News from Midsummer Farm

Thoughts on going "Gluten-Free"

Well Mark and I were Gluten-Free for almost three weeks ! Tonight we're eating quesadillas and tomorrow family-heirloom-recipe stuffing and gravy!

It was an interesting experiment and I really recommend that everyone give it a try and see how you feel. Even if you aren't specifically gluten intolerant or sensitive, you may just feel better - detoxified - by giving your body a break from something that has really infiltrated a huge percentage of our food.

It really wasn't very difficult for us to go Gluten-Free, as we cook most of our food from whole ingredients. If you are the kind of person who tends to eat whole foods and prepare your own meals instead of using a lot of processed foods, you�ll find that going Gluten-Free is really not very dramatic.

If you do depend on a lot of pre-made processed food, you may find going Gluten-Free more challenging. And you may want to consider changing over to more whole foods as you are probably getting not only a lot of gluten and wheat parts but also other undesirables in your diet. Going Gluten-Free may work to break some of these habits of eating processed foods.

Things to Watch Out For. Here are some surprising foods with gluten in them: Imitation Crab meat, sausage, canned fruit, ice cream, canned soups, bouillon, creamed vegetables, canned baked beans, salad dressing, processed cheeses and yogurts, meat balls, etc.

Wheat

You want a simple ingredients listing on any processed food you buy. You should be able to recognize the foods listed and avoid anything with strange vague descriptions like Modified Food Starch.These are bad for you whether you're gluten sensitive or not! It is the presence of these broken up parts of wheat in so much of our food that probably caused people to become so sensitive to wheat in general.

Mark seems more sensitive than me to gluten. Although I didn�t feel very much difference at all, he is planning to really watch the gluten and keep his consumption much lower than before, and try to avoid it as much as possible. (Thanksgiving not included!)

I also want to make a note of the difference between Gluten-Free and White-Carb Free. You can actually consume a lot of white carbs while following a Gluten-Free diet. Gluten-Free is referring strictly to wheat and some other grains. You can still eat things like rice pasta and rice flour which have a high glycemic index and are White-Carbs. You can even eat sugar and be Gluten-Free.

So it can be a toss up - but there are also a lot of really great Gluten-Free foods out there that will satisfy the cravings. Many bakers are now offering Gluten-Free lines of breads and sweets. Janet's Quality Baked Goods offers fabulous Gluten-Free breads and other whole grain breads as well, traditionally made, with love, and with dedication to local, high quality ingredients. See side bar for info on how to purchase her breads this winter.

You might also consider trying a soy or corn free diet. In general, I avoid any corn or soy that is not certified organic and GMO-free. A ridiculously high percentage of American soy and corn is now genetically modified. If Europe feels it is dangerous, I think I'll avoid it too right now, and not wait until the U.S. has enough evidence built up to prove it is dangerous. Soy and Corn are also common allergy sources.

Gluten-Free recipes. Beware of Gluten-Free recipes. They can be full of white carbs and full of ingredients like egg substitute. While going Gluten-Free for three weeks, I didn't find any recipes for Gluten-Free-Things-That-Usually-Had-Gluten that were worthwhile. Of course, I only gave it three weeks, so I would welcome any recipes anyone has to share! (And sometimes you do want to bake a sweet and then using the alternative cake flours are a great option.) But I do have to say that I think when you go Gluten-Free, don't focus on how to substitute for things that traditionally are made of wheat flour; instead work at introducing whole foods and great recipes that naturally and traditionally aren't made with wheat flour. You'll end up avoiding Gluten and Sugar and White Carbs and being much healthier for it!

I am always against diets that cut things out. Of course, if you find you are allergic or sensitive to a particular substance, you have to make some cuts in your choices, but try to give yourself an alternative - like, 'I can eat all the fresh berries I want now' - instead of substituting with a pale imitation.