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There is no doubting the huge advances that have been made by this generation when it comes to general awareness of dietary science. Just think for a moment about how it would have sounded if someone had told you back in the 90s that they had a gluten intolerance. As we look at the present day, by contrast, every supermarket has a large section of healthy foods that are “free from”, whether that means free from gluten, lactose, or a range of other compounds.
It should be noted that these dietary decisions are not necessarily based on an intolerance in every case. Sometimes, a specific dietary choice is made because it will allow the dieter to lose weight fast, get more from their workout, or for any other reason. The sticking point – for the people making this decision out of choice, and the ones with an intolerance alike – is that often, this renders their favorite meals impossible; or at least makes them less pleasant.
Below, we’ll look into a few ways that you can make the transition to a diet that is “free from” something, without ruining your enjoyment of an old favourite.
Giving up sugar: How not to miss it
None of us can pretend we don’t know the drawbacks to having too much refined sugar in your diet. Simply put, it shouldn’t be there – it increases the risk of diabetes, drains energy and makes you pack on weight. The bad news is that a lot of things taste worse when it’s taken away. The good news is that, when it comes to baking, it can usually be replaced with alternatives like coconut palm sugar. In terms of your morning coffee, meanwhile, a more natural sweetener may work for you; for a guide on how to make vanilla extract, learn here just how easy that can be.
Quitting gluten: Can you replace it?
Gluten does a quite specific job in the foods in which it is found. If you bite into a chunk of bread and enjoy the light airiness, that’s gluten. If you swirl a forkful of spaghetti and appreciate how freely it flows, it’s gluten again. The truth of the matter is that if you try and replace your usual bread with a gluten-free alternative, you will be able to tell the difference, and the same goes for pasta.
If you’re trying to drop gluten, then, it is smart to simply replace it rather than seeking to replicate it. Instead of pasta, try some more benign grains like quinoa and polenta. For bread, it’s usually best to go “cold turkey”; failing that, tortilla wraps can be found with few carbs and no gluten.
Going egg-free: A baker’s dilemma
As well as being incompatible with veganism, eggs in a person’s diet can trigger an allergy that has some demonstrably unpleasant symptoms. Naturally, if you fall into either of the above groups, then scrambled or fried eggs are very much off the menu. So, you might think, are most baked goods, as these tend to make use of egg as a binding agent. However, it turns out there are several excellent alternatives including mashed banana, yogurt and applesauce; it’s worth experimenting to find your favourites.
Finding that you have a food intolerance is never the kind of news you want to receive, and cutting a certain nutrient out completely is often a tough ask. But by following the above tips, you may well find that you don’t even miss the “bad stuff” when you have to give it up.
