For Gluten-free People

[Lilllabettt]

whole foods = whole paycheck

[Lil Red]

It is, in fact, being a snob. I am not ignorant of "how food works". I studied in a professional French baking school (with mandatory food science credits) and worked in artisan bread bakeries overseas before coming to grad school. I know what real bread is. And I will defend its nobility and integrity to my dying breath!

so this is the hill you're going to die on? :|

just kidding. :P i thought it was a good post.

[somethingfishy]

Gluten-free foods aren't a fad, exactly... There are some people who think it's soooo much healthier (it isn't) and even though they don't actually have celiac disease they eat gluten-free anyway -- but the majority of those who live without gluten do it because they have to. Most of the GF food tastes nasty (although it's improved significantly over the last decade) and post-diagnosis it is such a treat to be able to eat a semi-normal-tasting baked good. Even if it's not "real" :)

 

I don't have celiac disease but ten years ago I was (mis)diagnosed with it and I followed a gluten-free, dairy-free diet for 2.5 years. It was not fun and not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

[OnlySunshine]

whole foods = whole paycheck

 

:hehe2:

 

Seriously!  They have so many neat things in that store that it's virtually impossible to not stock up my cart with almost everything!  I had to put a lot back because I cannot afford it but I love going in there.  :)

[Gabriela]

Gluten-free foods aren't a fad, exactly... There are some people who think it's soooo much healthier (it isn't) and even though they don't actually have celiac disease they eat gluten-free anyway -- but the majority of those who live without gluten do it because they have to. Most of the GF food tastes nasty (although it's improved significantly over the last decade) and post-diagnosis it is such a treat to be able to eat a semi-normal-tasting baked good. Even if it's not "real" :)

 

I don't have celiac disease but ten years ago I was (mis)diagnosed with it and I followed a gluten-free, dairy-free diet for 2.5 years. It was not fun and not recommended unless absolutely necessary.

 

In my experience, most of the people who eat gluten-free today do NOT have Celiac's disease and are not even gluten-intolerant. They do it, as you say, because they THINK it's healthier. Which, as you say, it is not.

 

Being a bread-lover, I sincerely pity those who do have Celiac's or gluten-intolerance. But I think that a lot of people are misdiagnosed. I was disgustingly lactose-intolerant for about a year. Once I figured out that it wasn't milk that was causing the problem, but a painkiller I was taking that was destroying my ability to process lactose, I quit the painkiller and returned to the cow. I know of other people who did not develop food allergies until late in life, until moving to a particular place, until radically changing their diet in other ways, etc. People who are allergic to milk in Blacksburg but not in Clarksburg make you wonder what's really going on.

 

I think a lot of the problems in our diet today aren't caused by the things we think are causing them. The industrial food system is so complex that it's hard to narrow down what causes a health issue. It's often not even a single ingredient, but a combination that causes an issue. And people who take drugs for whatever reason have an even harder time establishing causes. This is not to dismiss genuine food allergies. But you have to ask yourself: What would a person who was allergic to gluten or dairy have done 300 years ago? They would have starved to death, that's what. Thus, I don't think it's the foods per se, but the way we're producing them, that causes the problems.

 

Returning to a natural diet, learning to cook, and following the foodways of distinct cultures that developed their particular balance of foods over centuries is, in my opinion, the best way to go. (Adding fermented foods into our diets is critical, as these were staples in every traditional culture, and they kept a load of ills at bay.) Of course, in America, it's hard to know which culture's foodways to adopt for any given purpose, as our genes are a big bastardized mess by now (I mean that in a good way!). But by experimenting with different cuisines, one can typically find one that produces ideal results for the individual. Just be careful not to marry someone whose foodway is dramatically different! ;-)

 

Once you've adopted a particular foodway, it can still be extremely difficult to get the items you need produced in traditional ways. This, in my opinion, is the strongest reason for "going local". You're not going to get unprocessed stuff from thousands of miles away. Of course, these days, almost no one produces flour locally. And that is the strongest reason to fight not just for choice at the grocery store, but for systemic change.

 

And for the abolition of the USDA.

 

:-P

[missionseeker]

Actually, many small farms produce flour. And while it may not be "local" for you, you can find (and order it) online. I was going to try some Non-GMO wheat and see if that helped me, but I never did. (Of course, the whole wheat gluten count from that particular producer is so low that there is still the missing gluten problem. lol)  Welcome to the new local. :P 

[Gabriela]

Actually, many small farms produce flour. And while it may not be "local" for you, you can find (and order it) online. I was going to try some Non-GMO wheat and see if that helped me, but I never did. (Of course, the whole wheat gluten count from that particular producer is so low that there is still the missing gluten problem. lol)  Welcome to the new local. :P

 

Can you give me some links to these?

[missionseeker]

I only know a couple (because, again, I cannot eat wheat) but here they are.

 

http://www.bluebirdgrainfarms.com/what-we-grow.html

 

http://www.wheatmontana.com/store/

 

 

 

Here's a farm with rice http://cajungrainrice.com/

 

 

I suggest this website  http://www.localharvest.org for searching. 

 

[Lil Red]

just fyi, Wheat Montana is pretty much awesome. :|

[missionseeker]

That's the one I was going to try! But I never got around to it and my family took it. lol. 

[Lil Red]

you will seriously love it. :)

[missionseeker]

Also, to curiousing, it's necessarily that what we eat ISN'T the problem. What's been done to the stuff we eat IS a big problem. But it's still stuff we eat. People need to really be informed. 

 

I grew up on a farm, so I got that privilege first hand. lol.  

[inunionwithrome]

How I love this stuff. For breakfast each morning I have gluten-free muesli with a mixture of seeds and nuts (sunflower seeds, pepitas, flaxseed, walnuts and buckwheat). 

 

Quinoa is great too, and as far as I know it's gluten-free.

 

That's right. I forgot about Quinoa, Amaranth, and Millet. You are supposed to be be able to pop amaranth as a substitute for popcorn, but I haven't found one that does not burn yet. Any suggestions would be nice

[OnlySunshine]

My mom bought me the book entitled, "Wheat Belly Cookbook: 150 Recipes to Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path in Life back to Health."  The author suggests that eating gluten-free packaged products that are meant to replace bread are not healthy as curiousing suggested earlier.  I didn't really understand what curiousing meant but I do now and I am thinking about getting rid of the gluten-free products I purchased such as the corn spaghetti, the "bread" I listed earlier, etc.  The doctor who wrote the book found that the gluten-free products raise your blood sugar even higher than products containing wheat!  What an eye opener!  I plan to follow his recipes and see if I can lose some weight.  Here is the cookbook for those who are interested:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Cookbook-Recipes-Weight/dp/1609619366

 

If it has Potato, Corn, Rice, or Tapioca starches, stay away!  Van's has gluten-free foods that do not contain these starches (some do like the pancakes).  Check labels to be sure.

Edited February 17, 2013 by MaterMisericordiae

[Groo the Wanderer]

suck it up.  give up being gluten free for Lent