There’s a lot of hype surrounding low-carb diets and many people are wondering why go gluten free? Just to add to the confusion, I thought I’d throw in my two cents as well. First off, I’m not an advocate for eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. I am, however, an advocate for drastically reducing our wheat consumption. It’s also hugely beneficial to bring more awareness to the quantity and quality of carbs that we DO eat. Here’s why.
Ancient wheat, einkorn wheat, has been heavily modified into the plant we eat today. These modifications have resulted in the presence of proteins that are unlike any other food found in nature. As a result, wheat affects our bodies in ways that other foods do not. For example, eating wheat results in an extremely high spike in blood sugar. Eating two slices of whole wheat bread can spike a person’s blood sugar as much as eating 2 Tbsp of table sugar.
Uh… what a minute. Bread is sold as a health food. Take my advice: the best thing you can do for yourself is to just ignore anything the media or government tells you regarding nutrition. Additionally, there are compounds in wheat that are highly addictive, hence my incredible tendency to overindulge in flour-products. (Why yes, I just ate 6 cookies and I’m pretty sure I didn’t even breathe between bites.)
Why Go Gluten Free
Wheat’s additive properties combined with its ability to cause large spikes in blood sugar are pretty good reasoning to reduce our wheat consumption or go gluten free. Besides, what other food do we eat at nearly every meal? It’s just not healthy to eat THAT much of anything. So instead, try eating more gluten free grains and flours such as rice, millet, buckwheat, kasha, quinoa and amaranth. Almond and chick pea flour are also popular gluten free choices for certain baked goods. I’m also a huge fan of starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, winter squash and plantains.
If you chose to go gluten free you may be wondering if you should buy gluten free products and flour mixes. Unfortunately, these contain starches such as tapioca starch, which will cause spikes in blood sugar that are even higher than wheat. Not to mention, how DID they create that amazing powder from a root? I’m not a fan of anything processed and the word “starch” implies “came from a lab.” I therefore highly recommend avoiding gluten-free products when going gluten-free.
Tune in next week to learn more about blood sugar and how you can control it…
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