Part 1: Your one-stop guide to gluten free eating

Welcome to the first post of my Gluten Free Eating series! I've had lots of requests for this one so I really hope you enjoy it & gain something from it. What will I be covering? I've split this series into 4 short blogs, and will aim to cover the following topics:

1. What is a gluten free diet and who should be on it
2. Where is gluten found & how to tell if a product is gluten free
3. How to get enough fibre on a gluten free diet
4. Low GI eating on a gluten free diet

If there are any other topics you'd like me to blog on while I'm at it, let me know and I'll add it to my list!

So without further ado, let's get started with Part 1....

What is a gluten free diet and should you be on one?

The reason most people require a gluten free diet is because they have coeliac disease. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease meaning that you are born with it and will have it for life. Only 1% of the population have coeliac disease.

Now what happens in coeliac disease is that the body does not have the ability to absorb a protein found in a number of grains called gluten. A non-coeliac person's gut is made with tiny finger-like projections called villi, and these allow them to absorb all their nutrients. What happens in coeliac disease is that because the body can't absorb gluten, the gut goes a bit crazy and instead of being finger like (with a nice long surface area to increase absorption of nutrients), these villi become flat as though to say, sorry this door is closed. No entry here. And as such many nutrients are malabsorbed (not just gluten!)



Hope you like my little drawing, and no I'm not an artist :)

 
Once a person is diagnosed with coeliac disease, in order to get their villi back into tip top shape they need to elimate all gluten from their diet. Permanently. What happens if a person with coeliac disease continues to eat gluten? Well by doing so they're placing themselves at an increased risk of developing some forms of cancer, osteoporosis, infertility, miscarriage, depression and general ill health.

So it's serious stuff. The one thing to note from this is that if you don't have coeliac disease or an intolerance to gluten there is no need to be on a gluten free diet. In fact, by doing so you will be substantially limiting your food choices and placing yourself at risk of micronutrient deficiencies. It is not 'healthy' to eat a gluten free diet, even though foods are often marketed this way. But neverless, if someone requires a gluten free diet, it can be healthy and perfectly adequate but you'll need guidance from your GP and dietitian to ensure your diet ticks all the boxes.

Next week I'll talk about what foods contain gluten and I'll give you a simple label reading guide on how to tell if a product is gluten free (it's not quite as easy as looking for the big words 'GLUTEN FREE').

Until then,



Please note that this Gluten Free Eating series is based on Australian recommendations and this will differ across countries according to their Food Code.

If you have coeliac disease, I would strongly recommend you join Coeliac Australia as it's the best place to go for up to date and reliable information. You'll also receive a bunch of fabulous resources, supermarket discounts, and most importantly a support centre if you ever have any questions.

Butter or marg?

This topic always creates some lively debate. Butter or marg? Which is better for you? Well hopefully this post will help you to make that decision.

The ‘natural’ theory

Some people may say that butter is better because it is natural and comes from a cow, whereas margarine is not as it’s made in a factory. The truth is, margarine comes out as the nutritional winner. Let's talk about why.

When we look at animal fats, what we find is that most animal fats are high in saturated fats. These are the fats that can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. There are a couple of animal fats that are good for you, and that’s fish and eggs. I’ve done up a little table to summarise this.

Bad animal fats        Good animal fats

Beef                            Fish
Chicken                       Eggs
Lamb
Pork
Dairy

So as you can see, dairy comes under the bad animal fats column. Now before you start eliminating dairy from your diet, I must say that dairy is a very wonderful food. In fact it should be eaten every day. What you can do to reduce those bad fats from dairy is choose the low or no fat options, that is in milk, yoghurt and cheese. These are the best choices and you get just as much protein, calcium and minerals from the low and no fat options.

Now butter is also a member of the dairy family, and as such it is also high in saturated fats. Unfortunately there is no such thing as skimmed butter, which is why margarine is a much healthier choice.

Margarine, the better choice

Margarine is made from a range of plant oils. Some are made from olive oil, others canola, some are made from sunflower and there are plenty of others to choose from. Now when we look at the chemical structure of plant oils, what we find is that these ones are high in the mono and polyunsaturated fats, the good fats that help to protect the heart and lower cholesterol.

There’s also been plenty of talk about trans fats in margarine. What I can reassure you is that in Australia we are safe. Our margarines are very low in trans fats so there's no need to be concerned.

So that means I can use margarine to my heart’s (no pun intended) content?

Not quite. Margarine is the best choice but don’t forget about the quantities that you are using. We often forget how easily calories can add up when using spreads like butter and margarine. Just to give you an example, 2 teaspoons of margarine that you'd probably spread on your toast contains 250kJ, the equivalent of a small slice of bread. So the message is to go easy with your spreads. And if you don't need it, don't use it!

My motto, (and just a warning it’s a little bit corny...) is ‘see your bread through the spread’. So this means spreading your margarine thinly so you can see your............ ok I think you get it.

And if, like me, you’re not that fussed by either butter or marg, another great option is avocado. It’s high in monounsaturated fats (good fats) as well as vitamins C,E & K, and has such a creamy, delicious taste. Gram for gram, it is also much lower in total fat compared to margarine or butter (23% versus 80%).

So summing up the key points…

1. Just because it comes from an animal doesn’t make it healthy
2. Some animal fats are healthy (fish and eggs)
3. Choose margarine over butter, and make sure you can see your bread through the spread

Check out the Heart Foundation website for more info.