Gluten Free for Life

If you’ve gone Gluten Free to control your Celiac Disease and start to suffer from other mysterious symptoms, you really must read this New York Times article. If you thought you were being cross-contaminated and couldn’t figure out from what, it may be something you never imagined.

Health
Well: For a Celiac Sufferer, a New Mystery Illness
By JONATHAN PAPERNICK
Published: July 20, 2010
Weight loss, confusion, a swollen tongue and no sex drive were among the problems plaguing Jonathan Papernick, who went on a mission to find the cause……more

If you’re on a gluten free diet, I’m sure you’ve heard about the horrors that await you. On the previous post I shared my research about the supposed “inevitability” of not getting enough fiber on a gluten free diet, and I hope diffused the whole non-issue.

The other claim is that those on a gluten free diet will develop a B vitamin deficiency from not eating enriched grains. However, there has been a concern for some time that the RDA for B complex vitamins is set too low, and the importance being given to processed, enriched products will lull people into a false sense of security and the belief that they are getting their daily requirements satisfied by eating foods that are actually very poor nutritional choices.

It is my belief that it is foolish for anyone to think that they will have glowing good health from the majority of food that is produced in the world today. It is also naive to think that by only getting the recommended dietary allowance of vitamins you are doing all you can for your health.

Nutrient requirements are set by the government to meet the bare minimum necessary to support life. A direct quote from the website of the National Institute of Health: “Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%–98%) healthy individuals.”

The statement above refers to “Healthy individuals”. If you have any chronic or acute conditions, including IBS, allergies, diabetes, Celiac Disease, yeast infections, fever blisters, eczema, pernicious anemia, depression, are bi-polar, are susceptible to colds and flu, are a smoker, etcetera, your body requires more vitamins and minerals than you can get in your food. In fact, some of the above diseases may be the result of a vitamin B deficiency!

According to the Mayo Clinic: Individuals with stomach and small intestine disorders, such as celiac disease and Crohn’s disease, may be unable to absorb enough vitamin B12 from food to maintain healthy body stores. Subtly reduced cognitive function resulting from early vitamin B12 deficiency might be the only initial symptom of these intestinal disorders, followed by megaloblastic anemia and dementia.

B vitamins can combat depression and regulate the nervous system, reduce the incidence of lung cancer from smoking, slow Alzheimer’s, increase energy, and helps keep your skin, hair and nails in good condition. As important as B vitamins are, few people seem to understand just how important, and most people are deficient in the B vitamins (even though the majority of the population consumes vast amounts of enriched grains).

The benefits of B complex vitamins are huge and there are few reasons not to supplement them. It is widely understood that it is nearly impossible to overdose on vitamin B because any excess is excreted in your urine. Niacin is an exception but you’d have to take enormous amounts to harm yourself and you’d know it because you would be throwing up your socks. Folate (B9) is extremely necessary for preventing birth defects and it’s fairly easy to get sufficient amounts in your diet if you eat folic acid enriched wheat products. For the gluten intolerant you have to eat Folate rich foods like leafy green vegetables and legumes (lima beans have 156mcg folate per cup). Supplementation is considered very important if you are pregant. The jury is still out on folic acid which is the synthetic form of Folate - but it’s what you’re going to find in multiple vitamins.

Every day of your life you need a new supply of B vitamins to support your health and your outlook on life because your body can not store them. The one thing to remember with B Vitamins is that you must supplement all of them. I don’t understand why, but supplementing one or two B Vitamins can make you deficient in the others. So if you have a B12 deficiency, take a B Complex and a little more of the B12 to counter the deficiency.

Here are a few foods with their vitamin B content. The USDA’s Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins, enough to support life although poorly, is listed for reference. Enriched wheat flour is also listed just so you know that not eating it isn’t a major loss. I’ve also listed the B vitamins that I have personally taken for over 3 decades with the only side effect being extreme good health even though I haven’t always eaten properly. Again, this is only for comparison, not a suggestion that you should adopt my vitamin plan.

The good news for Celiacs is, you’re not missing out on any nutritional opportunities by not having enriched wheat in your diet. The bad news is, you can still make as many bad dietary choices as those who do eat wheat. People who rely on enriched wheat products for their RDA of vitamins are probably running on a nutritional deficit if the rest of their diet is made up of packaged, frozen and fast foods. As Celiacs, you have the opportunity to truly eat right and not only recover from your illness but to attain better than average health.

Eating fatty fish, eggs, pork, beef, chicken and cheese can provide you with adequate amounts of dietary B7 and B12. In fact most of the B Vitamins are present in adequate amounts in meats, poultry, fatty fish, eggs, cheese and whole milk which is why most vegans and strict vegetarians are deficient in those vitamins and why the push to remove those things from our diet is causing some major health problems.

Only you can decide if your diet is providing you with what you need or if you should consider supplementation. Supplements are not medicine, they are food for your body so buy vitamins that are made from ingredients as natural as possible. And avoid synthetic vitamins if you can.

I apologize if I have offended anyone. I’m sure the Vegans out there are ready to burn me at the stake. I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for almost 10 years and it was devastating to my health and to my calm. During that time I followed what I thought was an extremely healthy diet. I had a quarter acre organic garden, raised my own chickens for eggs, made my own butter from raw milk and baked my own bread from freshly ground winter wheat. I became hypoglycemic, my son developed asthma and my daughter has celiac disease. Would these things have happened if we had been eating more meat and less wheat? I’ll probably never know, but we are definitely healthier now by eating a balanced diet that includes animal protein, healthy grains, plenty of fresh vegetables and adequate vitamin supplementation.

I am not suggesting that you run out and buy mega-doses of vitamins or change your diet based on anything I’ve said. See a nutritionist before deciding. But take control of your diet and your health. When something doesn’t make sense, question it. It’s your life, you decide.

Notes:
! In the chart above, I only listed the folate (not the folic acid) in the white flour to show how it compared to the other foods listed.
*Biotin is not enriched in commercial grains. In fact, I could not even find it on the USDA food value lists of the foods I searched. Although a Biotin deficiency is rare, the fact that the other B Vitamins are being supplemented in commercial grains could theoretically cause a Biotin deficiency (among those who depend on enriched wheat products for their vitamins) which can cause impaired growth and neurological disorders in young children and reduced efficiency in glucose utilization in all age groups. (Could this be a possible link to the increase in Type II Diabetes?)

* B12 isn’t added to enriched bread flour and it isn’t naturally present in any grains (although it is added to some breakfast cereals) and is not in any fruits or vegetables with the exception of widely varying microscopic amounts in sea vegetables. Some sources say soy beans contain B12 but according to the USDA data base they do not. There are wide-spread B12 deficiency problems among all age groups and among people with gastrointestinal problems, Celiacs in particular. Our bodies can store B12 for many years but when those stores run out we can be at risk for diseases such as pernicious anemia, asthma, demensia, celiac disease, crohn’s disease, epstein-barr virus and neurological degeneration.

Hydrochloric acid is required to release the B12 in food. As we age, our stomachs stop producing as much hydrocloric acid as it did when we were young. Taking anti-acid medication also reduces hydrochloric acid. That may be a clue as to why alzheimer’s is increasing in our society. No hydrochloric acid - no B12 absorbtion. If you are over 40 it’s a good idea to have your hydrochloric acid levels measured and even if you’re fine now, it’s a good idea to do so every few years. You can take a hydrochloric supplement with meals. If you take anti-acid preparations regularly for reflux or indigestion, reevaluate your diet and find out why you’re having trouble.

The “Dangerous” Gluten Free Diet…

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately and have been reading a lot about the “dangers” of a gluten free diet. I’ve seen several references to a gluten free diet being hazardous to your health. I’ve seen direct and indirect quotes from medical professionals who have made a statement something like “There can be no doubt that adhering to a gluten free diet has severe side effects that we are all familiar with”.  I’ve read this statement perhaps a half-dozen times by different individuals and I’m assuming they must be talking about not eating wheat, barley and rye because cows, chickens, apples and carrots are still gluten free…last time I checked. [Yes that was sarcasm.]

These self-proclaimed dietary experts are telling people that a gluten free diet is a dangerously low fiber diet and you’re going to get colon cancer and a plethora of other terrible illnesses if you don’t eat Wonder Bread [more sarcasm]. That you will become vitamin B deficient on a gluten free diet because bread made with wheat is enriched with vitamin B (and of course, they assume nobody is smart enough to take a multi-vitamin if they know something is missing from their diet). I understand that they are probably talking about people who have a choice to eat gluten or not, but it sounds to me like they are predicting a life of gloom and doom to all Celiacs - who don’t have a choice.

I just didn’t think the whole thing sounded right, so instead of just believing what I was reading, like all good sheep are supposed to do, I did my own research. What I found was interesting and liberating.

Here’s a chart I put together based on the food values from the USDA data base at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

If you look at the fiber contained in various gluten free flours compared to a white enriched wheat flour you can see that the wheat flour doesn’t compare well. Whole grain wheat will have more fiber in it but I didn’t include it above because you won’t find any breads on the market made with 100% unprocessed whole grain wheat without tons of additives and dough conditioners. If you could, it would look more like a brick than a bread. Pick up any loaf of bread that says it’s 100% whole grain wheat and look at the fiber content.

What you are more likely to find are among the common market breads listed below. Food values are taken from the package labels. The last two breads listed are two breads made from recipes in my cookbook using Sorghum, Teff, GF Oats and Buckwheat. The gluten free bread compares quite well, not only in the fiber category but in calories, carbs, fat and protein content also. You could even increase the fiber and protein content quite a bit by adding some flax seed meal, seeds and nuts.

If you’re still worried about fiber, don’t forget about legumes, fruit and vegetables. According to the Mayo Clinic website:

• One medium pear has 5.5 grams of fiber
• One medium banana has 3.1 grams of fiber
• One medium artichoke has 10.3 grams of fiber
• One cup of peas has 8.8 grams of fiber
• One cup of broccoli has 5.1 grams of fiber
• One cup of black beans has 15 grams of fiber
• One cup of lima beans has 13.2 grams of fiber

What this tells me is that I can eat a cup of black beans to get 15 grams of fiber, 15.24 grams of protein, 40 grams of carbs and less than a gram of fat. Or, to get the same amount of fiber I can eat 15 slices of Nature’s Own Honey Wheat bread. I’ll get a lot of protein but I’ll also get 1200 calories, 255 grams of carbohydrates and 15 grams of fat.

Black beans are gluten free - Fifteen grams of fiber - You need twenty to thirty grams of fiber a day. Do you really believe that eating gluten free is a low fiber diet. I don’t know what is driving this campaign but I do know that a lot of people are abandoning wheat, and the wheat industry has deep pockets.

On the next post I talk about the other issue with gluten free food, “The horrors of not eating enriched flour products.”

I’ve been very quiet lately. I’ve been on a diet, a low carbohydrate diet.

Do you know what a low carbohydrate diet means to a baker? I feel like I’ve lost my direction; I don’t know what to do with my days; I’m bored to death!

I’m not on an extremely restricted diet, I’m just keeping my carb count to below 100 grams a day. Most days though, it’s around 50-60 grams of carbs. To put this in perspective, the USDA recommends 300 grams for a 2,000 calorie diet. I think I would find it difficult to eat that many carbs every day.

Carb restriction is really not a hard diet for me because I’m a meat eater - A carnivore - I love meat.

I love big juicy steaks, hamburger steaks, lamb chops, pork chops, pork roasts, broiled chicken, sauteed chicken, chicken tacos, chicken meat loaf, stir fried chicken, roast chicken, canned chicken, salmon, tuna, sea bass, shrimp, mussels, oysters and scallops.

I also love vegetables of all kinds and prefer vegetables over fruit any day. My diet tends toward low carb just naturally but, unfortunately, I just love to bake! And you have to eat what you bake, right? Or you at least have to feed it to your husband, which I did, which is why he’s now on the low carb diet with me. ☺

I’m not going to stop baking. Once I lose another 12 pounds I’ll be back in the kitchen, however, I will be looking for friends and neighbors to fatten up because I’ll have to give away the goodies if I can’t eat them. And I have figured out that at this stage of my life, I can’t eat them. Well, not all of them anyway.  I’m not going to completely stop eating the breads, the cookies, the cakes and the muffins either. I am going to learn moderation. I have to, because while I’ve been on this diet, and not baking, I’ve had lots of time to think and I’ve come up with some wonderful recipes that I’ve got to try!