More and more people are being diagnosed with gluten intolerance.
In 2012 the market for gluten-free products was about 40 million consumers [1].
Have we stopped to ask why?
Are we ready to know what gluten is doing inside our body?
Do we want to know or would we rather just find another solution so we can function?
Are we ready to go deeper and find out more?
Oxford English dictionary [2] states that Gluten is a substance that is present in cereal grains especially wheat and is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.
Google it and you get the same meaning with the added bit –
Gluten comes from the Latin word which means Glue.
Hello World – is the glue a clue?
Planet Organic health shop has a leaflet and it says –
‘Modern wheat has been hybridised by man over the centuries to the point where its structure is different to ancient grain. This was done in order to make wheat easier to harvest and easier to make bread with. This means that we are eating a grain that is not how nature created it – but how man manipulated it.’
So man has changed the actual original grain and the fact remains, we as humans are still the same in our physiology.
So this means we are eating something that no longer works for our body.
Who actually benefits here really?
Why is the billion-dollar bread and cereal industry growing fast?
The global market for bread alone is expected to reach US $198.7 billion by 2020 [3].
A study for the European Commission in 2010 found that the bread market in Europe was around 32 million tonnes in the 27 EU countries [4].
The total consumption of bread, french pastry and patisserie was estimated at nearly 39 million tonnes in the 27 EU countries [4].
Most EU countries have a bread consumption of 50kg of bread per person each year [4].
What about other wheat grains like Couscous and Bulgur Wheat that the healthy people eat that still contains gluten? [5].
Does it make sense that in the past things were different in the farming methods of how bread was made and we ate less back then?
Is modern day farming really concerned about our true health and well-being?
Does the bread industry put people before profit?
Why does everyone you know have more vitality levels as soon as they stop eating gluten?
Why does a bloated bread belly start to go after giving up gluten?
Why is it you feel tired and not energised after eating gluten?
Why is gluten in all your favorite foods that you love and could never give up?
Why are there huge aisles in the supermarket dedicated to bread and cakes?
Why is it that we are happy to have advanced technology and adjust to all the changes like our mobile phones, but when it comes to sensible food changes there seems to be some resistance?
Is it true that the only time we make any real changes is if we are forced to and that tends to be a medical scare?
Most of us choose not to give up gluten because it tastes good and fills us up.
It’s the grab and go stuff and quick and easy. Buy it and eat it. Never think about the consequences.
But does it really fill us up?
What are we filling up?
Are we filling up the emptiness we feel?
Why do we want to eat more soon after?
Why does every meal on our menu have some form of gluten?
Why are we as a nation addicted to bread and cereal?
In 2013, the UK Bakery market was worth 3.6 billion a year and was one of the largest markets within the food industry. Total volume was just under 4 billion packs.
Equivalent of almost 11 million loaves sold every day [6].
Why are there more and more varieties to choose from?
Why is there no government health warning on bread packets?
Why are we not aware of the sugar that goes into making bread?
Why does no one tell us that yeast in bread is used to break down starch and sugar?
Are we aware that yeast free dough has a fermentation process?
Are we aware fermentation is a chemical breakdown where sugars are converted to alcohol?
Are we aware of the yeast menace? See our blog on You Are What You Eat for more on the Yeast Menace.
Why does every nutrition or diet advisor who has vitality recommend a gluten free diet?
Imagine putting glue inside your body – three times a day – and add to that the excess eating we do on a daily basis without ever regarding what our body might be trying to tell us.
Toast
Sandwich
Baguette
Bread roll
Croissant
Muffins
Pasta
Pizza
Pies
Pastries
Biscuits
Cakes
Even worse – imagine being told your body cannot digest gluten, as it really is a glue.
What is scary is we rarely bother to read the ingredients and see what is actually going into our mouths and the affects of what it might be doing to us inside.
What is even more scary is the amount of sugar that goes into ‘gluten free’ bread.
So you take the first step to go gluten free (GF) and almost every GF product out there has excess sugar.
We all know sugar is very harmful to our body. So we are stuck to find other alternatives.
We are creatures of habit and so we like repeating things and it feels comfortable and change would mean taking Responsibility and we really don’t like that word so we stay stuck – Yes here is a clue again about the glue. What does glue do? It helps us stay stuck.
Could it be possible we are comfortable in our uncomfortableness?
Could it be possible that we stick to eating food because it is familiar?
Is it possible that the stuckness over time will affect our bowels?
I know plenty of people who are gluten free and look alive and have vitality levels that most of us would want but are not prepared to make the changes.
Change is another big word – many of us fear change and what it may bring.
The Truth is we all KNOW whether we choose to admit it or not – change is inevitable.
Life for me without my bread and buns was the end and the Truth is – it was the end.
It was the end of me existing in a life and staying stuck with a bloated bread belly.
After 9 years of being gluten free I feel alive everyday and I no longer need that comfort that really was holding me back in every area of my life.
References
[1] (2012). Gluten Free Market Trends. The Gluten Free Agencyhttp://thegluten-freeagency.com/gluten-free-market-trends [2] Concise Oxford English Dictionary – Twelfth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2011 [3] (n.d). MCP-6208: Bread – A Global Strategic Business Report
http://www.strategyr.com/pressMCP-6208.asp [4] (n.d). European Bread Market. The Federation of Bakers
http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/the-bread-industry/industry-facts/european-bread-market [5] (n.d). Grains. Coeliac UK.
https://www.coeliac.org.uk/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/gf-diet/grains [6] (2013, October). Factsheet No. 3. The British Bakery Market. The Federation of Bakers
http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/pdfs/media-and-resources/FS3%20-%20The%20British%20Bakery%20Market%2030-10-13-FINAL.pdf
Comments 34
The first clue here to the glue and how it affects us as human beings is that we as human beings tampered and tinkered with a grain in order to make money from it. This fact alone shows that the food was not ever there to nurture or truly support another but to uphold and deliver profit before people. Simple maths says that in order to keep the profits going you have to make sure more and more eat – add sugar, raisins, currants, icing, chocolate, cheese and bacon, literally anything you can to turn bread into tastier bread and you win over another customer, and another and another…
Glue that sticks inside us and holds us back from truly feeling who we are is ludicrous and yet we have all indulged in it. Sandwiches, croissants, cakes and biscuits – its cheap and easy to produce and allows us to walk and eat…
Where are we as a world – that we continue to indulge and eat foods that harm us and prevent us from getting a true sense of who we are. And why do we need to eat food to dull down who we are in the first place?
Top comment Lee Green and what you say makes sense. This tampering and tinkering business is what was and continues to be about profits and not people. Who makes up stuff like cronuts which is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut.
It is like we need to be entertained when it comes to food and we want something new, something different but not once do we go to our body and ask it how it feels about a new version on tampering and tinkering with gluten in it.
Next – back to the ‘profit before people”. There is a blog on this website coming out this year, as this is now something that we need to address. Simple Living Global have a Code of Conduct and one line in there says PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS.
This focus is a game changer as business generally make it all about the money and not the people.
I have witnessed a friend recently who was gluten free go back onto eating gluten products because she wanted to have the test to see if she had coeliacs disease. To have the test you have to eat gluten for 6 weeks. I watched her health deteriorate in front of my eyes. She got heavy black eyes, sick with a cold, felt run down with no energy and became bloated even though she was exercising and working at loosing some weight. And yet she persevered even though she knew that gluten was poisoning her body. Finally she got the tests done and to no surprise she has coeliacs disease. Her body was speaking loud and clear to her that gluten was not something that she should be placing into her body and yet to scientifically prove this she made herself feel very sick for 6 long weeks. What I found fascinating was the deterioration of her physical and mental health during this time. Our bodies speak very loudly to us when we can be still enough to listen to it and feel it.
Thanks for sharing this real life story Sally and yet there would be heaps of bread lovers saying the opposite because how can one story or a thousand be enough. The fact is I was one who could not give up this ‘comfort food’ because that is exactly what it is. Forget bread, for me it was the cakes and we used to call them ‘treats’. So they were eaten as a reward and this makes the whole thing even more insidious. You reward your body with something that is harming it. Hello. Where is our common sense here.
Those who give up tend to do it because of a health scare and a medical reason. My question is – could it be possible that they look for alternatives that give them the same feeling because in Truth they are simply in reaction and it is not really coming from them asking for real change?
I love this statement – ‘You reward your body with something that is harming it’, as I have certainly done this for a very long time, completely unaware that what I was choosing to eat was harming it. When I went to giving up gluten, it was after a medical scare, I ate all the alternative gluten free breads and cakes etc. After some time I realised that there was a lot of crap in these products and that I was still filling up on sweets and choosing foods that were heavy and stodgy like gluten free pasta, cereals and breads. So, yes alternatives can be just as harming on our bodies if the choice to do so comes from a reaction rather than truly discerning what it is that your body is asking you to do. It’s a big thing to be able to let go of all that you are told and taught and really listen and honour your body and what is correct for it.
Great that you talk about the alternatives that the shops are now big on. This Gluten Free stuff can be full of sugar and other nonsense that really is not the answer.
I recently have made it my business to actually stop at the aisles in the supermarket where there are loads of gluten free foods and no surprise sugar is high on the list of ingredients. The other thing is how much cakes and biscuits are on offer which simply replicate what they were eating before they got diagnosed with an intolerance to gluten.
At no point is this offering the person a stop moment to actually look at why they are not able to digest gluten but instead we are offered ‘alternatives’ that look the same and taste as near to the real thing as possible. This is why we have to get honest and admit things are not really changing.
I agree Sally it is a big thing to let go of all the things we have been told and start to connect and listen to our body, which lets face it knows best. Why? because it knows the truth.
I have not had gluten for 5 years; my mind is more clear (no more “brain fog:) my body feels and is lighter, no more prickly hot feeling in my blood, no more emotional rolor coster or irritability after eating and most of all 98% of my cravings and dependencies on food are gone.
I am far more aware now of even slight cravings for foods which will ‘dumb me down’ and it is so clear to me that that is exactly WHY I used to eat sugar & bread; to stop me feeling what I did not want to feel or know. Well, I’ve made a choice, I do want to know, I want to feel and be aware of all I can about what is going on; in my body & in the world and the more clear my body is the more I feel, grow & know.
This is a great real life comment Jo Billings and thanks for sharing.
YES we do all know so much more than we let on and we use food to dull us, bring damp inside our fiery warm body and all of this is to protect us from our hurts and not bring us the awareness we need to evolve.
That may sound a bit much if you are just munching a cake and drinking your coffee right now but if you stop and just ponder on this blog and comments made thus far, you will be left in no doubt that there is something big here to look at and address.
I never ever dreamt that it would be possible to not have a heavy sluggish feeling everyday and a bloated belly. On top of that the foggy head Jo mentions.
The figures quoted on this blog ‘speaks loud and clear how much we are consuming world wide’.
Imagine what would happen without our toast in the morning or our cup of tea and cake or the biscuit tin always topped up so we never run out.
I noticed how the queues are so long at the patisserie shops and there are so many along one high street that it makes you ask WHY is business booming with gluten and sugar and caffeine high on our list? How are we living that is demanding this type of business to keep growing?
We seem to accept it as normal and never question what on earth is it really doing to us inside. Are we that comfortable with our uncomfortableness?
Lets get deeply honest, we can pretend and say we feel great but do we really after eating that sandwich, croissant or pastry?
Did we interview our body and ask it truly how it was feeling before and after eating the gluten?
As this blog is saying, could it just be that we are not naturally designed to eat gluten?
I stopped eating gluten 25 plus years ago which had a huge impact on my digestive problems, bloating pain, weakness, deficiencies and health generally. I had had every medication going to help my symptoms anti inflammatories, anti spasmodics ,pain killers, but what stopped them in the end was stopping gluten. My energy levels improved so much and I felt so much lighter. On a few occasions I would try it, just a tiny amount, and my body rejected it very quickly, I felt like I had a rock in my stomach, just couldn’t digest it at all also my energy drained along with many other symptoms. Putting profit before people is really harming people, it’s great this blog is out there giving the necessary facts and effects this food is having but also asking the question Why are we eating it ?
In response to your question Ruth – could it be possible we are eating gluten because it is a modern day ‘filler’ very convenient and you can even munch it multi-tasking, out walking or to suit our ‘on the go’ lifestyle. It is comfortable to just go for the quick and easy option to fill us up but not stop and pause and ask WHY we may not feel so great after eating gluten.
Those like yourself who have stopped gluten are living proof of the benefits of a gluten free diet. However, the thing to watch out for now is the substitutes and alternatives that gluten free products are offering. Many are full of equally harmful ingredients to our delicate digestive system and precious body.
Thanks Simple Living Global for a much needed article on gluten and the effects of this seemingly innocent food which is consumed in colossal proportions. Having suffered myself with IBS for many years, which eventually restricted my leaving the house or working full time and when I came to give up all the bread products my health and energy levels improved beyond measure. In fact so much so that I am now able to come and go from the house when I please without worrying about toilets and spare change, not forgetting to mention being able to work full time.
Great point you make here Julie Matson about gluten being a ‘seemingly innocent food which is consumed in colossal proportions’.
Again you are living proof of the benefits of a gluten free diet and as with many it can be said that energy and vitality levels seem to increase and we all know that would be most welcome.
The long term affects are well worth a study as society benefits. Your real life example confirms that you have the improved health benefits which allow you to work full time. That in itself speaks volumes.
It is very interesting to read how the structure of wheat has been changed over the centuries which has given us a food source that a lot of people are unable to digest today. Having attained a weight of over 27 stone by eating my fair share of bread, cakes, pasta etc. and feeling bloated and uncomfortable most of the time, I had no idea how much the gluten in the wheat affected me. I was certainly comfortable in my uncomfortableness. Through the presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I got to feel the harm that gluten can cause and by making the choice to cut out gluten I was able to feel the difference in my body. I felt a lot lighter in myself and that wasn’t just down to losing weight. My head felt clearer and I had a lot more energy and I was able to focus for a longer time.
But cutting out gluten can be just as dangerous. More and more people are being diagnosed as being gluten intolerant and they are going to gluten free products in the belief that they are healthier but as you rightly point out Bina, a lot of gluten free products are laden with extra sugar to make them more palatable. Man has created unnecessary issues by tampering with what nature had given us. What else has man tampered with to make their lives easier?
Great comment Tim Bowyer with plenty of valid points for us all to consider.
You are saying that your weight which would be classed as morbidly obese, had been due to your ‘fair share of bread, cakes, pasta etc..’ all of which contain gluten.
Your blog about how you lost over 12 stone and more.. see link speaks volumes.
http://everydaylivingness.com/how-i-lost-weight-sustaining-a-weight-loss-of-12-stone-counting/
We can no longer ignore the fact that our modern day diet contains a lot of gluten and it can be found in many products on the supermarket aisle, fast food diners and almost any shop that sells food.
Yes we as a race of beings have tampered with what nature has given us and it is time to listen to our body and feed it what it wants and not what we want because it is comfortable and convenient.
Your weight loss alone is a story for our health systems as obesity is on the rise and is now a global issue.
Hi Simple Living Global – I saw a study released in October 2016 about wheat and the impact it has on our health – https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/sh-nsl101016.php – “Scientists have discovered that a protein in wheat triggers the inflammation of chronic health conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, and also contributes towards the development of non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. ” I know my body found wheat and gluten difficult to tolerate and I feel very different without wheat/gluten.
Hello Jane Keep and thank you for sharing this.
Well worth reading this link which is a very recent study, so we have up to date information from a global science news website.
What it is saying is making sense. Up until now the focus has been on the impact of gluten on the digestive system but this study put the spotlight on another group of proteins found in wheat called ATIs.
“ATIs make up no more than 4% of wheat proteins, but can trigger powerful immune reactions in the gut that can spread to other tissues in the body”.
Now this is telling us something and ignoring this important study is not going to help us in any way. What is needed now is education. We all need a basic understanding of the harm-full effects of gluten to our body and then we have a choice.
Our choices have consequences and we each have a responsibility. Bit of a tall order if we love our bread and cakes but what if we simply got honest about WHY we love food that can be a trigger a powerful immune reaction?
WHY are we comfortable in our uncomfortableness?
Our body is telling us one thing and our mind thinks it is ok to ignore and continue our ill way. Why is this not making any sense?
I used to love my bread with lots of butter but couldn’t understand why I felt so tired and constipated. No matter the amount of fluids I drank and despite a high fibre diet, it made no difference.
It is only in the last 8 years after experimenting and reverting to gluten free products at first, then refining it further to no gluten, my health is in a different and better state.
Why did I make the change? The health of my ears stopped me in my tracks. It may seem trivial but my hearing was important to me and despite my body signalling and disregarding the sign for many years, I had no choice but to listen.
Since the changes my ears have improved and with the addition of removing other foods that no longer serving my body, constipation, tiredness, feeling bloated, fogginess and many other symptoms I experienced has subsided.
On a humorous note – I was at a supermarket I normally do not shop at. My husband had asked for gluten free corn chips, and I I could not find the aisle with the gluten free products, so I asked one of the young shop assistants. He had difficulty understanding what gluten free meant despite explaining it to the best of my ability. Then suddenly his face lit up so I thought he’s finally got it and proceeded to lead me to an aisle, he pointed to a shelf and left. I was a little bewildered when I scanned the shelves looking for the gluten free corn chips and couldn’t understand why he had lead me to the stationary section – he had pointed to the glue products before leaving looking pleased with himself!
I couldn’t help but laugh, he certainly wasn’t wrong, glue is the cousin to gluten free.
Just flicking through the food magazines at the checkout in the supermarket recently and its all about Easter and there are even more recipes for buns and cakes and other fillers.
Lets get real isn’t this why we eat foods that contain gluten – to simply fill us up in that moment?
Well that is what gluten foods were for me and it kept me bloated all the time.
There seems to be a big thing about gluten intolerance and what many of us choose to overlook is what is it they are using to replace gluten.
If you check the ingredients, bet your bottom dollar it has heaps of sugar.
So great we come off glue but then we go for an added poison as sugar is a drug and we all know it is doing great harm to our body.
I agree, the substitutes are becoming more and more harmful. I walked down a gluten free isle recently and was surprised how much there was and how it had changed. So many different cakes, biscuits, chocolates, sweets, breads.. lots of sugary foods and caffeine. It certainly seems like a replacement rather than a healthier option that would be kind to our bodies and well being.
Is this really the way to go to feel the vibrancy a non gluten diet produces?
…doesn’t seem so to me.
In a recent ‘Food and You’ survey, 13% of people reported having an adverse reaction to gluten.
https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/food-and-you-w4-combined-report.pdf
I wonder how many live with symptoms like bloating, but haven’t yet made the enquiry into why it happens.
This gluten business is big stuff and so many people I come across are not aware, but those who have taken it out of their diet always say how much better they feel and less bloated and sluggish.
For me toast in the morning was the only way and if not cereal. There was nothing else that would cut it except versions of bread like crumpets fried in butter. What I do remember was feeling full up and then hungry very soon after. My whole day was usually consumed with what else I could eat and dream about. Is it any wonder that both me and my husband were very overweight.
Glue tells me it sticks and that is what our habits do – they stick.
Change is difficult but I say if I can do it then anyone can. Not from reaction, but from a deeper understanding as to what gluten is actually doing to our body. Add to this some small research on the yeast menace and we have a list of symptoms that could be simply eliminated. I am living proof of that fact and know it works. I do not need to be double blind tested in a lab.
Take it from me the benefits are well worth it and I would never ever go back to gluten again. Simply makes no sense to me.
WHY on earth would anyone choose to hurt their insides if they knew the Truth?
Apparently gluten free food sales have increased globally by 12.6% year and the market is expected to reach $4.7bn by 2020.
http://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/11/gluten-free-fast-becoming-new-industry-standard-in-baked-goods-with-high-fibre-one-to-watch.html
I wonder if something is starting to shift here, with gluten free coming in more and more.
It is interesting to see baked goods don’t seem going anywhere quite yet, though.
Apparently a pill has been developed to enable people with gluten intolerances to eat gluten. It uses an enzyme which inhibits absorption in the intestine.
It is interesting that so much effort is put into finding ways to avoid us having to change our diet or to listen to our bodies.
What if our bodies carry loads of wisdom and when they react to gluten they are simply sending ‘please don’t eat me’ messages?
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/59227/20170508/new-gluten-intolerance-treatment-found-now-people-sensitivity-eat-wheat.htm
Wow I had not heard of this JS. We make a pill to enable someone to eat something their body is clearly saying No to. It’s like taking lactose out of milk so people with lactose intolerance can drink milk. Our bodies are so wise if we listen and follow it’s guidance.. in my experience it is saying No for a reason.
I had an interesting conversation with a customer last week in the store I work in. We were discussing the product they were interested in and they asked about gluten being an ingredient as their partner was coeliac so this would not be an option for them if it was in the product. They went on to say although they were not coeliac they too had stopped eating gluten and had noticed significant benefits from this. They lost weight, their energy levels came up, a health issue they had cleared up and they were able to exercise much more without feeling tired or exhausted, they felt much lighter, the list of benefits went on. Even though they were not diagnosed as coeliac they could feel how detrimental gluten was to their body and general health having stopped it… is this worth considering?
I was out dining yesterday and the waitress called it ‘healthy’ because we did not want bread with our poached eggs and spinach dish.
I just stopped and reflected how far I have come from my bread belly days. Just the smell of that crusty bread and thick butter would get me salivating or even the thought of it.
Instantly I would feel bloated, foggy and tired and my solution was to grab and find more to eat as the bread was a filler so it was no thanks to that but nevertheless my other choices were also foods with gluten.
Never in a million years did I think I would ever stop eating bread, cakes, pastries or biscuits. I even went for all those GF – gluten free alternatives but what really put me off was how loaded they are with sugar and other fillers that common sense told me were a substitute for gluten. In fact I felt the same as when I had the real thing. Gluten or gluten free I have come to realise are one and the same. The bridge of gluten free worked initially but to be honest it really is the same and my body told me, not a book, a person, a health advocate, an app or a blog.
As someone who does like to push the boat and experiment, knowing the answer and of course being sucked into what did not feel like my thoughts, a few years ago I tried a cake – the real whammy that I used to love in the past. Carrot cake with the creamy frosty topping.
I scoffed it down so fast like I was in a frenzy and wanted more and I reckon I could have kept eating. I did not stop to pause and register how the first mouthful felt. It reminded me of past days where I always wanted more cake having just ate some. It was like I felt empty inside and the cake was filling up the emptiness but not making a real difference as it was a bottomless pit and hence the more more more.
The point here is that within 5 minutes of stopping my belly started to swell and I was shocked. I looked 8 months pregnant. Sounds impossible but this is the truth.
I called it out by saying to myself that this is the real affect of gluten, sugar and dairy – all which I choose to not have in my daily diet if I can help it.
This to me requires further study because eliminating gluten from my diet has made a huge difference and the most noticeable is my breathing and vitality levels.
Looking back now I would say it is a no brainer but we all have to come to it ourself and not impose what works for us on others.
By writing this blog, I felt I had the authority because my body is living the no gluten for many years and so it is speaking from that livingness, so to speak.
Great blog! Lots to consider! I may be one of the few readers here that is not gluten free yet. I have known for past 10 years what gluten is and does. I cut it out for a few years and then restarted and then cut it out again and restarted it and done this few times back and forth. It’s been hard to stay consistent with it even though I fell better off of it.
I also agree that in the gluten free aisle there are so many options but more caloric, increase fats, salts, and sugary than in the regular products. I don’t find them to be better options. Best to try and cut it out slowly.
I heard an amazing fact about gluten yesterday.
The godson of a friend has autism. When the parents found out, they cut out gluten.
This made a massive difference to his behaviour. His symptoms lessened considerably.
I had no idea about this, but it is apparently very well known in autism treatment to cut out gluten.
More studies are needed, but there is known to be a strong link between the digestive system (our ‘enteric nervous system’) and our brain.
It makes sense to me. If the body is less polluted and heavy then the messages that get sent around it will be clearer.
But is there even more to it? And could this be the case not just for those with autism, but for all of us – to a greater or lesser degree?
I hope there is further scientific study into this and that the findings get shouted from the rooftops. For all of us.
Today I saw an advert for gluten free beer. I knew that beer had gluten in it but what I was surprised at was the fact that we have found a ‘remedy’ for those that recognise that gluten is not supportive to their digestive system – make beer without it.
Has it ever occurred to us that any alcoholic beverage is detrimental to our health as it is not a natural substance and is a scientifically proven poison and so having it without gluten is not really going to make any difference?
Have we ever stopped to ask why mankind rarely stops to question why something is not working for us and instead we seek an alternative?
What if by removing the gluten, the same reason(s) why we are drinking the drink or eating the food that is not good for us is still there and until we get to the root cause of it, we can eat and drink as many ‘gluten free’ labelled products that we like but they won’t support us to get to the root cause.
I have started questioning further why I eat the things that I do and without giving myself a hard time I am open to seeing and understanding what is driving my unhealthy behaviours.
This gluten free market is getting bigger and bigger and in truth is it only growing because we don’t want to really know why we eat the things that we do, preferring instead to find remedies?
Talking to a cafe manager in the countryside at the weekend about cake.
She said they have tried gluten free cake but it doesn’t sell.
When they have made it, noone buys it and then they have a whole cake sitting there uneaten and going to waste.
She did not know why it was like that, because she thought the gluten free cake they made was super-tasty.
She needs to work with supply and demand. She has 1 cake which is wheat free, which she says noone notices. So all their cakes, for now, still contain gluten and dairy.
In the wilds of Yorkshire these last few days, every where we went catered for gluten free.
This amazed me. Even a little tea room whose main patrons were locals and cycle enthusiasts, had gluten free bread in stock at breakfast.
They said gluten free is very common now. So many people ask about it so they are ready in the kitchen, to make sure they don’t have to turn people away. They can’t assure no contamination, but they can serve those for whom it is a health and life choice.
It made me reflect on the extent to which we are becoming more sensitive.
Sensitive to how the body responds to food. Considerate of the choices we have in what we consume. More ready to stick to those choices.
And the proof is in the supply that follows the demand.
The Guardian – 17 July 2021
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/17/gluten-free-food-costs-rise-recipes-price-rice-flour-free-from
26% rise in wholesale price for rice flour, prompting concerns over impact on “free from” products.
This means the price paid by shoppers for gluten free versions of staple foods could increase in the coming months.
Most of us are aware that gluten-free foods remain ‘specialist’ and already cost much more than mainstream products.
The current scale of the problem means some companies could re-write recipes with cheaper ingredients.
Freight costs have gone up but what is of concern is the key ingredient in Gluten Free (GF) products, which is rice flour. There are problems in rice growing countries. Myanmar has a military coup and India.
Rice flour is usually made out of the broken grains that are a by-product of milling. However, some suppliers are now having to mill long grain rice to produce the flour.
This has come at a time when demand for gluten free foods is high. In the past, those suffering with coeliac disease chose GF foods. However, a much wider population are intolerant of certain foods like gluten and dairy.
On that note, we now have a gluten and dairy free market worth £1.1. billion in 2020, with gluten free making up 40% of sales, according to market researchers, Mintel.