Part 3: Fibre & gluten free diets

Just been diagnosed with coeliac disease? Having trouble keeping regular? Well you're not the only one. Getting enough fibre on a gluten free diet can be quite a challenge because cutting wheat, rye, barley and oats from our diets means we need to get our fibre from other food sources!

So let's do a quick refresher...

What grains you can eat on a gluten free diet

Glute free grains & starches include rice, corn (maize), soy, sago, tapioca, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, quinoa, arrowroot, amaranth, besan (chickpea) flour, hops, lupin, potato, lentil, teff, psyllium, polenta and coconut.

And let's remind ourselves on...

Why we need to eat fibre every day

Dietary fibre is important for our digestive health. Most of us associate fibre with its function to help keep us regular, but fibre has many other health benefits. It helps to lower cholesterol, stabilise our blood sugar levels, reduces our risk of bowel cancer and lowers the GI of foods. Overall we need 25 - 30g fibre each day.

So what are the fibre rich options for people on a gluten free diet?

There are 3 different types of dietary fibre: soluble fibre, insoluble fibre and resistant starch. Each has important roles in our bodies. The following table lists gluten free foods that are a rich source of dietary fibre:

Soluble                         Insoluble                                Resistant Starch
Fruit                               Skins of fruit & vegies              Lentils
Vegetables                    Brown rice                                Banana
Legumes                       Rice bran                                 Cooked & cooled rice
Rice bran                       Nuts                                         Cooked & cooled potato
Pysillium husks             Seeds                                       Seeds
Soy flour
Soy grits

Reference: Coeliac Australia

So let's put it into practice now by designing our very own gluten free meal plan.

Gluten Free Meal Plan

Breakfast:

• To your gluten free cereal add a spoonful of one of these: rice bran, psyillium husks, linseeds, LSA (linseed, soy and almond meal), chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas or some chopped nuts. You could also add some prunes or stewed fruit on top with some yummy low fat yoghurt. (And yes, I said prunes! Don't be afraid, these sweet but nutritious fruits are packed full of fibre also have a low GI.)


• If you're having gluten free toast try to find a gluten free bread that is grainy or contains added fibre.


• You might even like to have baked beans on gluten free toast for a fibre & protein loaded hot brekky. Remember all your veggies are gluten free & high in fibre, so don't forget to add sauteed mushrooms, spinach and grilled tomatoes for more goodness.

Morning Tea:

Piece of fresh fruit

Lunch:

• Ensure you eat at least 2 serves of vegetables with lunch (eg. lean meat & salad sandwich) for a boost of soluble & insoluble fibre


• Choose a grainy or high fibre gluten free bread for a sandwich


• If you're having a salad, ensure you add plenty of beans, chickpeas or lentils

Afternoon Tea: 

Dried fruit, nut and seed mix OR cheese & gluten free crackers

Dinner:

Add 2 serves of green veggies to your plate. These should take up 1/2 of your dinner plate. Fill the next 1/4 with starchy veggies, rice, soba noodles or gluten free pasta (eg. buckwheat) and the last 1/4 with lean meat. And whatever you do, don't peel your vegetables! Vegetable peel contains a fabulous source of insoluble fibre, so for those veggies where the skin is edible, leave the skin right where it is. And that also means less time in the kitchen peeling veggies (not hearing any complaints there about that one...!) 

Dessert: Why not try my quick & easy rice pudding recipe !

And don't forget about fluids

One of the other most very important things to remember when talking about fibre is that you can't just eat a high fibre diet and not drink fluids. Water and fibre must go hand in hand, and if you eat a lot of fibre but don't drink enough fluids, you call still become constipated. Think of the water as being there to flush the fibre through the system. So the moral of the story is, eat plenty of fibre and drink plenty of water while doing so!

We've spoke a little about GI today and I'm going to expand on this next week. Many gluten free grains have a high GI so stay tuned for some tips on how you can still make low GI choices on a gluten free diet.

 

Muesli... a GOOD breakfast choice

Tonight's blog has been inspired from a recent report published by well renowned Choice magazine on their latest review of muesli. Now I have been a member of Choice for many years and I'm certainly a big fan of their work, up until this point.

In their report they sensationalised the fact that some mueslis have more fat than a McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder. But to me this makes no sense. We don't eat nutrients, we eat foods. And there is no way you can compare a bowl of muesli to a fast food burger.

The flaws in Choice's report

To the naked eye it may appear that Choice have lifted the cover on a giant list of mueslis, and uncovered all of their deep dark secrets. What you need to know is that there are a number of limitations in Choice's report. Choice based their conclusions mostly on numbers on a nutrition panel. But as we know, it's important to look at the ingredients list as well as the numbers to find out the whole story. You can download my How To Read a Nutrition Information Panel here, where I talk about what numbers to aim for but also a what to look for in the ingredients list. It's important to read both when making a decision about choosing a product.

Choice looked unfavourably upon a lot of mueslis that had higher total levels of fat, even if these fats were mostly unsaturated (the good types of fat). More and more evidence is showing us that we need good fats in our diet. These include a number of plant based oils such as canola oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, nuts and seeds, many of which are found in mueslis. These fats are heart protective and good for us. We need these in our diet. As the dietitian for Carman's Fine Foods, I was alarmed that Choice rated Carman's mueslis only satisfactory, even when their mueslis have <3g saturated fats per 100g.

The other major limitation of the report was that sugars were looked upon as one single nutrient, and it was not considered what type of sugar it was or what food it came from. So those mueslis that contained small amounts of dried fruit were shunned upon because they had higher levels of sugars, and there was no comparison made between those mueslis that used added sugars and those that used naturally occuring ones from dried fruit.

What you should know about muesli

First things first I think we need to remember that a number of people don't eat breakfast at all. This means their bodies are not receiving the fuel they need to run efficiently all day. So having a bowl of muesli for breakfast (with reduced fat milk of course) is a good thing! Well done to those of you who do this already.

Secondly most mueslis are wholegrain and low GI due to their base ingredient of oats. This means you are going to feel fuller for longer and will be less likely to grab the lolly jar at morning tea time! Wholegrains are a rich source of dietary fibre, which also helps to keep you satisfied, as well as keeping you regular, reducing cholesterol and reducing your risk of bowel cancer.

When you purchase a muesli, check the ingredients list to see what fat is used. If there are some nuts, this is a plus. If there are oils like olive, canola, sunflower or safflower, grapeseed, soyabean or corn oil, these are high in good fats and get the Heart Foundation Tick (see page 4 for an oil comparison). Try to avoid mueslis that have palm or coconut oils listed in the ingredients list. If 'vegetable oil' is listed you'll need to contact the manufacturer as this could mean a good oil such as canola oil or it could be a not so good oil such as palm oil. Natural mueslis are also a better choice over toasted mueslis as they contain less kilojoules overall.

And as for sugars, look at the ingredients list to check what the source of sugars is. If it's dried fruit, and it's a fair way down in the ingredients list (near the end), then you know there is only a small amount of dried fruit in the muesli. Dried fruit is healthy in small amounts, and there's no need to avoid a muesli that contains dried fruit.

So now looking back that McDonalds Quarter Pounder is not looking that crash hot after all. Just remember we eat foods, not single nutrients, therefore we need to look at the whole picture not one element inside it.

Part 2: Gluten Free Eating - Label reading

Where is gluten found?

Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and oats. There are a number of different names for grains based on wheat, barley, rye and oats, so I've listed these below:

Most breads & pizzas are wheat based. You can find a good range of gluten free breads in the supermarket and most restuarants that serve pizza have the option of a gluten free base.

Wheat: atta, bourghal/burghal, cous cous, dinkel, durum, farina, german wheat, polish wheat, graham flour, emmer, freekah, kamat/kamut, semolina, spelt, triticale (wheat and rye hybrid)

Barley: malt (barley)

Rye: pumpernickel

Oats: pilcorn

What foods are gluten free?

Well the good news is that many foods are naturally gluten free. There are also many grains and starches that are gluten free. Here's a list:

Naturally gluten free foods

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Unprocessed meat, poultry, fish

Eggs, nuts and legumes
Milk (some flavoured milks may contain gluten)
Fats and oils




Polenta



                                            

Gluten FREE grains & starches
Rice, corn (maize), soy, sago, tapioca, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, quinoa, arrowroot, amaranth, besan (chickpea) flour, hops, lupin, potato, lentil, teff, psyllium, polenta, coconut.





Label reading

Reading labels to find out if a product is gluten free can actually be quite a challenging exercise. I know the first time I learnt this it took a while for me to get my head around it. So to make life simple for those of you that do require a gluten free diet, here's my guide on how to find out if a product is gluten free.

The following guide is based on the Australian Food Standards Code and the fabulous information provided by Coeliac Australia. This organisation is a must to join if you have coeliac disease!

1. If a product contains gluten, it must be listed on the label

Under the Australian Food Standards Code, if an ingredient is derived from wheat, rye, barley or oats, then this must be declared. So, if you see wheat, rye, barley, oats or gluten on a food label, the product is NOT gluten free.

This product contains barley and oats and therefore is not gluten free


The following table shows the difference in labeling of gluten containing ingredients and those that are gluten free. If a product does not specify the source, it is deemed gluten free.

Not Gluten Free                                                     Gluten Free

Thickeners 1400 – 1450 (wheat)                              Thickeners 1400 – 1450
Vegetable protein extract (wheat, barley malt)         Vegetable protein extract
Maltodextrin (wheat)                                                  Maltodextrin
Cornflour (5% wheat)                                                Cornflour


2. The label of GLUTEN FREE overrides a product’s ingredient listing

The label of gluten free overrides anything else on a label. If you see GLUTEN FREE on the label, the product is gluten free regardless of the ingredient list.

Declaration of interest: I consult to Carman's Fine Foods

3. Highly processed ingredients

Some products are so highly processed that even though they include wheat as part of their name, they are deemed gluten free. These are:

- Glucose Syrup (from wheat) or Wheat Glucose Syrup
- Caramel Colour (150) from wheat
- Dextrose from Wheat

4. Advisory statements

Products that use advisory statements such as “may contain gluten” or “manufactured on the same line as gluten containing products” are not suitable for those on a gluten free diet.

However, if the only statement is “contains wheat” and the only wheat based ingredient identified is glucose syrup, caramel colour or dextrose (see point 3), the product is gluten free.

These Dove chocolates would not be gluten free as
wheat and barley are listed as "may contain" ingredients

5. Oats

In Australia oats cannot be labelled as gluten free. Oats contain a gluten containing protein called avenin, in which 20% of people with coeliac disease react to. Oats may also be contaminated by wheat in Australia. It is recommended that people with coeliac disease do not consume oats unless under medical supervision.


I hope that you find this label reading guide useful, and as always, if you have any questions I'm just a few clicks away.

Next week I'll be looking at how to get adequate fibre on a gluten free diet.