Most of our meals are nominally gluten-free, meaning they have no specific ingredients with gluten, but it’s possible that trace amounts are present. We are not a gluten-free kitchen, so our meals are not certified as such. In particular, one of our meals does use organic whole grain wheat (bulgur): the Tex Mex Savory-Bowl.  You can see all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/meals/ Simply click on each meal to see a description, the ingredients, and the basic nutritional information. If you have been clinically diagnosed with celiac disease by a licensed medical professional (using blood tests and a biopsy), we advise not using our meals. The organic oats that we use are not certified gluten-free, and we are not a gluten-free kitchen. As a small business, we have no plans at this time to get various certifications due to the costs involved in meeting the specific requirements. Otherwise and in general, if you suspect you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), consider working with a licensed lifestyle medicine professional (RD or MD) who can carefully review your current actual diet, while following an evidence-based protocol to properly diagnose the situation. A careful and thorough diagnosis can save you a lot of needless worry, avoid incorrect dietary restrictions (and missed social events), and avoid wasted money on unhealthy foods. Certified gluten-free products can easily cost 3× more, while still being highly processed and loaded with added sugar, saturated animal fats, and salt. Put another way, it’s important to distinguish between refined, ultra-processed, high glycemic-index, and nutrient-poor wheat products, versus minimally processed, fiber-rich, low glycemic-index, high-nutrient whole grains.  The vast majority of Americans eat far too much of the former, which include:

• Bread, bagels, and tortillas from white/refined flour
• Cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, and pretzels from white/refined flour
• Pizza from white/refined wheat flour
• Pastas from white/refined wheat
• Ready-to-eat cereals from white/refined wheat

We all recognize the above foods, which are ubiquitous in developed countries.  By contrast, few recognize, and regularly eat, minimally processed wheat products like wheatberries, or cracked whole wheat (bulgur, freekeh), or other whole grain wheat foods. Furthermore, practically all the above ultra-processed wheat products come with added processed sugar, processed (saturated) fats, and lots of salt — unhealthy additives that are very cheap, increase shelf life, and above all, are now provably addictive (esp. sugar, fat) on top of the addictive properties of refined flour itself. Small wonder that when people reduce or eliminate such refined wheat products, they often feel better (better energy, better sleep, better mood) — but it’s easy to mistake correlation for causality, i.e. in dropping processed foods, much more (and worse) than gluten was cut from entering the body. One more wrinkle to NCGS that’s worth mentioning: Anecdotally, many people who suspect gluten sensitivity (e.g. brain fog, poor sleep, depression, or an upset stomach after eating white flour bread or typical baked goods) experience fewer or no issues after eliminating processed food from their diets, and/or eating organic wheat products. These outcomes suggest one possible cause is the heavy use of pesticides (e.g. glyphosate) in conventional wheat foods.  It has become a common practice to use pesticides (with glyphosate as a primary chemical) on conventional crops like wheat, soy, corn, etc. shortly before and/or after harvesting (as a desiccant for faster drying, or with conventional wheat, to kill the crop for early harvesting), which can greatly increase the presence of those chemicals in conventional, non-organic consumer food products. To learn more about allergies, gluten, glyphosate and the effects it has on the human body, we recommend listening to this Rich Roll podcast interview with Dr. Zach Bush: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/zach-bush-353/ as well as his second return interview here: https://www.richroll.com/podcast/zach-bush-414/ 

Thanks for your interest in LeafSide! Currently, our Creamy Potato Leek Soup, Broccoli Cashew Alfredo, and Thai Veggie Noodle Savory-Bowls have soy curls.

Additionally, all of our Soups and Savory-Bowls contain miso or natto powder to offset the negative effects of sodium in salt, but you may request for your meals to SOS-free if you would like to omit the miso and sea salt (the choice is to have either both of those ingredients or neither). You can learn more about why we add miso to our dishes with salt, and how to request SOS-free meals at the following link: https://www.goleafside.com/faq/single-faq/do-your-products-conform-to-the-no-sos-guidelines-no-added-salt-oil-or-sugar/

You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

If you have an allergy to soy, please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination since we do use soy ingredients in our kitchen.

Please let us know what other questions you have, and we hope to see you on the LeafSide!

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide!

At this time, all of our meals, except the Blue Brilliance Smoothie, Creamy Potato Leek Soup, Goji Peach Paradise Sweet-Bowl, Lentil Tomato Pasta Savory-Bowl, Madras Curry Savory-Bowl, Thai Veggie Noodle Savory-Bowl, and Tropical Bliss Smoothie, include nuts because we follow Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen guidelines. He recommends 1/4 cup of nuts/seeds or 2 tablespoons of nut/seed butter per day. The scientific evidence for their health benefits is very strong.

Please click here to learn more about why we include nuts: https://www.goleafside.com/faq/single-faq/what-why-fat-in-leafside-meals/

Additionally, this recent article by Dr. Joel Fuhrman is helpful to learn more about the benefits of eating nuts and seeds: https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/eat-to-live-blog/168/the-attack-against-nuts-and-seeds-getting-nuttier-all-the-time

That said, we plan to offer more nut-free recipes in the future as we continue to grow and expand our offerings. You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

For those with allergies, please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination since we do use tree nuts in our kitchen.

Thanks for your question!

We add mushrooms to many of our recipes due to their high content of ergothioneine. It’s a nominal amount as it doesn’t take much for the desired effect. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s more about that antioxidant from our website:

“Obtained only through diet, and most abundant in mushrooms, ergothioneine is a newly found antioxidant that our cells have specific receptors for. It may represent a new vitamin that can uniquely enter a cell’s nucleus and mitochondria, concentrating wherever there’s high oxidative stress, like the eyes.”

Thanks for your question!

You’re welcome to review the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

Please note that we cannot guarantee no cross-contamination for any ingredients used in our kitchen.

For those with allergies to specific herbs or spices (parsley, oregano, basil, etc.), please reach out to us by email at [email protected]. We primarily use common household spices in our meals under the umbrella of spices and herbs, but we’d be happy to review our recipes on your behalf for less common allergens.

Thank you for your interest in LeafSide! We appreciate that everyone has different taste preferences, so we do our best to offer a diverse range of meals to accommodate as many people as possible. Spicy heat is a difficult thing to qualify because it’s different for everyone. We may think a recipe is not spicy at all, but you may find it to be intolerable.

We do separate herbs and spices that some may consider being spicy hot from our Spices and Herbs umbrella to help you review which meals will work best for you! You’ll find the ingredients and nutritional information for all of our meals here: https://www.goleafside.com/nutrition-summary/

In general, if you don’t like spicy heat, we would recommend Broccoli Cashew Alfredo Savory-Bowl, Creamy Forest Mushroom Savory-Bowl, Creamy Potato Leek Soup, Pesto & Peppers Pasta Savory-Bowl, our 5 Sweet-Bowls, and any of our 7 Smoothies.

Please note that our meals include a fair amount of herbs and spices for flavor since we do not add sugar or oil, and they are very low in sodium. If you aren’t considering the added sugar, oil, and/or salt that may be in your current diet, your taste buds may find 100% whole food plant-based meals like LeafSide very different from what you’re used to eating. There’s generally a 1-3 month adjustment period (during which your taste buds will regrow, literally) for most people who are transitioning to a whole food plant-based diet.