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.