat yourself to that small selection of special snacks every now and then.

Have you…erm…still got any of that cake?

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Hi, I’m Mark.

I’m a writer from the UK who loves exploring life in this marvellous universe and sharing what I find.

Thanks for spending your time with me today.

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