Eat Guilt-Free With the Best Gluten-Free Snacks

Gluten-free snacks have been around for a while but they’ve gotten a lot more popular in recent years. This is all you need to know about gluten-free snacks.

Why Are Gluten-Free Foods So Common These Days?

A lot of people didn’t even know about the existence of gluten until it was introduced via foods being labeled as “gluten-free”. But why can you find so many gluten-free foods in the market these days? The answer has to do with demand and the perceived benefits of gluten-free food.

You see, gluten has been known as a potential allergen for a long time now. Not everybody’s allergic to it, but those that are can’t really enjoy anything wheat-related for this reason. Gluten is also associated with certain diseases and medical conditions, and while not very common, they are still present and many people have to deal with it every day.

And while gluten-free foods can definitely benefit the type of people we just mentioned, gluten-free foods are mainly targeted toward people who want to live healthily. There’s this general idea or belief that “gluten-free = healthy”, and while this theory has been debunked numerous times, many people still believe in it.

The Benefit of Going Gluten-Free

But that doesn’t mean gluten-free foods are useless. In fact, even if you choose gluten-free foods because no gluten is good for you, you’re still going to generally end up healthier than you were before. Why? Because gluten-free products are made to be overall healthier than other products of the same type. 

In other words, a gluten-free bag of chips isn’t just gluten-free – it also contains less harmful substances and is better to eat than a bag of regular chips. This trend can be seen across virtually all types of gluten-free food. So while gluten-free foods don’t offer any direct benefits to the body, switching to a gluten-free diet can indirectly improve your overall health.

Types of Gluten-Free Snacks

Bars

Gluten-free food bars are very common and they’re some of the easiest to come across. Gluten-free bars are popular because they offer plenty of nutrients all packed into one neat little snack, and you can eat them on the go, too which can be useful if you live a busy lifestyle.

Gluten-free bars are usually coated with many different flavors, including caramel and chocolate syrup among other things. If there’s one downside to gluten-free bars, it’s that they often contain peanuts, and this can be an issue for those with peanut allergies. Even if the food doesn’t contain actual peanuts, it’s also possible that other ingredients were processed in the same conveyor belts and machines as peanuts.

Chips

Chips are the perfect snack for those looking for a crispy treat. Chips are very, very delicious, and some people just can’t help but eat a bag of chips every day. While they are tasty, in the long run, they aren't good for you. To curb this habit, you can replace the chips with gluten-free variants instead. While they aren’t the healthiest snacks in the world, they will be better than what you ate previously.

Snack and trail mixes

Snack and trail mixes are fun snacks that you can enjoy when you just aren’t in the mood for anything in particular. Snack mixes are a livelier take on chips, with multiple types of chips mixed into a single bag, sometimes even alongside other snacks like pretzel knots.

Then you have trail mixes. These mixes are mostly made out of nuts but can contain dried fruits and other little bites to add a special flavor to the mix. Trail mixes are slightly healthier than snack mixes due to the presence of nuts, but both are great options to eat regardless.

Should I Make the Gluten-Free Switch?

If you’re wondering whether or not you should make the jump toward going gluten-free, don’t feel rushed. Unless you have a known condition that causes complications when eating gluten, you aren’t really at any risk. You can still eat healthy while consuming gluten on a daily basis.