Hoboken, NJ (November 2011)—If you’ve been diagnosed with celiac disease or you’ve adopted the diet to simply become healthier, you know that you have the knowledge and willpower to stay away from gluten. But liking, much less loving, your new diet? Well, that’s another matter entirely. Many individuals who live a gluten-free lifestyle find themselves missing their old diets, and they especially dread being taunted by friends who seem to gobble gluten at every turn.
If this sounds familiar, Danna Korn has some welcome encouragement: Hang in there. You can learn to live—and love—this lifestyle.
“Going gluten-free is a physical transition, yes—but it’s also a psychological one,” says Korn, author of Living Gluten-Free For Dummies®, 2nd Edition (Wiley, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-470-58589-4, $19.99). “It’s natural to experience feelings of loss and jealousy regarding ‘forbidden foods,’ but the good news is that you can learn to think of your gluten-free lifestyle in very positive terms.”
If you or a family member must live gluten-free and you’re ready to see your lifestyle in a whole new light, read on for ten of Korn’s tried-and-true tips:
Focus on what you can eat. When your brain is focused on gluten, it can seem to be surrounding you even more closely than oxygen molecules. However, looking at the big picture will show you that the list of things you can eat is a lot longer than the list of things you can’t.
“Focus on the foods you can eat and put a special emphasis on those that you especially enjoy,” Korn suggests. “Try to think outside the box and explore foods you may not have otherwise tried, or figure out how to make your favorite glutenous meal into a gluten-freebie.”
Expand your culinary horizons with adventuresome alternatives. Many of us tend to eat the same types of foods over and over and over again—so living gluten-free is a great opportunity to try new ingredients, tastes, and dishes.
“A bold, gluten-free world awaits you, filled with foods some people have never heard of,” Korn confirms. “Quinoa, amaranth, teff, millet, buckwheat, acai, kefir, and sorghum top the list of my faves. If you’re a parent, don’t underestimate your kids’ willingness to try new foods—they may broaden their horizons with surprising ease.”