Posted on 11/07/2013 12:14:35 PM PST by george76
Once, pasta and bread were store cupboard staples. Now, many of us are replacing them with ‘healthier’ gluten-free foods. But are they really better for us?
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The new ubiquity of gluten-free products certainly makes life much easier for sufferers of coeliac disease, an auto-immune response to wheat where the body believes wrongly that gluten is attacking it... But coeliacs make up only one in 100 of the population
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Nutritionist Ian Marber agrees that yeast, not gluten, may be the real culprit... Marber acknowledges that gluten intolerance does exist, but probably in fewer cases than is generally believed.
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Gluten-free products are frequently more adulterated and significantly higher in fat than their “normal” equivalents. Gluten helps breads and bakery products retain their shape and softness as they cook, so to make up for its absence, manufacturers often use additives like xanthan gum and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose or corn starch. Extra sugar and fat are often also added to make products tastier.
For example, Warburton’s Free From sliced white bread has 2.2g of fat per slice and 80 calories, compared with 1g per slice and 58 calories in its regular loaf. Young’s gluten-free fish fingers contain 9.3g of fat per 100g, as opposed to 8.5g for the standard range.
Inevitably, in the US, a gluten-free backlash is already under way. “Coeliac: the Trendy Disease for Rich, White People” ... the gluten-free community has even less tolerance for jokes than for pasta.
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Marber predicts that these voices will only grow louder. “Our attention will turn to other diet trends, but the gluten-free craze will grow and grow.” Following a gluten-free diet isn’t actively harmful, he adds. “If it makes you happy, do it!” he laughs. “By buying that expensive stuff, you’ll certainly be making someone else very happy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
They put that on the label because food companies sneak gluten into all manner of foods. We know things like pizza dough contains gluten - it's what makes the dough nice and stretchy. And yet, gluten is an ingredient in things like soy sauces (Kikkoman).
My wife was diagnosed with celiac disease in the late 90’s. The Mayo Clinic told us “Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Eating gluten triggers an immune response in your small intestine. Over time, this reaction produces inflammation that damages the small intestine’s lining and prevents absorption of some nutrients (malabsorption). The intestinal damage can cause weight loss, bloating and sometimes diarrhea. Eventually, your brain, nervous system, bones, liver and other organs can be deprived of vital nourishment.”
Some may think this is just the newest trendy diet fad. However, for celiacs this is a matter of life and death. It is sad that misinformed journalists are attempting to trivialize an important medical need of a small percentage of the population. For those that really need gluten free food, which is NOT the tastiest on the market, the recent surge in product availability is a great help.
Gluten allergy is WAY more common than 1 in 100. Probably more likely 1 in 20 have at least some type of allergic reaction to gluten.
I know someone who claims to be allergic to gluten, to have fibromyalgia, celiac disease, to be allergic to seafood, shellfish and to be able to eat nothing but pork, cookies, and candy. Oddly enough, she’s quite overweight.
I get so furious when I see “gluten free” on things like mixed nuts, or roast beef deli meat. OF COURSE it’s gluten free. Modern Americans are more superstitious than midieval peasants.
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You may not be superstitious, but you definitely could use an education in food processing.
At the grocery store today, I noticed all the new gluten free labels on everything under the sun including the meat and dairy. Wow, who knew meat wasn’t a grain?!? I once had to drive someone all over town so they could get the best fries because they couldn’t eat a burger due to their celiac disease. Of course, she ordered a burger with her fries. Along on that long ride was another airhead who orders pepperoni pizza but throws the pepperoni in the garbage because she’s vegetarian. And I wonder why the country is in the shape it is...
The man didn’t say that for legitimate celiac sufferers the problem is yeast. They’re talking about the recent increase of people who complain of distress from processed bread, that is far beyond the normal rate of celiac disease.
I grew up in a county known for growing peanuts. Peanuts and peanut dust was everywhere and on everyone. That was also back in the day when the government handed out free peanutbutter so there was some form of pb on school lunch trays every day - a half of a pb sandwich, an apple with pb, pb and honey with a hot yeast roll (how many no-noes on that lunch) or a pb cookie. No one died of an allergy.
I agree about parents and schools not letting kids outside to get dirty so they don’t develop a strong immune system. There’s also Monsanto and all the pesticides used on our foods. We’re surrounded by toxic chemicals inside our homes, schools and businesses. Eggs, gluten and sugar isn’t going to kill us before we do it to ourselves.
Thanks for the laugh link. LOL!! These zero info-bots will be appealing to the FDA to declare gluten as a toxin and ban all products with it. Say by-by to that 1/3 pounder on a sesame bun.
I have to laugh at that. I took it seriously, and cut down on eggs. Then I started dating an MD, and she clued me in that the anti-egg propaganda was all wrong. Even though we eventually broke up, I'm still glad I learned the truth about eggs from her.
My mother used to say that you have to eat a peck of dirt in your lifetime, so don't worry about a little of it.
When I was a kid I remember eating potatoes out of my grandmothers garden. Rub the dirt off on my shirt and eat. She also went to the local dairy to get manure to put on the garden every year.
“. Exposure to good old Mother Earth at a young age, allows the body to develop antibodies or antigens to naturally occurring bacterium. Not allowing exposure develops a child with no natural defense against them. Peanuts seem to be particularly efficient at harboring those types of things that the bodies of older folks handle quite easily.”
I totally agree with your logic. I’ve said the same thing. Kids seem to get sick far more than I ever remember. The more they stay indoors the more things outside seem to kill them.
“diets such as Atkins and the Paleo diet are proving to be very helpful “
True, and the beauty of those diets is that they don’t tell you not to eat real foods or eat foods in odd combinations. They simply say eat good foods in various proportions as they prescribe, which is well within reasonable measure.
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It is surprising how many foods do contain gluten which you might not suspect at first.
For example, some brands of lunchmeat include gluten from some types of "maltodextrin" (which may or may not contain gluten, depending on the type of maltodextrin used), and many nuts are processed in equipment that also processes wheat (read the "ingredients" on bags/jars of nuts), and so forth.
"Red Vines" candy are made with wheat (believe it or not), and like someone else here said, various types of ice cream and ice-cream-shop milk shakes (and all kinds of other foods) include wheat/rye/barley flour for cheap thickening purposes, or "maltodextrin", for whatever that does for the products.
A man named Dr. William Davis contends that "the wheat of today is different from the wheat of 1960, thanks to extensive genetics manipulations [genetic engineering] introduced to increase yield-per-acre".
In his Wheat Belly Book, he discusses that issue in depth, and gives evidence for his assertions. That (he claims) is the reason so many more people are experiencing these kinds of symptoms these days, even though they hadn't experienced them in the past. (It is, of course, a very simple matter to experiment to see if eliminating gluten also eliminates those kinds of extremely painful symptoms experienced with people with various degrees or forms of gluten intolerance.) (By the way, there is a wide spectrum of many different forms and degrees of "gluten intolerance" -- it is not just encountered in "Celiac Disease".)
I personally know that some people who suffer from "gluten intolerance" will get extremely painful upper-leg/thigh cramps (and other cramps), that are very difficult to get out of without using "quinine pills", whenever they eat foods containing gluten.
(Trust me, not many people would completely give up real gravy, and stuffing, and beer, and bread, and hoagies, and spaghetti, and cakes, and pies, and cookies, etc., if they did not have a very good reason to do that.)
Thanks george76.
Study: Pasta Linked to Depression in Women
Orlando Sentinel | November 4, 2013 | Adrienne Cutaway
Posted on 11/07/2013 12:09:24 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3088689/posts
Actually, gluten is added to a lot of foods. Deli meats is one the ones I remember that gluten was added to. I think the Cheesecake Factory adds gluten to almost all their food.
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