Low Gluten advocates, educate me

[guitarist]

My wife just stumbled onto some low gluten ideas, not as a serious food project, but casually, out of curiosity. I'm curious if any folks here know more about it.

My wife and I have success with (and advocate) low carb principles, to reduce and maintain a healthy weight. It's worked well for us. My wife introduced her 80-year-old father to this thinking, and it helped him step back from diabetic symptoms and elevated blood pressure, resulting in him also trimming down, and benefiting from taken less medication. Plus, it's not that hard to avoid potatoes, rice, breads, sweets, etc., or to consume them in smaller portions. It feels healthier in general.

So I'm more open to ideas about the role of sugars and starches and wheat, and now curious about folks who are following the gluten thing. Which I know not very much about.

I will make this observation. We've done two or three recipes where we replaced ordinary flour with a blend of gluten-free flour (whatever the popular brand is) mixed with a bit of xanthan gum, which was recommended, and works well (more about that later if anyone's interested, or has more to offer about it)
and got good results!

One was for salt-and-pepper pork chops. Cooked southern style, in a skillet. Even with normal flour, the amount used is negligible. Replacing it with this other kind of flour, worked quite well. Not much difference, delicious both ways.

The other one--more fun--was a bag of donut mix I got at Whole Foods. They had samples, tasted great, so I got a bag of it on impulse. Took it home. Following directions, we made some. Yes, fried donut balls. Spectacular! It tasted more wholesome than plain donut type ingredients, but it still was decadent, delicious, not to be confused with any sort of 'health' food. Just a treat that's made with marginally more beneficial ingredients. I expected it to taste okay, but I was really impressed.

The real measure was after eating a dozen of these things (not donuts, but little spheres, like donut holes) normally I'd hit the couch and go into a mild carb-gluten-sugar coma. I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean. After eating something really rich, an elevated heart rate, a sugar buzz. It isn't that pleasant, when you're not used to eating refined sweet things. A kind of sugar shock.

Uncharacteristically, these expected side effects didn't occur. Or if they did, it was so mild I didn't notice.

I was aware of having eaten something sweet, but otherwise, felt pretty good, no different than if I'd eaten a peanut butter sandwich. Not what I'd expect from a generous serving of donuts. One factor: this donut mix wasn't heavily sweetened. But still. It seemed like something that merits more attention.

So what are the pros and cons of gluten? I understand some people have to avoid it for special medical or health reasons. Other healthy-food advocates say gluten is a source of a lot of problems, illnesses, disorders, and is a key factor in obesity. Again, this is pretty new to me.

Anyone involved in this? I'd like to hear some subjective reports, not just stuff people here have read about it. Though I welcome that, too. Gluten people! Let's hear your report!

[mattkime]

I slowly developed digestive issues and at one point removed gluten from my diet. I tried removing a number of other items from my diet as well.

Some people have an autoimmune reaction to gluten. They get terribly terribly sick from eating it. There is nothing questionable about this. Its night and day.

Gluten is amazing. I can tell your fondness for gluten substitutes comes from a couple of isolated (and lucky) substitutions. Nothing adds texture to bread like gluten.

I'm highly skeptical of those who claims that eliminating gluten makes them feel better unless they had serious problems to begin with. Sorting out diet influences is very very difficult and you're likely to make wrong assertions. Further, gluten often comes with lots of sugar and fat which are more likely to affect energy levels.

Clearly there are benefits to avoiding carbs. Gluten accompanies carbs so there's that.

People get a lot of weird ideas about diet and you're best off ignoring most of them.

[freeradical]

Gluten is a protein, not a carb.

[guitarist]

mattkime, don't misunderstand, I'm not looking for some food fad to follow.

My questions are legitimate. I used to weight 220, now I weight 180, I like being thinner, so this stuff interests me.

You're right, people do get a lot of weird ideas about food and diet. Like drinking lots of orange juice, eating a lot of grains, exercising, and wondering why they are still overweight. Some of these weird ideas were actively promoted by the FDA, for years.

Pushing grain (the now-debunked food pyramid) in what we later learned are unbalanced amounts. Some of the weirdest and most unhealthy ideas came from trusted officials and food experts. Overestimating the risks of oils and fats, and underestimating the risks associated with carbohydrates and sugars.

And even though it's been discredited as a useful way to measure, 'calories' are still how many experts and dieters continue to evaluate food.

As if the human body is a test tube (burning food and measuring 'energy output" with a calorimeter, an early industrial-age measuring concept) or a steam-powered engine that observes the laws of thermodynamics. Instead of biological creatures, responding organically, programmed by evolution and survival to store body fat in anticipation of scarcity.

Endocrinologists, biologists, and immunologists have learned a lot more about diet and health since then, particularly the role of insulin, blood sugar levels, obesity, and diabetes. Some of us are heavy simply because we overeat. Abundance is something we're not that well designed for. Others, by what, and how they eat.

Yet the old "calories in, calories out" food 'burning' calorimeter concept is still an enduring idea that's simple, elegant, and--as our understanding improves--incorrect.

One doesn't need to embrace specific diet techniques or food fads to get the general idea "too much wheat" (or refined grains and sugars in general) are known contributors to obesity. And health problems, for some people.

There are books out there about gluten, one is called "Wheat Belly", I think. I'm not sure I'm keen enough to read it, but I'm hoping someone here has explored the subject more than I have, and has some insights to share.

[davester]

People who have celiac disease can't tolerate gluten to varying degrees. There are also a bunch of folks who have created anti-gluten fad diets claiming all sorts of silly unprovable things about the horrors of gluten, just like there are plenty of other nonscientific BS diets out there. My understanding is that there is no valid data that supports any of the anti-gluten propaganda out there other than the celiac disease issue...just the same old bogus stuff that we see about vitamins and every other fad diet.

[blooz]

My daughter has celiac disease and after going on a gluten-free diet she feels much better and even looks healthier—she has always been and will remain skinny, but she doesn't look anorexic anymore.

I've made kolach with gluten free flour with mixed results. It always worked out in the end and tasted okay, but working with rice flour or the pre-mixed (with the xanthan gum already in it) flour is difficutl, needs more moisture and is very sticky.

[Fritz]

here's some related reading.
long story short, wheat has been subjugated over time to todays 1' tall version for many reasons.
Ancient grain has different make-up. That difference may be what some (no all) people have an "allergic" and/or dietary reaction to.

http://www.growseed.org
http://www.treehugger.com/health/Ancient...eople.html
http://www.grainstorm.com/pages/modern-wheat
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/newsroom/b...dern-wheat

and as with anything else, there are many varying opinions.

[deckeda]

My wife had some mild but annoying (to her) digestive issues for quite awhile before deciding/discovering to go gluten-free. She now feels better and has lost weight, making no other changes.

What we've learned is that wheat and wheat products are "in everything" kinda like how sugar is, which creates a challenge beyond say, simply avoiding pasta dishes or bread slices.

And like Matt says there's always an interaction each us reacts differently to that makes labeling this or that as Bad.

I can report feeling better relaxing my gluten intake. Heavy doses of pasta or cereal leave me with a gurgling stomach for hours, whereas other large meals won't. I will eat that bagel sometimes for breakfast but not follow it up with a sandwich for lunch.

This cognizance has freed me to pay more attention to fruits and veggies in my diet, now that "I have more space" for them. win-win-win.

[MacArtist]

I've been gluten free since 1984. I went from 220 lbs to 145 lbs in less than 6 months before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I don't know anything about low gluten. All I know is no gluten.

Like others have said, it is possible to have different degrees of sensitivity. If you feel better going with less or without gluten then stay with your low/no gluten diet.

For me there isn't a choice. I have very serious reactions to gluten and I'd rather not live life sitting on the toilet waiting for the diarrhea to stop.

[lost in space]

I"ve never been tested for a gluten allergy, but decided to try reducing my intake on the advice of my sister, who has many allergies. Within days I felt more energetic and my headaches, which plagued me, disappeared. Sinus congestion cleared up. I try to keep my intake at a minimum, but still have an occasional fast-food burger. I've found that my gluten reaction is much stronger when I eat whole wheat, so I try to stick to white or sourdough breads if I'm going off the wagon.

I sometimes get a gluten reaction to processed meats, such as turkey-based burger patties or cheap hot dogs.

My wife cooks with spelt flour and pasta to replace the wheat-based stuff.

guitarist, I wonder if the reduced reaction to the donut holes made with the gluten-free flour had to do with a lower glycemic index flour, which would mean a slower uptick in blood sugar.