not eating wheat - apart from the obvious, what do i need to avoid?

[mckenzie]

A RL friend and I have decided to stop eating wheat for a while and see if we feel better for it (friend as part of weight loss and me to see if it helps with a small probelm i have).

Apart from the obvious things like bread, cakes, noodles, certain cereals etc are there any things that we need to keep away from that might not be immediate obvious?

TIA

Even down to things like stock cubes you ened to be careful so reading the lables is definitely what you need to do.

every bloody thing!!!I am doing it and have lost 7lbs in less than 3 weeks which is great and I have way more energy No bread cakes biscuits dorito-y things Look on labels its in evrything

I've had a wheat, dairy, sugar-free diet while pg which pretty much limits what I can eat. You can get wheat free pasta which is really nice (corn pasta not so good but Waitrose/Ocado do a Tru-free range which is lovely). Some versions of rye bread don't use wheat flour, just rye. You can also eat rice noodles. I often substitute bread for ryvitas or corn cakes. Good luck

It's yeast I'm in tolerant to and that's in alcohol too. I haven't found it very hard to avoid actually.

It's in sausages too, sorry

Thinking of it... avoiding wheat is a true nightmare, if it is for weight loss... I would say that by avoiding the most obvious blatant examples of wheat (anyhting made out of flour plus cereals) you will be seeing the difference as when hidden it is normally in such small quantities that it wouldn't really make a noticeable difference.

Elimination diets (where you try to avoid the problematic food fully, even the most minute quantites of it) are very hard to follow, and only recommended on medical grounds like with chronic digestive problems, allergies, etc. Otherwise the difference you may see when compared to simple excluding obvious wheat, if you see it, may not justify the amount of extra work you will need to put into it.

It's not hard if you just avoid processed foods though. A standard meal of mine of chicken and rice and veg is not likely to have wheat or yeast in it.

That's exactly where the difficulty lies Xenia, in getting weaned from convenience foods.

Good point about it is that once you do it, your eating habits become quite healthy!

thanks you so much for all the replies.
I had rice tonight but put soy sauce on it (oops, thank you domesticgrumpess for that one).
I dont eat sausages or drink beer so I'm okay there and I do cook most things from scratch so i'm hoping it won't be too hard.
Pasta was going to be a hard one so thanks for the tip re the Waitrose range annobal.
And what about couscous does anyone know please? I don't have any in the cupboard just now so can't check but I'm thinking that is definitely going to be wheat huh?

cous cous is a no no I'm afraid - that other stuff's OK (have had 3 glasses of wine so can't remember what it's called -it's pronounced oddly and when I'm sober I'll remember...). Burgers often have wheat in. Stock cubes, gravy mix (although Bisto is OK), most cereals - Tesco's Rice Krispies are OK though.

hic.

thanks Dottdot. And cheers! I've got some Sangria in the fridge that I was about to open. Please don't anyone tell me there is wheat in that as I've been looking forward to a glass of it all day!!

Quinoa!! That's what I was thinking of - have just been to check in the cupboard. It's pronounced Keenwa apparently... haven't tried it yet.

I think Sangria's fine!!

Hi McKenzie. You may want to avoid oats as well... I cut out wheat about six years ago (and have felt amazing ever since) and did find that oats didn't agree with me.

Aside from that, it is, as others have said, getting off the convenience/processed food and eating good healthy stuff. I never thought I'd manage it but now, having seen the extra energy I have and the better shape I'm in, I'd never go back! And I eat tonnes of chocolate and plenty of wine too! Sangria's good for you!

Hope it all goes well. Good luck. Impy x

my dd is on a wheat free diet due to allergies. i find the gluten free flour very good - and the strong flour (bread making version) is great as a flour substitute for pancakes.
Wheat free pitta breads are also great ( the big supermarkets do them)
Buckwheat (flour and noodles) gram flour (the ground chickpea flour ) also great for cooking from scratch. Polenta also a good alternative - and mexican shops do good corn tortillas.

Just remembered you wanted to know what to avoid - nevermind, hope this bread alternative list helps anyway

Good luck!

oh and oatcakes are good too - but watch out - some have wheat in them. Nairns don't.

thanks for the extra replies. iIhave some Quinoa in the cupboard for some reason so will try that this week and I'm already hooked on Nairns oatcakes! Impychica - thanks for the warning and i'll bear that in mind although I hope it wont be the case. It's taken me a zillion years but I finally enjoy eating porridge .

McKenzie... are you apreciating any difference?