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Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow.

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It’s All About Options

This week I’ve challenged you to give up gluten or dairy (or both!) to see if it makes a difference in the way you feel and look. If you’ve found that skipping wheat, barley and rye, or all things milk-based hasn’t produced any noticeable results, then simply return to your regular healthy eating plan. No harm, no foul. But if, like me, you’re experiencing less bloat, gas and digestive distress (and simply feeling better!), then stock up for another intolerant-free week ahead. This substitution guide will expand your options at the grocery store and leave you asking, “Bread, who?”

Gluten

Avoid: wheat, spelt, triticale, semolina, rye, matzo, barley, bulgur, graham flour, durham, farina and kamut, and their by-products

Try:

Brown or wild rice
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Potato starch flour
Tapioca flour
Soy flour
Coconut flour
Cornstarch
Corn flour (and, therefore, corn tortillas!)
Cornmeal
Sorghum
Flaxseed
Millet
Amaranth
Arrowroot
Almond flour
Beans and legumes, and their flours, such as chickpea (or garbanzo bean) and fava (or broad bean)
Nut flours/meals, such as almond and chestnut

Dairy

Avoid: cows’ milk and its by-products: cheese, butter, half and half, yogurt, cottage cheese and ice cream; the proteins casein, whey and lactalbumin, which are found in many processed foods

Try:

Regular or smoked tofu for sliced mozzarella or provolone
Nutritional yeast for cheese
Soy, hemp, or rice-based “cheese” for cheese
Plain soy yogurt for sour cream
Pureed silken tofu for sour cream
Soy yogurt for yogurt
Unsweetened applesauce for butter
Unrefined coconut oil for butter or lard
Olive oil for butter or lard
Avocado puree for butter
Mashed bananas for butter
Prune puree for butter
Hemp, soy, rice, oat, or almond milk for cow’s milk
Soy milk for buttermilk
Coconut, potato, rice, or soy milk powder for powdered milk
Coconut milk for evaporated milk, half-and-half or cream
Tofu spread for cream cheese
Flavoured tofu spread for chip dip
Baba ganoush for spinach and artichoke dip
Soy, rice or pea protein powder (also vegan) for whey protein powder
Coconut milk ice cream for gelato
Banana “ice cream” for ice cream
Sorbet for sherbet
Soy, rice or hemp-based “frozen yogurt” for frozen yogurt
Dark chocolate for milk chocolate
Carob chips for chocolate chips

But will zero cow’s milk mean a dip in your daily calcium intake?

Not to worry, there are plenty of dairy-free, calcium-rich food options out there to help you get the 1,000 milligrams (mg) recommended daily.

1 cup fortified soy or rice beverage: 300 mg
4 figs: 506 mg
6 pieces canned sardines with bones: 200-300 mg
1 cup white (navy) beans: 100-200 mg
½ cup bok choy, cooked: 50-100 mg
1 cup broccoli: 50-100 mg
1 medium orange; 50-100 mg
1 cup kale: 50-100 mg

Here’s a complete resource of more sources of calcium. http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Bone-Health/Calcium-Sources.aspx

Always living with passion,

Sammie