If you search the term “gluten-free” on Google you'll get results like “is gluten-free still trending?”, “why is everything gluten-free now?” and “are gluten-free products bad for you?" It’s been over a decade since gluten became a hot health topic and yet people are still confused. And while the hype for the average person to go gluten-free has died down, gluten-free foods and flours are still popular, and still maintain an aura of health. But, is it deserved? Tune in to find out.
Want to recommend an episode topic? Send me a message on Instagram @nutritionbitespodcast
Credit to MonoSheep for the theme music.
If you search the term “gluten-free” on Google you'll get results like “is gluten-free still trending?”, “why is everything gluten-free now?” and “are gluten-free products bad for you?" It’s been over a decade since gluten became a hot health topic and yet people are still confused. And while the hype for the average person to go gluten-free has died down, gluten-free foods and flours are still popular, and still maintain an aura of health. But, is it deserved? Tune in to find out.
Want to recommend an episode topic? Send me a message on Instagram @nutritionbitespodcast
Credit to MonoSheep for the theme music.
Welcome to Nutrition Bites. The no nonsense podcast where you get the truth about food so you can eat what you want, and be healthy. I’m your host Maggie and welcome to Episode 29 of this series! This episode comes from multiple listener requests, which is a good reminder that if you ever want me to tackle a topic you’re interested in, send me a DM on instagram. On the menu today, gluten-free.
Today, if you search the term “gluten-free” the autofill on Google are results like “is gluten-free still trending?”, “why is everything gluten-free now” and “are gluten-free products bad for you”? It’s been over a decade since gluten became a hot health topic and yet people are still confused. Which makes sense. Plenty of folks first jumped on the gluten hate-train thanks to numerous celebrity endorsements and the best selling anti-grain book “Wheat Belly”. Gluten became a scapegoat for bloating, weight gain, acne and just general poor health. And even if you didn’t have a particular ailment to heal, people still went “gluten-free” because “it’s good for you, you know”. Since 2013 the gluten-free market has continued to grow, and now it’s normal to find full sections of the grocery store dedicated to gluten-free products. And while the hype for the average person to go gluten-free has died down, gluten-free foods are still popular, and still maintain an aura of health. But, are they the epitome of well-being? Let’s dig in.
Gluten is a protein, actually two proteins, naturally found in a few common grains, like wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten is incredibly important to the structural integrity of food and it's the reason why breads, bagels and pastries made from wheat flour are moist, light, and fluffy. But gluten is not just found in your standard bakery products, it’s also a common ingredient in many processed foods including soups, salad dressings, and many sauces and condiments.
For 99% of the population, consuming gluten is not an issue. But for the 1% it’s an incredibly painful ordeal. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that is triggered when a genetically susceptible person eats gluten. An autoimmune condition is one where the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks itself. For celiac’s, gluten triggers the immune system to attack the small intestine. Not only does this cause severe pain and digestive issues, but it also impacts one’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Most of the nutrients we consume are absorbed into our bodies through the walls of the small intestine. And when these walls are damaged, we take in fewer nutrients, which can result in unintended weight loss, fatigue, anaemia, reduced fertility, and poor bone health. While Celiac disease was originally underdiagnosed, the medical field is now much more aware of this condition, and blood tests make for easy screening. And the silver lining is that for someone who is diagnosed as having Celiac disease, the antidote is pretty simple: don’t eat gluten.
Now, on the surface a gluten-free diet is fairly simple. Whole fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy, beans, legumes, nuts, rice, chia, quinoa, oats and soy are all naturally gluten-free. The main category of foods to avoid are baked goods, including pastas and cookies, because wheat is the #1 flour used. People with Celiac disease also have to be mindful of hidden gluten in processed foods, as well as the potential for cross-contamination that can occur during manufacturing. It only takes 50 mg of gluten for someone with Celiac to experience intestinal damage - that’s equivalent to the size of a crouton. So if some nearby barley grains are accidentally harvested alongside oats, this can be an issue. Which is why a lot of people who follow a strict gluten-free diet opt for packaged foods made, and labelled, specifically for them. And these often include re-creations, or “knock-offs” as I once heard, of your standard gluten-containing favourites. But these gluten-free options aren’t just bought by people with Celiac disease. At the height of the gluten-free craze, over 65% of respondents in a US survey considered gluten-free foods to be healthier. But this is far from true.
The “gluten-free” label doesn’t automatically make it a healthier food. It’s kinda like how just because someone donates to charity doesn’t automatically make them a good person. I’m looking at you Jeff Bezos. The absence of gluten is only truly good for you, if you have Celiac disease, or another sensitivity to gluten. In the context of processed gluten-free foods, and I mean things like gluten-free bread, cereals and cookies, sometimes the amount of calories, fat and added sugar can actually be more than their standard counterparts. Remember that gluten helps baked goods retain moisture and create that familiar texture we know and love. Replicating that with gluten-free ingredients can be really difficult, so to disguise the dry and crumbly textures of some gluten-free foods, the universal flavour boosters - salt, sugar, and fat - are often added. Or so it was the norm in the early days of the gluten-free boom.
But to be honest, I don’t think this original critique holds much weight anymore. The gluten-free market has matured so much over the past decade and a lot of companies have modified their recipes to be a lot more nutritionally similar to the gluten-containing originals. I even compared the nutrition facts of 6 gluten-free foods vs. their original counterparts, and out of pata, oreos, english muffins, plain crackers, cinnamon raisin bread and blueberry muffins…there wasn’t much of a difference. In fact, the gluten-free pasta had fewer calories and carbs than the regular fusilli, and the gluten-free crackers and cinnamon raisin bread had less sodium than the wheat-based versions. And, the levels of sugar and fat weren’t all too different either. The most consistent difference I found was in protein content - with the original products having roughly double the amount. Which makes sense because gluten itself is a protein. Now I hope many of you don’t seek out oreos or blueberry muffins to hit your protein goals and make gains, but if you are a plant-based eater, grain products are an important source of protein, so just be aware of this inherent disadvantage of some gluten-free foods.
Another critique of processed gluten-free foods is fibre. Although you can get fibre from many foods, the main source in the Western diet is through bakery products and cereals. Again, gluten-free breads, pastas and crackers have come a long way since their debuting, so it’s not like there’s a catastrophic fibre crisis on our hands. But it’s still important to recognize that some alternative flours used in gluten-free products, like rice flour, are very low in fibre. So if you have Celiac disease, keep an eye on the fibre content of your foods and make sure your fruit, veg and legume game is strong.
The final nutritional drawback of processed gluten-free foods is the potential lack of some vitamins and minerals. Since the early 1940s wheat flour in the US, Canada, UK and other industrialised nations, has been fortified with micronutrients. Governments originally encouraged this in order to prevent malnutrition during World War 2. And while it’s a practice we’ve kept up with, it’s also a solution to a problem we created. Until the mid 19th century, whole grain flour was the norm, and white, or refined flour, was reserved for the bougie people, and I mean that in the literal sense. Once industrialisation exploded however, white flour became more affordable, and the norm. But while it’s long been the staple of most cereals and breads we eat, it’s also a nutritional dud. The process of making white flour includes removing nutrient-rich parts of the wheat plant and bleaching what’s left - eliminating pretty much all its natural goodness. So in order to make flour more nutritious, manufacturers fortify it with vitamins and minerals. Now all of a sudden your Cinnamon Toast Crunch can provide over a third of your daily iron requirements. It’s a very Brave New World meets Willy Wonka way to approach nutrition. But what does this mean for gluten-free products? Well, unfortunately a lot of the flours used to create these foods, including corn flour, rice flour, and almond flour, aren’t guaranteed to be fortified. This isn’t a big deal if you eat a healthy and diverse diet but for some people, particularly women, there are two micronutrients that may be missed out on.
Folate, also known as folic acid or Vitamin B9, is the first. It’s found in dark leafy green veggies, beans, and seafood and it’s also heavily fortified in wheat flour because of its significance during pregnancy. Folate is necessary for the brain and spinal cord development of a foetus, and pregnant women who are deficient in this micronutrient are more at risk to have a baby with a birth defect. Now a lot of pregnant women take folate supplements, but this micronutrient is incredibly important in early foetal development, perhaps, well before a woman even realises she is pregnant. Which is why fortification in wheat flour is a great way to make sure the general population is not deficient. So if you’re choosing gluten-free products, especially if you are considering conceiving a child, make sure you speak to a health professional about folate.
The other micronutrient that is important to monitor in gluten-free foods is iron. This mineral is key in transporting oxygen through the blood, which keeps us energised! Our main dietary sources include meat and seafood, as well as beans and again, dark leafy green veg. Biological women are at a greater risk of iron deficiency because of the regular loss of blood that occurs during menstruation. As if it wasn’t annoying enough. Vegetarians and vegans are also more at risk of deficiency because of the low quantity of iron from plants AND it’s less easily absorbed than iron from animal sources. So like I pointed out with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a lot of people stand to gain from iron supplemented into our wheat flour, so if you are eating gluten-free keep track of this nutrient too.
Ok. So we’ve covered some of the pitfalls of processed gluten-free products. And while they are definitely life saving for folks with Celiac’s, they’re not necessarily healthier for everyone else. If you eat gluten-free it’s important to recognize the nutrients where you need to pay closer attention. And despite my dedicated spiel earlier about the importance of wheat flour, we’re now seeing a lot of alternative, and naturally gluten-free, flours come into the mainstream. Flours made from coconuts, almonds, oats, buckwheats and chickpeas are all the cool new kids on the block, and being gluten-free, is not necessarily their selling point. So how do they compare to the dominating wheat flour we’re currently reigned by? Let’s do a quick assessment.
From a really simplistic point of view, oat, buckwheat and chickpea flour all have a relatively similar nutritional profile as white flour. The main difference is that all three alternative flours have a much higher fibre content - especially buckwheat, laying down 9x the amount of fibre as found in white flour. Now compared to whole wheat flour, which is what we should be eating but I know most of us don’t, oat and chickpea flour have a lower fibre content. Buckwheat though? Oh, it’s not here to play. In addition to having more fibre than whole wheat, another bonus for buckwheat is that it has a relatively low Glycemic Index score, which means that it doesn’t raise blood sugar as quickly as white flour. This is a great characteristic for someone who’s concerned about managing their blood glucose. The other two, more popular, alternative flours of the moment are coconut and almond. Not only are they becoming a staple in the gluten-free scene, but there’s a nutrition crossover here, with keto-followers and paleo enthusiasts also jumping on board. And here’s why. Both of these flours are higher in fat, fibre, and protein, and lower in carbohydrates, compared to white flour. And it’s not just by a little. Almond flour has approximately 15x the amount of fat as white flour, double the protein, and ⅓ of the carbs. Coconut flour is a bit less extreme but it still has 3x the amount of fat, almost double the protein, and 10% fewer carbs than white flour. But it also boasts 12x the amount of fibre - the absolute champ of this nutrient. Depending on who you ask, less desirable features of both these flours include a higher calorie count, and more natural sugar. Overall, considering the wacky differences between coconut and almond flour versus white flour - it’s difficult to say which one is healthiest. It really depends on your personal needs.
The only hesitation I have here is with the fat content of coconut flour. My concern is less about the quantity of fat, and more about the type. The majority of fat in coconut flour is a saturated fat called medium-chain triglycerides. Now the research here is super inconsistent. Some scientists saying it’s bad for our health, cause it’s a sat fat, and others saying it’s good for our health, because it’s a special sat fat. But the general recommendation is to limit our sat fat intake and keep consumption of coconut-based products at a minimum. Now this doesn’t mean you have to avoid coconut flour, but maybe don’t make it your go-to choice. The other thing to be mindful of when considering eating one of these new flours is the fibre content. All of the alternatives have higher fibre than white flour, and if you’re not used to eating a lot of fibre, high amounts, like what’s found in coconut or buckwheat flour, can cause bloating, gas and general digestive discomfort until you become used to the quantity. So consider this your bathroom warning.
At the end of the day, all of these alternative flours seem like great things to try. I mean, a little protein or fibre boost in your pancake batter sounds great! But don’t just let nutrition dictate your choice, you also need to consider how you’re going to use these ingredients. Each of these flours react very differently in recipes so do not choose this moment to be an experimental Masterchef. And that’s speaking from personal experience having made a buckwheat banana bread that was simultaneously goopy and burnt. A mysterious achievement that bruised both my ego and taste buds.
Overall, when it comes to eating gluten-free foods, particularly ones meant to replicate wheat-based originals, don’t assume they are automatically healthier. And if you have Celiac disease, make sure that you’re getting enough fibre, folate, and iron from other sources in your diet, and keep an eye on added sugar, fat and salt in your gluten-free go-tos. And if you want to experiment with any trendy new flours this year, just make sure to follow the instructions.
That’s been the bite for today. Stay hungry.