Gluten is a collection of proteins found in:

• Wheat
• Wheat Cousins (Spelt & Kumut)
• Rye
• Triticale (a wheat-rye hybrid)
• Barley
• Oats
• An endless variety of processed foods

Of all these grains, wheat is the most challenging, largely because it contains the most gluten.

Food manufacturers, especially bakers, love gluten and have a high regard for the types of wheat that contain the most gluten, since it causes bread to rise and puff up magnificently.

What you may not realise, however, is that gluten can cause many people’s health to nose-dive – often in particularly dangerous ways.

No related posts.

There are some health problems associated with refined grains.

Eating refined grains can result in the body producing adverse metabolic consequences very similar to what the body experiences when we consume refined sugar.

The majority of refined grain products provoke our glucose levels (blood sugar levels) to increase significantly causing the body to produce insulin to counteract the high glucose levels & return them to normal levels.

Sometimes, however, in the early stages of impaired glucose tolerance, the body will react to the increase of glucose levels by producing too much insulin, which results in the glucose levels dropping well below the normal level.

This condition is known as reactive hypoglycaemia.

This is a clear indication that the body is unable to cope with refined sugars & grains and is heading for more severe glucose tolerance problems in the future.

No related posts.

Gluten grains may be the most problematic of the grains but a high intake of non-gluten grains has caused plenty of health problems around the world too.

An example of this is corn. Corn is a non-gluten grain but it’s interesting to note that it is particularly low in niacin (vitamin B3) and tryptophan, an amino acid the body can use to make niacin. As a result of a high intake of corn, pellagra (niacin deficiency disease) can develop.

Imbalances & nutrient deficiencies in refined grains

You may not be aware of it, but refined grains are nutrient-deprived foods.

The process of refining wheat involves the removal of the starchy endosperm away from the bran and germ, which also strips away the portions of vitamins & minerals essential for health.

The vitamins & minerals stripped away include:

• 60% of the calcium
• 85 % of the magnesium
• 77% of the potassium
• 78% of the zinc
• 68% of the copper
• 76% of the iron
• 86 % of the manganese
• 40% of the chromium
• 48 % of the molybdenum

Nutrients including chromium, magnesium & zinc are vital in assisting the body to properly use carbohydrates including grains for fuel.

Other nutrients including potassium & calcium are required to perform vital functions such as building & strengthening bones & relaxing muscles.

Unfortunately, eating plenty of white flour products doesn’t provide many of these nutrients. As a result of this it can lead, over time, to subtle pre-clinical nutrient deficiencies. The more refined grains & sugars we eat, the less balance we have of nutritious foods that provide the essential nutrients absent in refined foods.

Eating too many refined grains and sugars instead of nutritious foods leaves our body lacking the vital nutrients from nutritious foods. We are more likely to develop sub-optimal intakes, or worse, nutrient deficiencies, preventing our body from performing at its best.

Keep in mind that whole grains – which refined grains are derived from – also contain no vitamin B12 & none of the important antioxidants including vitamin A, vitamin C & beta carotene.

No related posts.

Following on from last week’s article “What’s wrong with a high intake of grains?” we continue to explore the misconceptions of high intake of grains.

So, if a high intake of grains is not good for us, the question that pops to mind is;

Why do most of us believe they are actually good for us?

Why have grains become such a focal point of our day to day diet?

There are many pieces to the puzzle. We will begin with the obvious first:

• Advertising
• Social programming & pressures
• The availability of grains
• Promotions

Now looking in more depth:

Grains are everywhere in our society & are saturated through all cultures and in all places.

Grains have been embraced by society & have become the foundation for our meals.  This is why they can be seen through a range of shapes & forms in all food outlets including;

• Supermarkets
• Restaurants
• Café’s
• Food Courts

Essentially, all places that are licensed to sell food will have something  that contains grains.

Just for a moment, consider:

• You walk down the first aisle in the supermarket and you notice cereal or perhaps its muesli bars or maybe pizza bases.
• Every time you go to a restaurant the waiter brings complementary bread or rolls.
• You’re at home and you decide you make a super healthy ham and salad sandwich
• Or how about enjoying a refreshing ice cold beer at the football or other sporting event

Everywhere you go you are presented with the opportunity to consume grains & because of this growing availability of grains the majority of us will give in to temptation, eating them even when we don’t realise it or want to but through pure convenience if nothing else.

This grain domination has happened because society has been socialised to believe that grains are good for us. We have grown up with the notion that we need to have a balanced diet consisting of the four major good groups including:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Meat
• Grains

As a result of these beliefs few of us have had the opportunity to hear any negatives about grains, which has resulted in few questions challenging the idea that grains are a good for you.

No related posts.

There is a common misconception that lots of grains are good for us. Unfortunately grain, like everything else, is good for us but only in moderation.

But why you say?

Grains are rich in carbohydrates as well as calories, which is why they are used to fatten up livestock & subsequently also fatten us up when we eat excessive amounts.

Grain is a great way to ‘bulk up’ & more importantly is high in nutrients, which keeps drawing us back to them.

An increasing amount of people are intolerant to common grains with millions of people developing allergic reactions & symptoms including:

• Malabsorption of nutrients
• Bloating
• Gas
• Aches & pains
• Other digestive problems

Further to these symptoms, high grain diets are also being linked to some modern day health problems. The latest studies have found problems relating to high grain diets can include:

• Bone diseases; such as osteoporosis
• Heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune thyroid disease
• In extreme cases, some cancers

So remember, eat in moderation and if you are experiencing any of the symptoms after eating common grains don’t be afraid to see your doctor for more information.

No related posts.

Keeping your trolley free of gluten is not always the simplest of errands. Previously we’ve discussed Gluten Safe grains (see my previous article “Inside The Gluten Free Kitchen”) but supermarkets are a maze of gluten products. Use this article to help you make the right choices in the supermarket:

Fruit:

All fresh fruit is gluten free. Buy and enjoy whatever is in season. Fresh fruits are a great source of vitamins and nutrients.  Plain frozen, tinned and dried fruits will not contain gluten.

Juices:

Juices are mostly gluten free. Classic flavours and mixes are fine.  However the latest craze is ‘Super Juices’ and these may contain gluten. These so-called ‘Super Juices’ often contain wheat and/or barley grass.

Vegetables and Salads:

As with fruit, fresh vegetables are gluten free. Just be careful of premixed vegetable or salad packs that come with sauce packets. The sauce packets will often contain gluten.

*Tip when buying pre-made salads, avoid salads made mostly of ice-berg lettuce. Iceberg has the fewest nutrients of all types of lettuce. The darker the lettuce the more nutritious value it has.

Tinned or frozen packets of plain vegetables will be gluten free but will be less nutritious.

Dairy Products:

Milk, cream, yoghurt, sour cream and cheese are naturally gluten free.  However, if you’re considering purchasing processed cheese or yoghurt that has added flavouring always check the label cautiously (as gluten might have been added).

Eggs:

Not only are eggs an amazing source of protein, they are also gluten free.

No related posts.

People who suffer from gluten sensitivity or celiac disease have one simple solution: a gluten free diet.

However, the human body is complex. For some, simply avoiding gluten is not enough. Cross-reactivity is a condition where your body’s autoimmune antibodies mistake other food proteins for ones you can’t tolerate. Cross-reaction to other foods creates the same effect as though you consumed gluten.

If a gluten free diet is not yielding the results you’d hoped, then try eliminating the following foods.  You may be experiencing cross-reactivity.

Dairy Produce:

Research has found that patients with gluten sensitivity can have a high frequency of cross-reactivity to milk.  The cross-reactivity stems from the milk protein casein and whey. Immunoreactivity to milk is not to be confused with lactose intolerance. The two are completely separate. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest milk sugar (lactose).

Nightshade Vegetables:

Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and potatoes are a group of foods that contain a protein called lectin, which is similar to gluten. Ingesting lectin can cause the antibodies you’ve formed against gluten to react to the lectin, thus resulting in a similar immune reaction you’d have with gluten.

Eliminate nightshade vegetables from your diet if you continue to have symptoms on a strict gluten-free diet.

Carrageenan:

Carrageenan is a food additive and thickener, derived from red algae. Food manufacturers use it because it adds softness and smoothness to products.

Some products containing carrageenan:

Soya milk,  chewable vitamins & minerals, processed meats, cottage cheese,  chocolate puddings and other soya products.

Carrageenan is extensively used, which means you may actually be eating significant quantities of it.

Suspect foods

Trust your ‘gut feeling’ (pardon the pun). Be mindful of anything you eat that you believe makes you feel sick. If you suspicious of a certain food, remove it from your diet and see if you’re better off without it.

Conclusion:

If you follow a strict gluten free diet, yet are still suffering gluten like symptoms, then there’s a good chance you are suffering from cross-reactivity.

Try eliminating the above foods from your diet, one at a time in the order they were given, until you see improvements.

No related posts.

If you enjoy a gluten free diet, then dining in a restaurant warrants a certain level of caution.

Firstly, ignore the complimentary bread!

Yes, you’re hungry.  Yes, it is free.

But it’s almost certainly not going to be wheat free.

The solution:

Have a snack before you go out. Something small, that will tie you over during that ‘eternity’ between ordering and the waiter arriving with your food.

When ordering, as a general rule: ignore fried food.

Battered foods are almost always made with a wheat-based batter.  *Note: the oil in which the foods are fried is even more likely to be tainted with gluten.

Be wary of sauces. Go for something simple, such as grilled meat, fish or chicken with olive oil and/or lemon juice.

Salad dressings are another gluten free hazard. Most will not contain gluten. However, some (especially Asian style) do. Try sticking to oil and vinegar for dressings.

Rice would seem a safe choice. Yet Coeliac Disease sufferers be careful. Always ask if it is cooked with chicken stock. Many stocks contain gluten.  Best to check if the restaurant does use stock before you order.

If you are not confident in your options, speak with the waiter and/or kitchen staff.  Tell them you have ‘a wheat allergy’ (it may not be entirely true, but it will effectively communicate your dietary needs).  To make things even simpler, carry a dietary alert card that you can hand over to the kitchen staff.

Remember, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

No related posts.

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease such as gluten sensitivity, these are the basic treatments that are most likely to occur.

The first step doctors will take is to identify targeted nutritional needs.
All doctors will perform check-ups, using various methods but they’ll all achieve the end result of gaining a comprehensive understanding of your nutritional deficiencies.   

The Gluten Free Diet:

Many doctors will prescribe a gluten free diet to you even if you haven’t had a blood test confirming you have a gluten sensitivity, if you’ve been unsuccessful with other treatments. Doctors will usually keep you on a gluten free diet for at least three months, so they are able to see the results effectively.

The Casein Free Diet:

Doctors will often prescribe a casein free diet for patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The Paleolithic Diet:

If a doctor puts a patient on a gluten free diet, they’ll also often put the patient on a Paleolithic diet as it will also help treat an autoimmune disease. The Paleolithic diet consists of replacing grains from the diet with fresh, natural foods. The foundations of this diet are that our ancestors had a diet that was close to a Paleolithic diet rather than the high carbohydrate, processed foods many people consume today.

Dietary Supplementation:

Most doctors will prescribe dietary supplements either orally or intravenously to you, in order to help you restore your health a lot faster.

Detoxification:

On top of prescribing dietary supplements to you, doctors will also usually prescribe you supplements that are specifically designed to help remove toxins from the body.

The treatments may sound difficult as you might see it as a severe change, but the results will far outweigh the food sacrifices you’ll make as you’ll feel healthy, happy and energetic.

No related posts.

In my last blog I wrote about the implementation of Mandatory Folic Acid Fortification and began speaking of the effects it has. Now I will continue to write about the negative implications it has.

Many countries have begun to seriously question the entire concept of Mandatory Folic Acid Fortification (MFF). Ireland put the whole matter on hold in 2006 after finding that target populations were obtaining sufficient folate from their diets under a regime of voluntary folic acid fortification (VFF). In August 2009, New Zealand deferred MFF until at least 2012 pending a review of emerging scientific feedback. Some 87% of the NZ population were opposed to the introduction of MFF. The UK has followed a similar strategy. The USA, which has had MFF in place for 10 years, is currently reviewing its stance, in the light of the strong correlation between MFF and increased levels colorectal cancers.

The implementation of the process is particularly flawed. The legislated range of folic acid addition of 2 – 3 mg/kg of flour is difficult to achieve, verify and guarantee reliably. The other problem is that folic acid denatures over time and at varying rates depending upon product moisture content, ambient storage conditions and reactions with and between the various flour mix ingredients. Several months out from manufacture it is virtually impossible for any responsible manufacturer to guarantee either the folic acid content or quality.

The legal requirement is an unrealistic and unachievable nonsense which should not have been imposed on the flour millers, blenders and baking industry, especially as this is not the most effective and safest way to ensure folic acid fortification. Non-conformances are inevitable. Public and Product Liability Insurers are also reluctant to insure against future liability risks associated with this poorly thought out and inequitable legislation. This is a legal, health and financial minefield that invites civil disobedience on the part of flour millers and blenders and should compel public outrage.

MFF also restricts Consumer freedom of choice. Apart from organic flours technically no flours are exempt. Boutique gluten free flours like ours fall into a grey legal area.

MFF and its likely consequent side effects and negative publicity is something that Soy Products (Sales) Pty Ltd does not want to be involved in or held responsible for. We wholeheartedly support the well informed stance adopted by Mr. Mark Laucke, the current President of the Flour Millers Council of Australia.

It is our view that folic acid should be prescribed only for those sectors of the population who require it, namely women intending to become pregnant and pregnant women and that the dosage should be properly regulated and monitored to meet their specific needs. Suitable supplements are already commercially available. This is more easily, cheaply and reliably controlled and would be more effective and safer for the whole community including the expectant mothers.

No related posts.