By Sean_Ambrose
Tips To Get Wholegrain And Stay Gluten Free Nutrition is a hot topic these days, and we are all being told the importance of getting enough wholegrain in our diets. Wholegrain contains nutrients which help to keep our hearts healthy and regulate our blood sugar. It is also a great source of fiber which helps digestion and keeps our guts healthy, and nutritionists recommend that everyone should eat at least three portions of wholegrain every day. The problem for celiacs is that the majority of foods containing wholegrain, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats, are also foods that contain gluten, which will trigger antibodies in their blood that will damage their guts, leading to a variety of symptoms and complications. Here are a few suggestions for ways that celiacs can include grains in their gluten-free diets without consuming foods that contain gluten:
Gluten-free breads
One serving of wholegrain is actually quite small; just one slice of bread, so including gluten-free breads in your diet can be a great way to include wholegrain. If you bake at home, you can make a variety of breads, biscuits, pancakes and muffins from gluten-free flours such as potato, corn and rice flour, which can be bought in most supermarkets or health food stores. If you don't think you're up to baking your own breads, most supermarkets now have a good selection of gluten-free bread products, including bagels, muffins, breads, tortillas and ready made pizza crust. These can be quite pricy, however, so if you can learn to bake your own this might save you some cash.
Breakfast cereals
Half a cup of breakfast cereal counts as one serving of wholegrain and can give you the perfect start to the day. Although the allergy section in your supermarket will have speciality gluten-free breakfast cereals, there are also regular cereals that are naturally gluten-free. These include anything made from corn or rice, such as cornflakes or puffed rice. Just be sure to check the ingredients to make sure there are no gluten containing additives, and check for the gluten-free sign on the carton.
Rice and pasta
Including rice and pasta in your diet as part of your main meal is another way to get your recommended servings of wholegrain. Rice is naturally gluten-free, but brown rice is healthier than white or basmati rice. Most regular pastas are made from wheat, but your supermarket should sell corn or buckwheat pasta, which may have a different taste or texture from regular pasta, but is gluten-free and full of wholegrain goodness.
Gluten-free snacks
Although it may seem that all snacks are made from foods that contain gluten, there are a few possibilities for you to choose from. Popcorn, rice cakes and corn chips, are all tasty alternatives that also contain grains. You will also be able to buy gluten-free cakes, cookies and biscotti from your supermarket, but these may have more emotional and less nutritional value!
It is certainly more difficult to include wholegrain in your diet if you can't eat gluten, but it is far from impossible. Thinking ahead and making sure you are stocked up on gluten-free alternatives to regular bread, pasta and breakfast cereal, as well as carrying your own healthy gluten-free snacks with you can help you to consume the grains necessary for a healthy heart, body and digestive system without eating foods that contain gluten.
Sean Ambrose runs http://www.gluten-answers.com the web’s most thorough source on providing free information on learning to manage a Gluten free diet successfully.
Source:www.isnare.com |
