Living without wheat

Is this just a fad or could reducing your intake of wheat improve your fitness?

Why wheat can be a problem

Wheat is generally viewed as being a nutritious and fibre-rich food, particularly in its whole-wheat state. It is eaten in very large quantities in the Western diet. In its favour wheat is full of B vitamins and essential fibre.

However for many of us it has become our staple food - cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta for tea! We have just not evolved to cope with this much wheat in our diet. In fact in evolutionary terms wheat and grains in general were introduced fairly recently into our food chain. It was not until the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago that we stayed in any one place long enough to cultivate grains. This may seem a long time, but in evolutionary terms it is just the blink of an eye. Evolutionary historians would argue that we have simply not had time to adapt to the quantity of wheat now in our diets. Secondly modern wheat has a higher percentage of the protein gluten in it and is therefore potentially more allergenic than the wheat we ate all those years ago.

Whether you show a classic IgE reaction to wheat as a celiac would, is actually not the issue here. The fact is whether you show an antibody reaction or not, most of us still feel better when we reduce the amount of wheat in the diet. Wheat by its nature is glutinous and difficult to digest. This can lead to a host of digestive problems.

The most common signs of wheat intolerance include: lack of energy, irritability, constipation and depression. Wheat intolerance can also exacerbate other health problems such as arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, PMS, irritable bowel syndrome (constipation, bloatedness, indigestion, flatulence) and eczema. In particular, wheat bran can cause inflammation and pain to the gut wall.

Given that wheat can disrupt a healthy digestive system in these different ways, it would benefit most people to reduce their wheat intake and adjust their diet so that they avoid eating wheat every day.

Testing for a wheat intolerance

1. Avoid all foods containing wheat for four weeks
2. After four weeks do a pulse test:
   1. Rest for one hour so pulse is not artificially high
   2. Take your pulse
   3. Eat a wheat-based food e.g. 3 slices of bread or a big bowl of plain pasta.
   4. Continue resting and take your pulse after 10 minutes, after 30 minutes and after 60 minutes
   5. If your pulse rises by about 10 beats per second then it is likely that you do have a wheat sensitivity
3. In addition, note any symptoms you feel e.g. indigestion, cramping, bloating, constipation, fatigue, water retention etc. These reactions may not occur immediately, but after a period of 2-3 days. If you do have a reaction, then avoid wheat again for another 4 weeks. If you have a reaction but do decide to keep eating it reduce your intake dramatically.

The good news - what you can eat

It is possible to enjoy a wheat-free diet. There are now many foods and interesting alternatives available and so the key is to be adventurous and experiment with new tastes and flavours.

Wheat-free foods

Wheat-free breads - rye (e.g. Borodinsky), spelt, etc.	Corn or rice pasta	Cornflakes, rice krispies, puffed rice cereal
Sago grains and flour	Millet flakes and flour	Maize meal
Cornflour	Rice, rice flour, wild rice, rice noodles	Potatoes and potato flour
All pulses - lentils, peas, chickpeas, kidney beans etc.	Quinoa grain (not products) - this is also an excellent source of protein	Rice cakes - check the label, some varieties do contain wheat
Buckwheat flour, flakes and pasta	Carob powder	Tinned foods in brine, oil or natural juice
Tapioca grains and flour	All fresh fruit and vegetables

Foods to be avoided

The following terms are used to describe wheat in its many disguises. If any of these items are included in a manufactured item it will be listed on the label. The art is to become a prolific label reader so you know which foods to avoid. Although this can be very tedious initially you will quickly learn those products which you contain no wheat or its derivatives.

Wheat by all its different names

Wholewheat	Wholegrain	Wheat and wheat flour
Wheat starch	Wheat protein	Edible starch
Food starch	Rusk	Wheat germ
Wheat bran or bran	Flour	Starch
Thickening

It is not uncommon for wheat to be added to many products such as soups, baked beans, mayonnaise, ice cream etc. It can be a long list, so please do read the label carefully of any manufactured/pre-prepared meals.

Rye, oats and barley also all contain gluten. A very intolerant person would be advised to avoid rye, oats and barley as well as wheat for this reason. It should also be pointed out that it is common for these products all to be milled at the same factory and therefore some wheat contamination may be found in them. A less intolerant person should have little problem with these grains, although if there is no improvement in their health a total gluten-free diet may be recommended.

Focus on Food

Fruit Crumble is in all time favourite. The recipe below is a wheat -free alternative:

2 large cooking apples (or equivalent)
125g mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries etc)
2 tablespoons of water
60g almonds
60g rolled oats
25g rice flour
60g dairy-free spread

Put fruit in an ovenproof dish and add water. If you do want to add a bit of sugar or honey add it at this point. Place almonds, oats, flour and spread into a bowl and mix. Spread the oat mixture over the fruit and bake at 190 degrees C for 25 minutes.

Information in this nutrition update is provided by Amanda Moore (BSC (hons) Dip ION mBANT) at Totalbeing +44 (0) 845 658 5658. www.totalbeing.com.

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