Are you the type of shopper who helps bag your own groceries or stands there watching? Bagging groceries is not a new concept at the grocery store. It doesn't matter where you shop: Whole Foods, HEB, Sprouts, Wegmans, Public, Shoprite, Stop N Shop, etc. standing at the cashier and watching people bag for you instead of lifting your hands is not acceptable. This is a problem for you, as other people watch with disbelief. I've gone to the grocery store multiple times over the last month observing shopper's behavior. Here are my findings, they're quite simple. Where do you belong in this analysis?
70% of Customers Don't Bag Groceries
-Trader Joe's Cashier-
Finally, a trusted gluten free marketplace!
I've been searching high and low for a place to easily find gluten-free trusted and credible products. Sure, there are websites out there that sell gluten free products, but many of them lack transparency behind the gluten free claims, lack detailed information about the products, also these sites may even sell gluten containing products or are just confusing to navigate and that's frustrating to actually buy effectively. If I can't find a product online, understand the price and shipping information then I leave. Or I'll simply drive to Whole Foods, Sprouts, or local healthy natural market where I can speak to educated staff to find, learn and buy. The problem is that driving is a waste of time to go wait in lines and search forever in a store that carries limited gluten-free products when a lot of the good gluten-free products are available online at Strictly Gluten Free.
Find More Local Stores
Since
gluten-free products tend to cost higher than traditional food (cheap
mass produced food) you'll need to shop around to protect your wallet.
This may be annoying at first, but you should first look for large
grocery chains that may just be a few extra miles away, in addition to
the many local health food stores that are in existence because they
know something you don't! Get to know these people and ask them
questions. Talk, learn, share and try new things.
Food Education The Mainstream Won't Teach
Now that you're avoiding gluten (amino acid/protein) that is found in wheat, barely, rye, malts, etc it's time to learn more about improving your health today and long term. A gluten education is the stepping stone to learning about the corrupted food supply domestically, worldwide and about nutrition. First, gluten is typically found in everything (because wheat is a mass produced cheap ingredient used to fill various types of products) or gluten-free food is contaminated in the manufacturing process (cheap and dirty) because chefs, line staff don't separate and clean equipment and now you need to be smarter.
It's now important to avoid GMOs, genetically modified organisms, as they're found in more than 70% of the traditional grocery store fresh and packaged foods. GMOs are un-proven, un-tested and believed to be dangerous because they're not actual food, in fact, the seeds are labeled by the FDA first as toxins. How? The DNA of GMOs are entirely made in a laboratory to help them resist insects (a natural predator in the world) and yield more harvest, and that's unproven, while killing too many insects, like bees, and people along with damaging the eco-system because pesticides are over used since the GMO crop can resist the pesticides and prosper. And it's a business, Monsanto, a tech company has patented the seed (life) resulting in horrid business politics of big business and small - large farmers. Its' a mess and it's a heavy corrupted lobbying practice in rich America that you can personallly void with a food education... We 100% recommend that you avoid GMOs and avoid gluten to maximize a legitimate and credible natural and healthy life like our ancestors prospered just fine.
Don't Replace Comfort Foods
Your first step is to finding smarter and healthier real food is to avoid your comfort alternatives such as the pretzels, chips and easy microwavable alternatives. That would be the opposite of what you should be doing. Focus on organic and nonGMO fruits, vegetables, wild fish, hormone and antibiotic-free meat and poultry, because the mass produced packaged food industry typically have less nutrients and is not healthy or sustainable and now you're in control of living longer and healthier, so minimize the easy alternatives and start cooking, slicing, dicing, baking and sauteing, real nonGMO and organic food. You are given a second chance so don't let what you thought you knew was good, safe, or comfortable get in your way of the new tasty and healthy options ahead to re-train yourself, that's what I did.
Donate Your Microwave
Get rid of it, seriously. There is nothing smart or healthy about putting your food or liquids in a box, pressing a few buttons and it comes out 'ready to eat' unless you have to! The would be fine for an astronaut, if the world ended and you had no choice, or if someone put a gun to your head and said to do it. Eat real, living, raw foods first and slice, dice, cook and bake them like real people have done for thousands of years. Using a microwave everyday is lazy and I highly recommend that you stop. If you can't stop, I'm mad at you, then at least commit to using it only 1x per month or less because planning ahead is part of real challenges in life. Easy to heat and cook foods typically lack nutrition, too.
Don't Pay More For Gluten-Free Products
Research food price, just like the smart shoppers! And don't pay for a crappy product marked up with a gluten-free label. Buy legit natural and credible products from brands you can trust and found in health food stores. They go on sale sometimes or just have legit quality ingredients that you can pronounce and have the certifications on the labels to feel good paying for. Healthier products are worth trying and then you can learn more about how to find them at the best price. Don't be enticed by some mainstream brand with a gluten-free label, that's the easy and dangerous solution, go with a brand that has proven to you their all about health alternatives, not just a band-aid gluten-free text on the bottle.
Plan Ahead, Not Just For Tomorrow
In order to be smarter and healthier, you'll need to plan for what you do today, tomorrow and the next day, just like everyone else. However, now you're not like common people, you have a second chance to gain health and make improvements long term in your life. Have ample fresh organic and nonGMO fruits and vegetables, nuts, etc that you can have handy for when you are on the go. Cook enough left overs for more than the same day and plan ahead to cook, and clean as you should be making food fresh, just like everyone else who is committed to being smarter and healthier.
When Gluten-Free Doesn't = Gluten-Free Safe
In
today's society, gluten is one of many ingredients that contaminate the
food supply because it's a cheap filler. It's added to almost
everything. Therefore, when you see a gluten-free label you can't trust
it unless there is a certification label or they provide transparency
into their verification process they do themselves regularly to ensure
it's safe. The truth is food often has insects, urine, dead rats and
traces of stuff in them and brands are not forced to label that unless
someone catches them or if there is a high enough traces if they're
tested and somebody catches them! I'm saying, mo money mo problems, in the food industry, got it? The food supply my friends, is a bit
wild! FDA passed a gluten-free guidelines in August 2014 about testing
<20 ppm for all labeled gluten-free products, but there still is no
official policing, except the people :)
Health Stores, Supermarkets & Online Marketplaces
The growth of gluten-free market place was inevitable from a Celiac perspective because we knew from the inside that gluten was a health concern beyond an auto-immune disease. Since food is a main stay in our society, we can't live without it, adaptation and survival of the fittest shows Darwin-istic tendencies from business to consumer. Now the mass population, curious and naive as they are (wink) witness gluten-free aisles, labels and promotions in their local stores and in their email, advertising popups and e-commerce online marketplaces and that's evolution for sure.
- QUESTION REMAINING: From growing business acquisitions that we read about in the press, can we find out why we still face average 30% higher prices for gluten-free foods?
Who Writes Articles on Gluten-Free Trends? (Inside vs Outside)
- NY Times - A Big Bet on Gluten-Free, has been written by those on the outside of the gluten-free movement focusing on business and not the legitimate 360 degree educational mission for gluten-free change forward. It's nice to receive the attention, but it's not actually helpful to the masses and their lack of health knowledge affects the Celiac movement negatively with their lack of support for us and insights into evolving gluten related and non-GMO health concerns.
- Celiac.com - Project Gluten-Free Market Growth Provides Incentive To Educate Yourself, was written by Tracy Grabowski (gluten-free mom with three kids) from inside of the gluten-free movement supporting and promising health and educational reform. You'll see her pros/cons and holistic thinking and takeaways that enable us all to think about food in a new way for change.
- QUESTION REMAINING: When will our main stream leaders and big budget corporations listen, research and adapt the innovative research that so many of doctors, scientists have published to help and educate the masses on gluten as well as GMOs?
Shop With Curiosity Not Your Hunger
The wild card here is that articles written by the masses, who don't have Celiac or are not inside the true gluten-free movement, cannot shed trustworthy light on gluten-free food sources, labeling, health and provide accurate suggestions to those who shop for gluten-free because they believe deep down gluten is still healthy! It's as easy as interviewing a few people on the street and analyzing their diet, lifestyle and health. How many products have you seen that include "newer" ingredients such as quinoa, buckwheat, chia, amaranth, flax, teff highlighting their unique health properties (iron, fiber, protein, omegas, etc) and many more but their cost is higher than corn, wheat or rice based products with very little nutrient levels? Many believe wheat and other gluten grains are healthy, but don't know how unhealthy gluten is to the majority of humans and other animals since they don't research or believe that mass media and large corporations could feed us crap, well... wake up.
99% of food manufacturers don't care about health, just profits. When will this business mantra change? Eating cheap, pre-packaged foods is nowhere in the mission of any Celiac gluten-free consumer, that's just an uneducated, ignorant lifestyle. Just because Bisquick creates a gluten-free product doesn't mean we should buy it immediately; we should be investigating the source ingredients selected, taste profile and brand mission vs competitors. We need the masses who join the bandwagon and/or have legitimate gluten-free health concerns to shop smart, not cheap, and support those companies who combine health, price and earth... there are many!
Gluten contamination in food, beverages and in restaurants continue to be an alarming issue. How can we trust restaurants or brands that don't verify through a third party? Since labeling has evolved over the years it seems that without a certified gluten-free label we will simply cannot trust anyone or a label. That's why you should support those that go the extra mile to invest in their own products (which costs money) for these 3rd party label certifications such as gluten-free, non GMO, organic, vegan, etc and call companies direct asking why they don't have a certification.
- QUESTION REMAINING: Can you share this article and others with a family or friend who previously didn't find the value of food education or perhaps is currently suffering from a confusing gluten related concern?
