Eat More Gluten!
I can't wait for the day when the “health” magazines start advocating more of a Paleo approach, with real food and eating of fat encouraged. But it seems like we still have a long way to go.
I came across the snippet below in the March edition of “Weight Watchers” magazine. Just in case any of their readers had been considering avoiding carbs, they warn that
“carbohydrates provide the body and brain with their primary source of fuel and are essential for energy levels”
Interesting. I tend to have fewer than 50g of carbs a day, so presumably I must have no energy? Yet, bizarrely, I find I have more energy than ever before. Just yesterday I had so much energy I felt compelled to break out into a sprint on my way home. But I must be mistaken! It says so in a magazine after all.
Without eating enough carbohydrates you might get
“fatigue, light-headedness, headaches, sugar cravings and irritability”
and they advise that you choose carbohydrates like
“wholegrain bread and cereals, grainy crackers, oats, fresh fruit and low-fat dairy”
Well, I've somehow managed to avoid any of those symptoms. I'm not sure that avoiding sugar cravings, by eating foods that break down into sugar, really counts either. And as for low-fat dairy being a good source of carbohydrates?
The other article I read was from the March/ April 2012 edition of “Australian Diabetic Living”. They ran a piece on Celiac disease. The question was
“Should I avoid gluten products, just in case I might have Celiac disease?”
My answer would be that since gluten has detrimental effects on so many people, even those who don’t test positive for Celiac disease, it certainly should be avoided by everyone. Given how long gluten stays in the body for, I think a strictly gluten-free diet is the right approach, for everyone. Did they come up with a similar answer?
“No. You can actually make it harder for your body to digest gluten if you cut most of it from your diet without good reason”.
Unfortunately there were no references for this startling revelation, which I’d have been very interested to check out. So basically the diabetic magazine wants its diabetic readers to make sure they eat lots of gluten – which often come hand in hand with the not so diabetic friendly refined carbs?
What do you think? Do you struggle to find the energy to function without bread and cereals? Do you make sure you eat lots of gluten, to, er, help your body digest the gluten that you eat?
