As gluten-free cooks, we know the fine art of cooking from scratch. It is a necessity in most cases, after all, to keep our kitchens full of the plain ingredients that make up the food we eat. Fruits, vegetables, rice, unprocessed meats and potatoes are our staples.

We need to eat regular food and stay away from most processed foods. It is good news, health-wise, to eat this way. Eating a diet that includes a lot of processed foods is linked to obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Eating food that has additives, such as MSG, sugar substitutes and synthetic coloring, has been deemed mostly safe by the FDA, but is the subject of controversy in the food industry.

This is the process the FDA follows when determining the safety of additives:
Manufacturers must test an additive and get permission to use it in food by proving that it is effective, can be detected and measured in the final food product and is safe. The FDA then schedules a public hearing where consumers and experts voice their opinions for and against the additive. If approved, the FDA writes a regulation for the amount, purpose and in what foods the additive may be used. These regulations are periodically reviewed. Some substances can be exempt from this procedure if they have been used for a long time without any known adverse effects. These substances are on the FDA’s generally recognized as safe (GRAS) list. To remain on this list, an additive must not be found to cause cancer in animals or humans.

But many feel that even if these synthetic food additives are deemed safe, they may affect us in unhealthy ways. Food colorings, for example, are often blamed for hyperactivity in children. We have seen a change, for instance, when eliminating coloring from our son's diet. The FDA says color additives have been tested and do not cause ADHD. However, it states, for some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and confirmed food allergy, dietary modification has produced some improvement in behavior. Read more about color additives here.

Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma," has this to say about eating processed foods:

"You’re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That’s what I mean by the recommendation to eat “food.” Once, food was all you could eat, but today there are lots of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat." (From "Unhappy Meals," New York Times, January 2007)

All this being said, we all eat processed foods. We all, gluten-free or not, have to succumb to the constraints our busy lives have on us and eat as healthy as we can within our time limits. We can only do our best to include as much "regular" food in our diets and use the time-saving processed foods sparingly. Or, find ones that are organic and free of additives. We all should strive to eat the most healthful things our time and pocketbooks allow.

Salads, fruit and raw veggies are quick snack and lunch foods. Dinner can be pre-planned as a time saver. Peanut butter on gluten-free toast, or a hard boiled egg are quick breakfasts and all of these options are affordable. In fact, as gluten-free eaters, processed foods are often much more expensive. Take, for instance, a gfcf box of frozen pizza we encountered at the grocery store today: $9 for a small pizza barely big enough for two people.

Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning and freezing. This is a bulk of our food in America. So, do your research, watch for sales, collect your coupons and when you are running around all day and caught up of the hustle and bustle of the season, do the best you can.

Here is a short list of quick foods we stock up on for just such the occasion. They are organic and free of additives. Pair them with some steamed broccoli and tossed salad, and it's a pretty well-rounded meal, in my opinion:

1. Dr. Praeger's Fish Sticks
2. Bell & Evans chicken strips
3. Amy's pizza

We are the experts in watching what we eat. The longer the ingredients list, the more likely we are to avoid it. Cooking gluten-free is a blessing when it comes to nourishing our bodies.

Eat well and stay healthy.