In recent times, gluten-free diets have become more and more popular. This is mainly due to the increase in food allergies as well as celiac disease in the past few years. While this is the case, changing your diet is not easy. On the other hand, it can be restrictive and daunting. But, if you are part of the one percent in the country to have celiac disease, then it’s a must to avoid gluten. However, I would suggest everyone avoid eating too much gluten to have a healthy lifestyle. This is especially true for nurses, because gluten could some digestive issues that you should not get while working.

Besides this, there can be nothing like a delicious snack to make you relaxed and feel better. Fortunately, there are lots of options to take to gluten-free living without having to compromise taste. Several food companies have already met the demand of consumers when it comes to gluten-free products. Now, check out the top gluten-free snack ideas here:

Crackers, Pretzels, Chips and Bars:

If you like to have a snack with a little crunchiness and without wheat, then I would suggest you try a cracker or pretzel made from flax or sesame. While buying these packages, it’s important that you read the label thoroughly to check whether it says gluten-free. We say this because even if it is a flax or sesame snack, the producer might still use wheat in the preparation. Some suggestions are:

• Mary’s Gone Crackers
• Snyder’s Gluten Free Pretzels
• Food Should Taste Good’s sweet potato chips
• LARABAR bars
• KIND bars

Fruits:

If you are really interested in staying gluten-free, then fruits are the ideal snacks. It may be your banana, apple, dehydrated chips, grapes, or packaged mandarins – all of these are good for you. However, please be sure that you don’t consume too much fruit in a single sitting as most fruits are high in sugar contents. While it’s important to stay free, it’s equally important to stay away from other disorders like diabetes which can be caused by consuming too much sugar.

Vegetables:

Like fruits, vegetables can also be taken as snacks as they are healthy too. However, not all vegetables can be consumed without cooking. Still, you can take some carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery without cooking. These types of vegetables are easily portable and hence, you can bring them to work for snacks. You can even try packing a small container of fat-free dressing to make it more impressive. This combination of crunchiness and flavors would surely win your heart.

Rice Cakes:

This is another good and crunchier snack, although it poses the problem of taste. If you are going with this, I would suggest you look for products with extra flavorings. The ones with cheddar and sea salt might have a good taste for you. In this, you must also not forget the fact that these would add little more extra calories and sodium to your diet. If you are not much too much worried about a few calories added to your diet, you can even top off your rice cakes with something like cream cheese, avocados, almond butter, and so on.

Popcorn:

We are not talking about movie theater-style butter-loaded popcorn. To eat a whole package of this is not healthy for sure. Some companies like Boom Chicka Pop are now offering popcorns, puffs, as well as bites, which are free from gluten. These are also prepared using natural ingredients and will give you just 35 calories per cup of snacks. Snacks like these are perfect even for the occasions when you want to crunch on some junk food when at the same time you don’t want to add up calories.

Muffins:

Again, we are not talking about your regular muffins that you might find at the local bakery or supermarket. There are sweet potato muffins available in the market today. Some people would think that going gluten-free would stop them from consuming sweet snacks like muffins. But, in actuality, you don’t have to sacrifice your favorites as we have so many options in the market these days. Although you most likely can’t find these in your hospital cafeteria, you can take some time off to make them on your own. Sweet potato muffins are very easy to prepare with cranberry sauce and brown sugar. If you could make a basket full of muffins during your free time, then you can snack on them until your next time off.

Hard Boiled Eggs:

This will be one of your easiest gluten-free snacks. You can easily pack one on your own or you can likely get them from your hospital cafeteria. This is a low-calorie and protein-filled snack option, which is also easy to consume while you are busily working. Only a few bites of boiled eggs are capable of giving you energy sufficient for getting through the rest of your day. This way, you need not worry about your food until your next big meal time.