Many people are trying to avoid eating grains in order to improve their health, but that is definitely not easy to do since grains have become such a staple of the Standard American Diet.

To make the process easier for you, I want to share 10 different ways to find alternatives to grains. But first, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about what grains are and why you might want to avoid them in the first place.

What Grains Are We Talking About?

In The Gluten Guide, I shared some of the reasons why you might want to consider avoiding gluten containing grains, such as wheat, rye, and barley.

However, there are also many other gluten free grains, such as rice, buckwheat, amaranth, corn, oatmeal, and millet…just to name a few.

Common sources of grains (both gluten and non-gluten grains) are bread, pasta, crackers, baked goods, oatmeal, and cereal.

So why would you want to consider giving up all forms of grain, even the gluten free ones?

Benefits of a Grain Free Diet

Despite being a foundation of the USDA’s My Plate, grains are not essential to human health. In fact, they actually cause problems for many people for several reasons. Grains are high on the glycemic index, are easy to overeat, and crowd out foods that have more nutritional value such as meat, fruits, and vegetables.

Additionally, the human digestive system has simply not evolved to properly digest grains. They contain many toxic anti-nutrients, such as lectins, phytates, and gluten that make it difficult for us to properly digest them and to absorb any nutrients that are in the grains.

(If you’d like a more in-depth look into this topic, Mark Sisson has written a couple of detailed articles all about grains here and here.)

10 Alternatives to Grains In Your Diet

Assuming you would like to get rid of, or even just cut back on, the amount of grains you consume, here are some of my favorite alternatives to grains:

1. Noodles: Use a spiralizer to turn vegetables (like zucchini, carrots, and sweet potatoes) into noodles. You can even try out my recipe for Gluten Free Zucchini Spaghetti.
2. Noodles: Bake a spaghetti squash in the oven and then scrape out the inside with a fork. You’ll end up with noodle-like pieces of squash that taste great with spaghetti sauce on top.
3. Lasagna: Slice thin strips of zucchini or eggplant to use as a substitute for lasagna noodles.
4. Tortilla Shells: Use butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce to make a wrap or taco instead of using a tortilla.
5. Rice: In a small blender, chop up cauliflower. You can then roast it in the oven or stir-fry it to use as a substitute for rice.
6. Hamburger Buns: Simply go bun-less when eating hamburgers and add lots of toppings like mustard, caramelized onions, mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes, and lettuce so that you don’t even miss the bun!
7. Hamburger Buns: Grill a large portabella mushroom and use it instead of a bun.
8. Baked Goods: Need a dessert? Instead of having a cookie, piece of pie, or other baked goods, have a piece of dark chocolate instead or some berries with my coconut whipped cream recipe.
9. Beer: Want to be able to enjoy a drink without the grains? Opt for a glass of red wine instead of going for that mug of beer.
10. Tortilla Chips: Make a healthy (and delicious!) chip option using fried plantains.

Conclusion

Finding alternatives to grains is actually not as difficult as many people think. And the benefit is that you will be eating foods that will provide you with more nutritional value than what you would getting from eating the grains.

These ideas are only the beginning, though…please share in the comments below what your favorite alternative to grains happens to be!