Trying to do organic/ non gmo / glutan free no corn syrup- not easy

[LuvOrlando]

I'm trying to make a switch because I think some of the things I've been eating have been irritating my migraines. Boy this is hard, not really even looking at the prices right now to get started I figure that'll come in time but it's still tough. So I tried the Ronzoni gluten-free blend pasta- even sure if it is organic and GMO free to be honest but everybody really liked it. Now I am trying to search out other products to slide into the home and it's really hard to find non gmo/organic & gluten free plus no corn syrup all in one, I found a non-GMO organic sugar at the big Walmart but kind granola bars are non-GMO and gluten free but does say organic.

Anyone have favorite brands for normal family staples? I feel like I'm on a scavenger hunt rotfl. I'm ok with moving around some but stuff like cereal, snacks & bread are a minefield. Seems as if the companies are picking one or two catchphrases but few are willing to do everything.

 

[KKB]

I am gluten intolerant & also suffer from migraines.
A couple tips...
Focus on REAL foods: (easiest to avoid all those things)
--fruits & veggies (fresh or frozen are best, but canned are often OK--check the labels); stick with the "dirty dozen" for organic to save $
(dirty dozen: http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214)
--dairy, meat
--rice
Avoid processed foods as much as possible. (ie. make your own granola bars)

More importantly, try removing/adding ONE of these from your diet at a time (organic, GMO, Gluten, OR corn syrup) for a couple weeks & see if you see any improvement. It may only be one that is causing your issues & there is no reason to eliminate them all--a VERY difficult thing to do. Additionally, any good experiment has ONE control (one thing changed or kept constant) at a time so you get reliable results. It will take longer to determine what is bothering you, but you will most likely be able to live easier if you only have to eliminate ONE thing from your diet.

I was suffering from what we thought was IBS, along with other symptoms that seemed unrelated (that had me on hydrocodone regularly!). My FIL who has RA heard about the author of Wheat Belly & recommended eliminating wheat for a week. In FOUR days we knew that my body functioned better (DH said he could tell the difference before I even said I noticed). I have been gluten free (for the most part) for the last 2 years--and while I still get an occasional aura, migraines are much more rare than in the past (now, my migraines were tolerable & I am in perimenopause, so that may be impacting that as well).

Good luck. It is a challenge (but not too much of one) to just be GF, but alleviating all the physical issues was ABSOLUTELY worth the trouble.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

This probably isn't what you're looking for, but I ended up just cutting out that stuff from my diet or making it myself.

Finding 'clean' processed boxed foods is almost an oxymoron. I found that even finding the best of the best usually still had ingredients I didn't want to have in my food. Unfortunately, food marketing and labeling are such that can make things even more difficult to wade through.

I'll say for the record that GMO is one of those buzzwords that I believe is really misleading. All our food today is GMO. I can't think of a single crop or animal that hasn't been enhanced through selective breeding (chickens grow to 4 times the size in about half the time as back in the 50s).

Corn and soy have started to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people and they are nearly every single processed food in some form.

Rather than trying to replace all of your regular items I would suggest: look at what you can cut completely, look at what you could make yourself, and then try to find a reliable alternative to a few key items.

 

[LJSquishy]

Organic processed foods aren't much better than non-organic so my biggest tip for you is to avoid all of that as much as possible. Focus on shopping the perimeter of grocery stores (minus the bread section).

I order a lot of non-perishable foods from Vitacost.com, especially unusual things like black bean pasta (there is also red lentil pasta), as well as healthier condiments like unsweetened organic ketchup and things I go through a lot of like coconut Amino's, organic balsamic vinegar, etc. Everything is much cheaper than local stores and I try to wait until I have a coupon.

If you have Costco nearby, Dave's Killer Bread is a great organic choice if you want bread (if others in your house aren't GF)...I especially like the red bag thin slices (Powerseed thin sliced I think) which is sweetened with fruit juice and has smaller slices and therefore less calories. All gluten free breads are full of junk so I would learn to live without.

I make a lot of things myself like plain yogurt, Lara bars, and granola.

 

[Minnesota!]

Skip the boxed and processed.

Use zucchini as noodles. Or have your sauce over roasted veggies instead of noodles.

It comes down to having to make your own to ensure that what you are putting in your body does your body good.

I would skip looking for alternatives, and just focus on the proteins, veggies, and fruit.

Good luck!

 

[Pinfeathers & Golly Fluff]

This almond bread is now a staple in our house, it is delicious! http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipes/22367_laura_prepon_gluten_free_almond_bread/

 

[CoP Luv]

I am not a doctor, just relaying my experiences.

My husband also suffered from migraines and now doesn't get any (or maybe just a little headache here and there - which can be annoying too!).

Skip the boxes, cans, cartons, etc. When we first started on the "seeing if diet will make a difference" train (and it HAS big time!), we were doing exactly as you were: buying gluten free versions of what we liked to eat - bread, cereal, pasta, cookies, blah blah blah. Didn't help one bit.

It wasn't until we got rid of the processed garbage that changes really started to take shape. My husband hasn't had "processed" food in over 6 years. No soy, sugar, starch, gluten, lactose. We can find some things that we don't have to make from scratch like almond butter, rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods, raisins, and a few other snacks, but for the most part, it is a MAJOR LIFESTYLE change to cook everything ourselves. We have had a lot of trial and error but for my husband's health, it has been so worth it. We have found some amazing recipes and cookbooks (not just labeled "gluten-free") and people are shocked that some of our food isn't filled with sugar or processed food.

My mom loves to cook for my husband and it has help my parents out too by their eating habits. I have become more adventurous with my eating (before we were trying to cut down to three nights a week of pasta), and my cholesterol has gone down by a lot too.

It is HARD. But I can tell you that if you really stick to something like this, you can hopefully see some changes (and not just with migraines!)

I follow comfybelly.com (jerk chicken is requested at every BBQ) and againstallgrain.com. I have found some of Alton Brown's recipes to be fine or I sub what I can.

 

[KKB]

CoP Luv--you have hit the nail on the head. It is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE.
With 2 teens still at home, there is way more processed/convenience foods in my house than I would prefer. And with our mad schedules, we have a lot of meals on the fly. We avoid fast food & I try to crock simple things frequently.
As children fly the nest (DD to college in the fall), & we have more time (and need for quick meals), I intend to do even more.
I do buy GF pasta & the kids are fine with it.
I have bough Williams Sonoma cup for cup flour for holiday baking, but honestly it is just easier to eat produce, meat (we get our meat from a nearby rancher--OMG it tastes SO SO SO much better & it costs us $3/lb. total for burgers, roasts & STEAKS), low fat dairy, rice.
OP--remember this is a PROCESS. I went GF 2 years ago. In the beginning I could eat a little...but the less I eat, the more sensitive I have become. It is a journey--if you can do a bit at a time it is much easier (not always a possibility)

 

[LuvOrlando]

KKB, I've had experiences with the gluten and the corn syrup in the past and just figured I may as well try to go organic with the non GMO while I'm at it. Thanks for the article, Interesting that nearly all the items on the highly contaminated list give me horrible migraines- peaches & cherries are nearly instant. I also noticed produce from some stores is worse than others. I didn't know I can make my own granola bars.

Fairestofthemall37, understand we are coming from I didn't really worry too much about GMO's until I recently saw some articles about how they are trying to figure out how to make corn able to withstand roundup. The first few articles didn't bug me, I sort of assumed they were nonsense, but the carefully calculated responses from the company trying to say roundup is not bad for lab animals are way more disturbing so I figure if I go this route the food will be far likely to have hardcore chemicals.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Fairestofthemall37, understand we are coming from I didn't really worry too much about GMO's until I recently saw some articles about how they are trying to figure out how to make corn able to withstand roundup. The first few articles didn't bug me, I sort of assumed they were nonsense, but the carefully calculated responses from the company trying to say roundup is not bad for lab animals are way more disturbing so I figure if I go this route the food will be far likely to have hardcore chemicals.

Becoming more aware of not only what's in our food, but how our over-industrialized farming practices affect our food is a fall down a very terrifying rabbit hole.

My statement earlier was just my opinion-I think GMO gets an unnecessarily bad reputation, especially with regard to crops. GMO corn and soy have changed the tide of famine for many people throughout the world. It's allowed crops to grow and survive in various climates.

Our issue in America (again IMHO) is the sheer volume of corn and soy being pumped into our food because it's cheap and subsidized. This magnifies and amplifies any potential issues with these high yield crops.

Going non-GMO is a very difficult road even if you think you're eating clean. Chickens usually get fed a corn feed often with soy. Almost all farmed fish (especially tilapia) are fed corn-soy based feed. Unless you opt for grass-fed, pastured beef and pork, again they're being fed corn and soy.

Even things like yogurt (should be simple) have soy proteins added for thickening and nutrition labels and is a whole heck of a lot cheaper than thickening the product without additives.

 

[LuvOrlando]

LJsquishy, thanks for the links & brands. I see the page has red mill, what kind of flour do you prefer? Thinking stuff like breadcrumb and such will be difficult if I don't jump ahead. Can you share recipes?

Minnesota! The processed search is more for my kids than me. Just trying to pick a few cereals & snacks for them and alternatives for picnics & such but it's blossomed into something of a quest.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Pinfeathers & Golly fluff, thanks for the recipe. I'll look for the ingredients at Wegmand tomorrow.

CoP Luv, so much good info. It is a huge change in front of me. I did a revamp years ago when I switched to heart healthy home cooking soIguessthus will be similar. So far my family is thrilled I'm doing this so that's a help. I really hope it helps with the migraines

KKB, good points. I'll look into locally supplied beef. Thanks for the support

 

[LuvOrlando]

Becoming more aware of not only what's in our food, but how our over-industrialized farming practices affect our food is a fall down a very terrifying rabbit hole.

My statement earlier was just my opinion-I think GMO gets an unnecessarily bad reputation, especially with regard to crops. GMO corn and soy have changed the tide of famine for many people throughout the world. It's allowed crops to grow and survive in various climates.

Our issue in America (again IMHO) is the sheer volume of corn and soy being pumped into our food because it's cheap and subsidized. This magnifies and amplifies any potential issues with these high yield crops.

Going non-GMO is a very difficult road even if you think you're eating clean. Chickens usually get fed a corn feed often with soy. Almost all farmed fish (especially tilapia) are fed corn-soy based feed. Unless you opt for grass-fed, pastured beef and pork, again they're being fed corn and soy.

Even things like yogurt (should be simple) have soy proteins added for thickening and nutrition labels and is a whole heck of a lot cheaper than thickening the product without additives.

I agree. I always thought the anti gmo movement was a 'the sky is falling' sort of thing. It is amazing that food can now grow in hostile environments and feed people who were struggling with ongoing famine so it's not like Im anti that, that side of things is great and I thought that's all there was. What is scary is the idea that food isn't being modified to accommodate human environments to save lives anymore but instead it's being bioengineered to accommodate weed killers & probably insecticides etc. I imagine that just like with street drugs the companies who make agricultural chemicals can just stay ahead of the fda and as soon as one substance is outlawed make a new more dangerous one that's legal because it's new and NOW have seeds for crops that can withstand matching poisons- yikes. This is the ugly side of it & it's scary to me to think that the bioethics involved is so blind to our well being as a species. To be honest I'm not that knowledgable about all of this, guess I'm late to the game. I know I can't exclude it entirely but I do hope that some effort might have some influence- all I can do is try.

 

[rnorwo1]

I wasn't aware of really having any particular problems, but I had just a general sense of malaise. Last year I did a "Whole 30," and (after I got past the headaches the first week), I couldn't believe how well I slept and just how good I felt. If you want to see what in particular causes problems for you, you can do that, and then when you finish the 30 days add back things in your diet one at a time to examine what you may have a reaction to. Same principle as taking things out one by one, just in reverse (ie faster results).

I gradually added everything back in my diet, sadly. I still eat better, because before this I despised most vegetables. Breakfast was the hardest, until I began thinking about it as any meal, and now I eat the same things for breakfast that I would any other meal.

My oldest son has a host of issues that started out of the blue with auras, seizures, and GI issues. he tested negative for celiacs, which can cause seizures, but I'm still not convinced that diet is not related (if not to the seizures, then definitely to the GI issues). So, I want to do this with him, but I have got to step up my game. For me, shopping is actually my downfall. I despise doing it, and I've always purposely minimized trips to reduce how much I spend. But you have to go so frequently for fresh produce. Ugh, I hate it. If only I had a personal chef, we would be so healthy.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I don't know what the "whole 30 is but I'll check it out rnorwo1. I hear you with the kids thing I hope it helps my daughters migraines and maybe it will improve both kids asthma too- certainly it's not gonna hurt it so why not.

When I started heavily incorporating fresh fruits & vegetables into our household it was a pain but I worked it into my regular routine. Farmers market I go to at least once a week in the winter twice a week in the summer & the routine thing helps, as does going first thing in the morning before the crowds show up.

As an aside, the thing is I am starting to wonder if the produce is entirely imported from suspicious origin and just sold in a farmers market type format as a gimmick because some of the items are wildly out of season but still incredibly inexpensive so that's a bit sketchy to me. I am considering sticking to a bigger store with better controls during off season.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So can somebody tell me what the deal is with all these different grains and flours and what's relatively normal tasting and what's not I saw a bunch of stuff I've never even heard of before today. Sure maybe at some point we will go for the exotic but right now I'm just aiming at getting everyone to cooperate with me at home & the less unusual stuff is the easier the shift will be

Headed to a health food store and Wegmans tomorrow to see what I can discover there, I don't have a Whole foods or Trader Joe's or Costco

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I don't know what the "whole 30 is but I'll check it out rnorwo1.

When I started heavily incorporating fresh fruits & vegetables into our household it was a pain but I worked it into my regular routine. Farmers market I go to at least once a week in the winter twice a week in the summer & the routine thing helps, as does going first thing in the morning before the crowds show up.

As an aside, the thing is I am starting to wonder if the food is entirely imported from suspicious origin and just sold in a farmers market type format as a gimmick because some of the items are wildly out of season but still incredibly inexpensive so that's a bit sketchy to me. I am considering sticking to a bigger store with better controls during off season.

About the last paragraph-it is definitely possible that is the case. You will definitely run into produce coming from outside the us in larger stores. I personally do not assume that there are better off buying from the supermarket. Just look at how many recalls have happened recently over salmonella, e. Coli, and listeria.

Honestly, I'd go with the cheapest and most convenient. You can even go with frozen vegetables to help extend shopping times. Because it's frozen right when it's picked, it can sometimes even be "fresher" than produce that's been transported from Mexico and beyond.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

So can somebody tell me what the deal is with all these different grains and flours and what's relatively normal tasting and what's not I saw a bunch of stuff I've never even heard of before today. Sure maybe at some point we will go for the exotic but right now I'm just aiming at getting everyone to cooperate with me at home & the less unusual stuff is the easier the shift will be

Headed to a health food store and Wegmans tomorrow to see what I can discover there, I don't have a Whole foods or Trader Joe's or Costco

Almond flour is going to be your best bet starting out. It's relatively easy to find and doesn't really add a unique taste or texture. Coconut flour is another one.

What do you plan on using it for?

 

[Pinfeathers & Golly Fluff]

I love the King Arthur Flour almond flour and the Nutiva coconut flour... they're both incredibly smooth and bake really well, no grittiness at all. i just started on all organic / non-GMO a few weeks ago after having problems with my gallbladder and then gallbladder removal surgery. What a difference it makes! Laura Prepon's book "The Stash Plan" is what got me started. It has such awesome recipes, tips, insights and exercises. Not sure if we're allowed to post links to items for purchase so if you want to take a look at it and need help finding it, feel free to PM me

 

[LuvOrlando]

Fairestofthemall37 that's true, my daughter got I'll from that darn listeria Dole thing the story blew up the day after she ate it

I don't bake too.much but it occasionally comes up- thinking I might do some bread for Easter, possibly a crust for a pie

Pinfeathers and Golly Fluff I'll look those up & get back to you