Almost in every food store you enter you find at least 1 product which is labelled as gluten free. This is a trend that I saw since 3-4 years ago. At the beginning I wasn’t familiar at all with the “gluten free” subject, but as time passed by, I educated myself a little bit and most important, I watched myself and I learned from my own experience.
I cannot emphasize enough how important is to learn from your own experience, even though the experience of others might seem legit, we are all different and we perceive things differently. This is the reason for which our own experience with life is the most valuable of all. Don’t get me wrong; learn from others experiences and don’t repeat again and again their mistakes, but put more value on your experience. 😀
Now back to our gluten subject. What is gluten, first of all?
Gluten is a mixture of 2 proteins present in cereal grains, especially, which is responsible for the elasticity of dough. As simple as that!
The problem with gluten is that is incriminated for many problems such as: rashes, brain fog, IBS, intestinal issues, allergies, joint pains and a lot more. Also we have an autoimmune disease that is believed to be caused by gluten. This is celiac disease, which as far as I heard and learned is not a joke at all. Celiac disease is real and affects people at all ages, but it is pretty rare I would say. According to http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-gluten-bad-for-you/ gluten is bad for only 0.7% of Americans. This means that 99.3% of people can consume gluten without any problems. There is an even simple blood test that we can take to check out if we are prone to have celiac disease. Get tested if the subject concerns you.
Gluten is found in cereals such as: wheat, barley, bulgur, rye, oats, seitan(fake meat). It can be also hidden in the products that you least expect to contain gluten, such as: salad dressings, some veggie burgers, microwave soups, vinegar, condiments and so on. So if you are concerned with gluten, you can try to avoid these products and read the labels carefully, but don’t forget about the percentages of people that actually suffer from celiac disease. It’s pretty small.
If you are trying to avoid gluten, these are the foods that you can consume in order for you to enjoy food, be healthy and feel amazing: fruits (bananas, mangoes, cherries, berries, peaches, apricots, pineapple, grapes, melons, tomatoes, etc), veggies, beans, chickpeas, peas, seeds, nuts, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoua, all types of rice, soy (if you are ok with it), tapioca, potatoes (all of them), gluten free pasta, gluten free breads, corn and polenta, millet, plant based milks, arrowroot, green leafy vegetables and all kind of products made from these gluten free foods that I just mentioned.
And yes, meat and dairy don’t contain gluten either. But why to consume these products, loaded with such a bad reputation, from all points of view… when we have such beautiful and nutritious pallet of foods to consume instead, right? 😀 This is a question that we should all think about.
As you can imagine the “gluten free” thing is a multibillion dollar business that works perfectly nowadays and in my opinion is based on fear and on the fact that people are not informed enough and are even tricked into thinking that gluten is bad for all of us. When a thing becomes profitable, at this scale, we must question everything; this is the thing that I learned in the past few years. I encourage you to do the same, based on your own thoughts and common sense.
Isn’t a bit weird that the stores are full of gluten-free products and more, the products are not cheap at all? Isn’t it weird that although the commercials tell you to start eating gluten free products, they lead you to choose the processed ones, made by them and they get a ton of money on these products? Why they don’t just tell you to eat unprocessed gluten free foods such as fruits and veggies and rice and beans? You know why? Because is not so profitable… well this is a bit weird for me… at least. 😀
My friends, people lived on gluten cereals and some fruits and veggies for 10 000 of years and they lived fine in good health and strength. Trust your instincts and your body; BUT… if you are celiac, avoid gluten… like forever. This is not a joke.
Personally, from my experience, I learned that no excess is good and that cereals can be sometimes rough on my digestive system if I exaggerate in quantities… because you know… they are tasty and satisfying. 😀 So the key is to learn what type of cereals is better digested by your body and to eat those ones in particular. Also the cereals can be prepared in many shapes and forms and the process of cooking them is sometimes the key to a good digestion; but this is a subject for the future, for the times when I will be much more informed and prepared to write an article about this part also. We all have to know our boundaries 😀 … and be sincere with us and with the ones around you.
You know what digest perfectly, without even knowing… FRUIT and VEGGIES. Well maybe that might be a part of the answer… just saying 😀
Evident ca orice organism va digera impecabil ceva fara gluten, nu stiu de ce vrei sa para ca e altfel si ca e totul custom.
Deasemenea, de unde stii tu in ce stare de sanatate si vitalitate se aflau oamenii acum 10000 de ani? Conditiile erau mult diferite si acum 100 de ani, ce sa zic de 10000?
In primul rand iti multumesc pentru comment.
Nu toata lumea digera glutenul la fel…insa majoritatea dintre noi o facem destul de bine, asta o spune stiinta, istoria si de ce nu experientele noastre personale. Exista persoane pt care glutenul este otrava curata si exista persoane pentru care glutenul nu reprezinta o problema. Desigur conteaza foarte mult si cantitatea de gluten, de aceea eu aleg moderatia. Asta nu inseamna ca trebuie sa crucificam cerealele care contin gluten.
Exista scrieri istorice care discuta despre MARI imperii care aveau ca hrana de baza cerealele, inclusiv cele care contin gluten. Istoria vorbeste despre fizicul acestor oameni si se refera la ei ca fiind robusti si puternici, capabili de lupta (de aici si mariile imperii). Ca hrana de baza aveau cerealele. De asemenea exista si acum popoare, ce-i drept sarace, care consuma cereale cu gluten ca hrana principala si nu au probleme in masa de intoleranta la gluten….pentru mine este destul de convingator.
Da, fructele si legumele si cerealele fara gluten se digera mult mai bine, mai usor, organismul depune un efort mai mic in digestie, dar asta nu ne face intoleranti pe toti la gluten.
Sa ai o zi frumoasa!
Buna,
E bine ca ne folosim propriile experiente dar sfaturi despre cultura alimentara ar trebui sa vina din zone mai responsabile 😉
Cerealele sint incompatibile cu organismul uman si reprezinta un factor inflamator semnificativ… Daca tot vorbesti de statistici, cam 1 din 3 oameni au intoleranta, stiuta sau nu la gluten, dar aici e de introdus si o diferentiere pe baza zonei geografice din care suntem, nu toti oamenii sunt la fel…
Glutenul si mai rau, produsele purtatoare de gluten – fainoasele fiind unele dintre ele – sint unele dintre cele mai sarace in nutrienti alimente. Armatele si imperiile alea de care povestesti aveau nevoie de energie cat mai ieftina, nu de nutrienti.
Daca vrei insa sa consumi cereale, cele arhaice sunt cele mai ok…
De continuat articolul, as zice…
Succes !
Cultura alimentara o poate invata oricine este dornic de informatie si dispus sa invete….nu este deloc complicat sau alambicat.
Sigur ca nu toti oamenii sunt la fel…iar cei care au o problema cu glutenul trebuie sa il evite cu desavarsire. In ceea ce priveste nutrientii din cereale…nu sunt deloc putini iar oamenii care se hraneau cu cereale si luptau…nu cred ca isi permiteau sa fie slabiti in vreun fel. Eu nu ridic glutenul il slavi….dar nu vreau sa aiba cineva senzatia ca cerealele sunt dracul pe pamant. Daca ar fi fost asa…nu cred ca am fi supravietuit pe acest pamant.
Iti multumesc si iti doresc o seara linistita!