Gluten-free and lactose-free eating: what you can have without it getting boring
A list of foods you can eat freely, the hidden places gluten and lactose sneak in, and a sample day that isn't just rice and chicken.
When your doctor says "no gluten and no lactose", the first reaction is usually panic: so what's left? Actually, most food is. Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, legumes, rice, potatoes and nuts are all naturally free of both gluten and lactose. The harder part is learning where they hide.
First: intolerance or coeliac disease?
This is an important difference. With coeliac disease even a crumb of gluten causes problems, so you also have to watch for cross-contamination (the same toaster, the same chopping board, the same fryer). With gluten sensitivity or lactose intolerance, small amounts are usually fine. If you're not sure what you have, get tested by your doctor first, and only then cut foods out. Dropping gluten before a coeliac test can skew the results.
What you can eat freely
- Protein: meat, chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, legumes.
- Grains and starches: rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Despite its name, buckwheat has nothing to do with wheat.
- Vegetables and fruit: all of them, in any form.
- Fats: olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds.
- Dairy alternatives: plant milks, lactose-free yoghurts, lactose-free milk.
Where gluten hides
- packet soups and stock cubes,
- soy sauce (the classic kind is made with wheat),
- sausages, hot dogs, breaded and battered meat,
- ready-made sauces, dressings and spice mixes,
- oats, unless labelled gluten-free (oats are often contaminated with wheat),
- beer.
Where lactose hides
- shop-bought pastries, biscuits and sweets,
- cured meats and pâtés,
- instant mashed potato, ready-made soups,
- some medicines and supplements (lactose is used as a filler).
The good news: aged hard cheeses (parmesan, gouda, emmental) contain very little lactose, and many people tolerate yoghurt and kefir better than milk because the bacteria have already "eaten" some of the lactose. Try small amounts.
A sample gluten-free, lactose-free day
- Breakfast: vegetable omelette with buckwheat bread and avocado.
- Snack: lactose-free yoghurt with berries and almonds.
- Lunch: chicken with quinoa and roasted vegetables.
- Snack: hummus with carrot and cucumber sticks.
- Dinner: salmon with sweet potato and green salad.
Nothing "diet" or sad about it. Just no bread and no milk.
No label reading
The most tiring part of eating this way is constantly checking ingredients. We adapt our meals to be gluten-free and lactose-free. Just add it to the order note. If you have coeliac disease or a severe allergy, call us before your first order via the Contact page, so we can go over what you need together. You can choose a package on the pricing page.