One of the drawbacks to adopting a gluten-free diet is that nutrient deficiencies may occur. If the diet is followed correctly, this should NOT be the case.
This problem arises when people cut out a lot of the food that they’re accustomed to eating but don’t have healthier alternatives. While processed foods are bad, they do contain fiber and vitamins, and minerals that the body needs.
When these foods are eliminated and not replaced with healthy substitutes, the body starts to lack nutrients and so on. In this article, we’ll look at a few ways to overcome this problem.
- Fiber
This is probably the first one to go when you adopt a gluten-free diet. When wheat is cut out of the diet, you’ll need to find dietary fiber from other sources. It’s extremely important for preventing constipation and other abdominal issues.
You can get a decent amount of fiber just by eating vegetables daily. Collard greens, broccoli, Lima beans, Brussel sprouts, carrots, asparagus, etc. are all fantastic sources of fiber.
These vegetables are also chockful of micronutrients that the body needs. So, you’ll not only be getting a good dose of dietary fiber but giving your body the type of nutrients that it truly craves. Your body loves vegetables.
- Vitamins
When you consume processed foods, usually the foods are either enriched or fortified. Neither is a good process, but it’s still better than not getting any nutrients.
When you eat cereals that state “enriched” with vitamins, what that means is that the manufacturing process has stripped off some of the vitamins from these foods. To make up for the loss, the food companies add vitamins back.
Common vitamins added are riboflavin, thiamine, etc. You’ll often see these on the food labels when you buy sliced bread.
If it says “fortified”, what that means is additional vitamins that are not commonly present in these foods have been added. One common example are manufacturers adding calcium to processed orange juice.
The hard truth is that your body does not need nor want fortified or enriched foods. It wants vitamins from natural, wholesome foods. Instead of drinking, fortified orange juice to get calcium, you’re better off eating oranges and spinach. You’ll get both vitamin C and calcium.
So, you can always find foods that provide you all the vitamins you need. You do not need processed foods that contain gluten. If you wish to be safe, you can just get a multivitamin from a health store and take one daily to compensate for any missing nutrients.
- Hire a dietician
There’s no denying the fact that adopting a gluten-free diet and trying to get all the nutrients you need from a balanced diet can be a difficult task initially. If you do not wish to do the research and study all the different foods, etc. your best option is to hire a dietician.
Tell him or her that you’re gluten intolerant and they’ll be able to create a meal plan and also educate you on the food choices. Your learning curve will be fast, and you’ll have a professionally-done meal plan that you can easily follow.
A gluten-free diet can be healthy and is in fact better than the daily diet of most people. Eat a wide variety of natural, wholesome foods and your body will not be lacking for nutrients. You’ll look and feel much better. You are what you eat.
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