Are Low-Carb Meals and Snacks Gluten Free?

Are Low-Carb Meals and Snacks Gluten Free?

Questions??

A Low-Carb Diet
is Not Always Gluten Free
(Photo Credit: Richard Masoner, 
CC BY-SA 2.0)

The gluten-free community isn't very happy right now.

As those in the entertainment world continue to announce that they are going gluten free, not because they have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, but because they want to shed a few pounds, we have a horde of groupies and those who have heard that gluten-free diets are great for weight loss deciding that ditching the gluten is an important way to gain better health.

Typically, a low-carb dieter would have no problem with that, but since a lot of these people don't understand what a gluten-free diet actually is, they have put together a weight-loss plan based on their own ideas and incorporated these distorted dieting habits into that new gluten-free diet. Unfortunately, those habits often tell them it's okay to eat a little gluten once in a while.

What has gluten-free folks riled up is that these so-called gluten-free dieters (by choice) are not cheating at home, behind closed doors. They do it in public, particularly after causing a big scene in restaurants where chefs, waiters, waitresses, and busboys are getting sick-and-tired of going to all of the precautions and extra steps it takes to prepare a safe gluten-free meal, only to have the diner order a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. "It's okay if I eat a little gluten once in a while," they say.

While a low-carb dieter would never do that -- at least, not in their normal frame of mind -- I've heard many within the low-carb community voice misconceptions about low-carb diets being gluten free, as if that was a fact. For many low carbers, that isn't true. Most people can't live without their low-carb tortillas, sweets, and baked goods, but what about those who shun low-carb products?

Are clean low-carb meals and snacks gluten free?

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An Honest Discussion About Slow Weight Loss

An Honest Discussion About Slow Weight Loss

Low Carb Styles Special Event Diet The Brutal Way

Low-Carb Diets Designed
to Eliminate Hunger and Cravings

In my low-carb travels lately, I've run into quite a few folks who are very frustrated about how slowly they are losing weight on the Atkins Diet. These people expected the Atkins Nutritional Approach to perform in a way it wasn't designed for. Internet myths and rumors, comparing yourself to others, and misunderstanding the science behind why carbohydrate restriction results in weight loss can bring about tons of needless struggle and pain.

The more I read, the more I've realized that unrealistic expectations and misconceptions have reached epidemic proportions within the low-carb community. While some people do experience dramatic weight loss, that isn't the norm. Often, the people who find low carb easy are brand new to a low-carb diet and even dieting itself, so their body hasn't adapted to what they're doing yet.

The idea behind restricting carbohydrates isn't fast weight loss.

Low carb is about finding your personal carbohydrate tolerance level and then using that knowledge to get off the dieting merry-go-round, the carefree eating style that previously packed on the pounds, and move into a realistic, permanent lifestyle that's designed to improve your vitality and health.

What you might have forgotten is what brought you to the Atkins table. Maybe, you've spent a good portion of your life sampling every new diet scheme out there that promised to fulfill your dreams of happiness through achieving ultimate thinness. But, what did you get for all of those efforts? If dieting had worked, you wouldn't be reading this blog post right now.

So if you're frustrated with how slowly you're losing weight on Atkins, pull up a chair. Let's have an honest-to-goodness discussion about slow weight loss.

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12 Tasty Ideas for Eating Low Carb on a Budget

12 Tasty Ideas for Eating Low Carb on a Budget

Low Carb Styles

Eating Low-Carb on a Budget
Takes Creativity

At first glance, a low-carb diet can look quite expensive. Especially, since the focus is on meat and other high-cost proteins like cheese. Vegetables and leafy salads make up the bulk of your meals, taking the place of lower priced potatoes, white rice, and pasta on your plate. Bread and tortillas are also gone unless you have enough room in your budget for a few low-carb products. However, many low carbers do not.

The good news is that you can definitely eat low-carb on a budget. It just takes a little thought and planning. The key is to start with the cheapest basics available in your area, find recipes that make good use of those basics, and then branch out with whatever you can afford from there. That might sound easy, but it will take a bit of legwork and planning to pull it all together.

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Fresh Cucumber and Tomato Salsa

Fresh Cucumber and Tomato Salsa

The Brutal Way

Cucumber and Tomato Salsa

It's been really hot here in Utah for the past few days, over 100-degrees, so I've been experimenting with recipes that don't require a lot of cooking. On the days when hubby has to work out in the heat, I've also been serving food that can be eaten at room temperature.

When you're on a low-carb diet, summer meals can be quite a challenge. Not only does meat speed up your metabolism, making you uncomfortable in the summer heat, but typical low-carb stir fries, roasted vegetables, soups, and stews will also heat up the kitchen.

To solve the problem, you might want to try perking up the flavor of your crockpot chicken, lettuce wraps, and taco salads with a nice batch of fresh homemade salsa. Fresh salsas are made with assorted vegetables, using tomatoes, onions, and hot peppers as the base, but ingredients can vary widely depending on what you already have on hand and what rung of the carbohydrate ladder you're on.

That's how this Fresh Cucumber and Tomato Salsa was born.

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Best Grain-Free Sources of Vitamin B for a Low-Carb Diet

Best Grain-Free Sources of Vitamin B for a Low-Carb Diet

Low Carb Diet

Low-Carb Diet is Rich
in Vitamin B Complex Sources

Vitamin B is actually a group of different water-soluble vitamins that must be eaten daily since the body cannot store them. These vitamins are necessary to turn food into energy, create red blood cells, keep the nervous system and brain functioning normally, and even regulate appetite. Processing foods that contain natural B vitamins will destroy some of those nutrients, so grains and cereals are often enriched in order to replace the nutrients lost during processing.

When nutritionists claim that we should eat plenty of grains to be healthy, it is this artificial form of vitamins and minerals that manufacturers add to their stripped bread and over cooked products that they are suggesting we eat. In order to verify or destroy that claim, I recently did a little research on grains and grain-free sources of Vitamin B. Here is what I found out . . .

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