What You Should Know Before Choosing a Gluten Free Diet

Gluten free is all the buzz these days and if you haven’t been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, I applaud you for taking a serious look at your diet and considering alternatives to achieve a healthier life.

However, just because its gluten free doesn’t mean it’s better for you, especially if you are just replacing whole wheat products and still consuming an abundance of them several times a day.


Gluten free has become a huge market with sales doubling over the past five years. Large food manufacturers are using this new trend to roll out gluten free products at an astounding rate.

Oftentimes, people believe they can switch out their morning cereals, bagels, pancakes, waffles, lunch breads, pastry treats, and dinner pastas and replace them with the gluten free varieties and still indulge in supersized portions several times a day.

Here’s the issue, gluten free products have become convenience foods that still have additives like flours, sugar, and natural flavors, and are devoid of nutrients, fiber, and flavor.

Products such as gluten free crackers, breads and pastries are still made with powdered starches (potato, rice, and tapioca) that can sabotage your health by increasing blood sugar and triggering weight gain, insulin resistance, diabetes and other chronic illnesses. They should not be treated as a replacement for wheat flour.


Whatever your reason for giving up gluten, whether you are gluten sensitive, diagnosed with celiac disease, or you’ve read or heard that it was healthier to switch to gluten free products, this will not have the greatest impact on your health.

What you put in your mouth matters. What you need is to fill your diet with nutritious “whole” foods, mostly vegetables and leafy greens, moderate amounts of fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes (not everyone can eat legumes), fish, and grass-fed antibiotic free meats in proper portions that will nourish your body. 

Whole foods offer three main benefits: greater nutrition, essential fiber, and protective substances such as phytochemicals that help protect you against cancer, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. And here is the hard part:

You need to eliminate or dial down on your grainy, starchy carbohydrate intake – especially all products made with processed flours and powdered starches!


UNDERSTANDING WHAT FLOUR IS

Flour is made by smashing an ingredient like wheat, maize, rye, barley or rice to smithereens. Wheat flour is the most popular and there are many different varieties. White flour contains 75 percent of the wheat grain, with most of the bran and wheat germ taken out and then it’s usually bleached. Learn the truth about modern wheat – why it’s making us a chronically ill nation: Dr. William Davis

When consumed, products made with flour digests fast causing blood sugar to spike, which causes a rise in insulin.  This not only causes a food craving hours later, but it also paves the way for insulin resistance and diabetes. This constant spike in insulin is going on all day long for those of you who are consuming it several times a day.

Most people don’t understand the impact that the speed of digestion has on their health.  It all boils down to the glycemic index, how quickly your body turns food into fuel, or glucose. Believe it or not, wheat flour is the most damaging of all flours because of a carbohydrate in wheat known as amylopectin A, which is easily converted to blood sugar. One slice of whole wheat bread will raise blood sugar higher than three teaspoons of sugar.

Learn why it’s hard to stop eating wheat products once you get started: Mind Body Green 

Unfortunately, many of the gluten free flour options such as potato flour, rice flour and tapioca starch aren’t any better. They digest even faster than wheat flour and, therefore, may exacerbate many of the health issues they promise to quell.

It’s so easy to over consume products made with flour because they require little chewing and slide down quickly. But over consuming flour, which we all do or have done thanks to food science, food marketers and the ever changing government guidelines, can lead to a number of serious problems in our body including:

  • Food cravings,
  • Blood sugar spikes
  • Inflammation
  • Acid-Alkaline Imbalance
  • Food allergies and intolerance
  • Skin disorders (psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, acne, skin tags, rashes, and keratosis pilaris)
  • GI disorders

Flour and now powdered starches are a menace, and I know, first hand, how difficult it is to reduce and eliminate products made with it, but there are so many positive health reasons and benefits in doing so. Most of all it gives you room to eat more real food the way mother nature intended; foods that are nutrient rich; lots of vegetables, leafy greens, squashes, nuts, seeds, sweet potatoes, and whole grains like rice, quinoa, and oats. Your body will simply thank you.


WHY YOU NEED TO CARE ABOUT DIABETES

According to a recent study from the American Diabetes Association, updated April 2017, the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes and prediabetes are rising.  Diabetes is an expensive disease to treat and manage.  Prevention is key. 

  • New Cases: 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
  • Prediabetes: In 2012, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had prediabetes; this is up from 79 million in 2010.  One out of every three adults is believed to have prediabetes.

Learn more about the symptoms of diabetes here.  If you have any concerns about your health ask your physician,


Natural Treatments For Gluten Rash

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is a chronic skin condition caused by a reaction to gluten ingestion.  It’s also known as DH and Duhring’s disease.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis is characterized by extremely itchy bumps or blisters that appear on both sides of the body, most often on the forearms near the elbows, as well as on knees and buttocks and along the hairline.  The bumps and blisters resemble herpes lesions but are “NOT” caused by the herpes virus.  They are caused by gluten ingestion. 

If you have been diagnosed with dermatitis herpetiformis, we recommend using any one of our gentle cleansing Goat’s Milk Soaps along with our Neem Cream for fast relief from the itching, irritation and pain.  The rash responds quickly and dramatically to Neem, usually within 24-48 hours.

It’s important to note that you still need to follow a strict gluten-free diet to control your dermatitis herpetiformis.  Even with a gluten-free diet, the Goat’s Milk Soap and Neem Cream should be continually applied.  If you are experiencing continued DH flair-ups, your should consult your Doctor or an expert in celiac disease.

May 19, 2017 12:00 am

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