I recently read that gluten-free substitutes such as gluten-free pizza, gluten-free pasta, and gluten-free bread can make you gain weight. I poured over that article in disbelief, but it finally registered with me. I’ve been on a gluten free diet for over a year now, and it makes sense to me now. 2 years ago, I weighed in at my annual physical at 106 lbs. Fast forward one year and the scale tipped to 110 lbs. In the span of that year, I went on a Whole30 diet and lost 4 lbs (I went down to 102 lbs) and went GF because I realized I was reacting to gluten. So, my net weight gain was 4-8 lbs, or 4-8% of my weight, in that year – depending on what you consider to be my starting point.
Now you may be saying, boo hoo, you weigh a whole 110 lbs. I’m sure many of you would love to be that weight but for me I have been petite and shorter in stature all of my life. I also had a belly pooch from three pregnancies that was growing and with each year. Per my last physical exam, my doctor said to avoid complicated diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, etc. I would need to watch my weight gain.
So, the best approach to fight this weight gain problem would be go back to Whole30, right? Sure, if I had 20 more hours in the week to cook and will power to abstain to from some of my favorite foods. What about just not eating GF substitutes? That could be feasible for me if I was single and didn’t have other mouths to feed. But that’s not the case. I have time constraints and picky eaters. So, if I continue with the GF substitute, I’ll need to add more fiber to our diets. As I’m doing my research, here are the top, most family-friendly fiber foods that I can add to my family’s diet. Note that I excluded legumes because those are Whole30 friendly and I do react to those as well.
Here is the list of kid-friendly fiber rich foods:
- Peas – 8.8 grams of fiber per cup of cooked peas
- Raspberries – 8 grams of fiber per cup of raw raspberries
- Avocados – 6.7 grams of fiber per 100 grams of avocado
- Pears – 5.5 grams of fiber per medium pear
- Blackberries – 5.3 grams of fiber per 100 grams of blackberries
- Broccoli – 5.1 grams of fiber per cup of boiled broccoli
- Almonds – 4.5 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup unroasted almonds
- Brussel Sprouts – 4.1 grams of fiber per cup of boiled brussel sprouts (yes, my kids do eat brussel sprouts if they’re pan-fried!)
- Sugar Snap Peas – 4 grams of fiber per cup of cooked sugar snap peas (my kids like their snap peas raw)
- Oatmeal – 4 grams of fiber per cup of cooked oatmeal (make sure the oatmeal is gluten-free!)
- Sweet Potato – 3.8 grams of fiber per medium sweet potato with skin
- Carrots – 3.6 grams of fiber per 1 cup of raw carrots
- Popcorn – 3.5 grams of fiber per 3 cups of air popped popcorn
- Orange – 3.1 grams of fiber per medium orange
- Banana – 3.1 grams of fiber per medium banana
- Pistachios – 2.8 grams of fiber per 1 oz of pistachios
Sources of dietary fiber values: Dieting Well, Greatist, Eat This, Not That!
So I’m going to try adding more of these foods to my family’s diet and we’ll see if it helps in tipping the scale in the right direction. If there are any foods that you would add to this list of kid-friendly fiber rich foods, please let me know and I’ll add it.