Overcome the Main Pitfall of Gluten-Free
ByI have been gluten-free for a number of years, and I’m sure it’s been a good thing.
However, when listening to Dr. Alan Christianson’s talk on the Healing Power of Food Summit, I learned that there is on potential pitfall of going wheat or gluten-free.
Wheat contains a lot of what’s called “resistant starch,” which is the kind of food that feeds the good gut bacteria and leads to healthy digestion—and overall health. Scientists now know that our health is largely dependent on how diverse and healthy our gut microbiome is.
Cutting out wheat cuts out a main source of important resistant starch. But never fear! Dr. Christianson gave specific things to do to make up for the the lack.
1. Eat a variety of root vegetables. Root vegetables excel at providing resistant starch. “Buy all the root vegetables you can find in a grocery store, and eat at least one kind/day,” Dr. Christianson advised. Here is my recipe for roasted root veggies.
2. Eat at least one item from a “prebiotic foods” list every day. You can Google “list of prebiotic foods” and come up with a bunch, but here are some for starters that are readily available:
- asparagas
- onions and leeks
- flax seeds, hemp seeds
- garlic
- apples
- bananas
- cocoa (yes!)
- sweet potatoes
- cabbage
- berries
3. Stewed apples. When you cook apples a little, you release the pectin, which is a great prebiotic food apparently. Chop up about 4 apples, spoon-sized pieces, put them in a pot with a little water, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until the skins get shiny. Add a little cinnamon, maybe some raisins, and you’ve got a great addition to breakfast! (I eat this along with an egg and my smoothie that has berries, flax seeds among other things, so I’ve got a great start to my day.)
