The items listed below are considerations for following the Three Step Diet

FOUNDATION STEP: Begin your diet with your favorite naturally gluten-free foods. Concentrate on identifying and removing gluten containing products. EXPANDING STEP: Introduce additional gluten-free diet choices to build a personalized healthy diet. Discuss a plan with your physician or dietitian who understand and monitor your personal dietary needs.  MAINTENANCE STEP: Use experience, product information and health assessments to evaluate choices to include based upon your risk level and health. Maintenance Step is highly personalized, and will vary among those requiring or choosing gluten-free products.  

Alcoholic Beverages
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Wine and brandies without preservatives and added dyes; potato vodka; rum and tequila. Now available gluten-free beer.

EXPANSION STEP:  Learn, Explore, Experiment and Evaluate  products for best personal choice.   Distilled liquors, fortified wines, drinks with added colors and flavorings.  The Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on labeling gluten-free Wines, distilled spirits and malt beverages.

Breads
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Commercial gluten-free breads and mixes made from ingredients such as white or brown rice flours and starches such as arrowroot, potato, tapioca.   

EXPANDING STEP: 
As tolerated, for variety and increased nutrients, use soybean (soya), bean, pea, flax, cottonseed, corn, sorghum, nut or other gluten-free labeled flours. Add gluten-free labeled oats after health has stablized.  Learn, Explore, Experiment and Evaluate products for best personal choice of products labeled gluten-free with gluten source ingredients.  

Cereals
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Begin with gluten-free cereal grains already present in one’s diet. Hot cereals made from corn meal; cream of rice; hominy; rice; mixtures of gluten-free cereals from pure sources without malt.  As fiber in diet increases also increase liquid consumption.

EXPANSION STEP: Learn, Explore, Experiment and Evaluate products for best personal choice of products labeled gluten-free with gluten source ingredients. Consider adding gluten-free labeled oats after health has stablized.

Cheeses
FOUNDATION STEP: 
All aged hard cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, Edam, and Parmesan. Check ingredient list on cottage cheese, cream cheese, and all pasteurized, processed cheese; avoid cheeses with vegetable gum, food starch and preservatives not defined by a gluten-free source.

Crackers and Snack Foods
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Rice wafers, potato based, cornstarch based, pure cornmeal chips and tortillas; popcorn; vegetable and gluten-free nut based chips.

Desserts
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Gelatin desserts; selected pudding mixes; ice cream, sherbet or yogurt, without suspect additives, wheat flour or gluten stabilizers; custard; junket; homemade or commercial desserts from gluten-free ingredients.

Drinks and Juices
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Fresh brewed coffee, tea, chocolate made with cocoa, fruit juices, carbonated drinks and some nut and rice drinks. Instant or processed drinks without malt, additives, stabilizers, or emulsifiers added that must be evaluated. Evaluate root beer choices.

Fats and Oils
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Begin with those already in your diet. Olive oils, soy, safflower, grape seed, sunflower, corn oils, canola, margarines, butter, lard, cream, cottonseed, pure mayonnaise, peanut butters, and hydrogenated soy oils. Evaluate low fat combinations for additives.

Flours
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Use gluten-free flours and starches from foods already common in one’s diet.

EXPANDING STEP:
Add any combination from pure sources that were not common in diet prior to diagnosis: Montina, arrowroot starch, corn flour, cornmeal, corn starch, potato flour, potato starch, rice bran, rice flour, rice polish, sweet rice flour (glutinous), soy flour, tapioca flour, tapioca starch, food grade sorghum, acceptable edible seed flours, such as flax seed; nut flours, such as chestnut; other legume and root based flours. Many commercial blends are available.

Fruits
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Use fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruits. Some contain thickeners or additives or preservatives to evaluate.

Grains and Grain Substitutes
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Any gluten-free grains in diet prior to diagnosis. Start with easy to digest choices such as brown rice; rice, corn and popcorn, tapioca, sorghum, flax and wild rice, yams, potatoes, sweet potatoes, soy.

EXPANDING STEP:
Gluten-free seed flours, Montina, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, tef and other less common cereals not eaten before diagnosis. Check for pure sources.

Meats or Meat Substitutes and Eggs
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Meats, meat substitutes, fish, minimally processed poultry and eggs prepared without the non-allowed grains. Evaluate all marinades and coatings. Evaluate wieners and sausages for ingredients that may contain wheat or other cereals.

Miscellaneous
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Herbs; spices; nuts; coconut; chocolate; pure cocoa. Shop for well known brand names.

Potatoes, Pasta or Starches
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Potatoes and sweet potatoes; yams; hominy; rice and wild rice and gluten-free pastas. NOTE: In the U.S. the single word “starch” on a food label “is … made from corn; or the word cornstarch may be used.” (Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Title 21, Sec. 578.100 Starches, Oct. 1, 1980)

Soups
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Label of ingredients should be complete.

Soy Sauce & Teriyaki Sauce
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Read ingredient label. These may contain wheat.

Sweets
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Sugar; honey; maple syrup, non-buttered syrup; molasses; most jellies and jams; plain hard candy; marshmallows; gumdrops; and homemade or commercial candies made with allowed ingredients.

Vegetables 
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Fresh, frozen, dried or canned unless they contain thickening agents to evaluate. Canned products may contain emulsifiers, preservatives, stabilizers, and food starch not defined by source.

Vinegars
FOUNDATION STEP: 
Balsamic, apple cider and wine vinegars. NOTE: In the U.S. when the terms Vinegar, Cider Vinegar, and Apple Vinegar are on a food label they must be made from apples. (Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Title 21, Sec. 525.825, revised March 1995.)

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