Gluten Free Vegan Living

If wheat, rye and barley are the main grains with gluten, how about other grains?  Can you still eat Grains with Gluten Intolerance?

First off, grains and processed foods made with grains is not quite the same thing.  According to one of my favorite experts on the Gluten Free issues, Dr. Vikki Petersen:

Should Celiacs (or Gluten Intolerants) Eat Grain?

A whole, organic grain is a beautiful complex carbohydrate that the body burns cleanly for good energy. The refined version (like those in processed foods) spikes blood sugar, creating an insulin response, inflammation, weight gain and, over time, degenerative disease. So as you can see they are vastly different!

Another facet of grains to be aware of is how they may fall into the category of cross-reactive foods as it relates to gluten intolerance. These particular foods, chiefly dairy products and grains,  have a similar protein structure to gluten and can create stress for certain patients whose immune system is unable to differentiate between these foods and gluten. Yes, the foods are, themselves, gluten-free. But in susceptible individuals the protein structure is similar enough to gluten to confuse the immune system into thinking it actually IS gluten. ….

Where that leaves us is that there is no ‘pat’ answer to the question of grains being acceptable or not. But I do disagree with a viewpoint that eschews all grains for everyone. I find that not only unnecessary, but many gluten-free grains in their organic, whole form are very nutritious. These include rice, tef, quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, tapioca, arrowroot – the last few are not actual ‘grains’ but they are treated as such in many grain-rich gluten free foods.

Research is being conducted on developing a pill making it possible for celiacs and gluten intolerant folks to eat gluten.  This pill would be similar to the pills developed for lactose intolerant folks that is currently available now.

According to the Celiac.com website …

… Justin Siegel, Ingrid Swanson Pultz and colleagues think that an enzyme might be able to further break down the offending peptides in the stomach, thus permitting people with celiac disease to safely eat gluten-containing foods.

Their efforts led to the discovery of a naturally occurring enzyme that has some of the ideal properties for doing so. They then used a computer to modify the enzyme in the laboratory so that it would do the job completely.

The newly engineered enzyme, which they called KumaMax, breaks down more than 95 percent of gluten peptides associated with celiac disease in acidic conditions that mimic the stomach.

Most of the comments on the article were favorable, but one person posted a concern about the genetic engineering of the pills:

Did you notice the part that says they “used a computer to modify the enzyme in the laboratory”? This is a genetically modified enzyme, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have the potential to cause all sorts of problems/imbalances in our bodies. In fact, some people argue that GMOs are to blame for the plethora of food allergies we are seeing in the US today (BT Corn might be causing a leaky gut and allowing food particles to enter the bloodstream, in-turn causing the immune system to react to these foods). I worry that long term, using a genetically modified enzyme to treat Celiac disease could actually make matters worse for people who are already dealing with serious digestive issues. Who knows in what ways this human engineered enzyme will interact with the naturally occurring enzymes and flora in our gut, not to mention the lining of our digestive system.

This pill sounds like a wonderful breakthrough, but what about the GMO implications?

What are your thoughts?  Would you be interesting in such a pill?  Would the possible genetic engineering concern you?

Let me know your thoughts!

I find it very annoying when people say, or worse yet, post on the web, that switching to Gluten Free is the healthiest thing they can do — regardless of what they eat.  There are plenty of bad gluten free foods out there that are far from healthy.   Of course, for us gluten intolerant or celiac folks , we don’t have a choice to whether or not we eat gluten.  But how about the QUALITY of the Gluten Free foods you are eating.  Did you know that LOTS of Gluten Free foods contain GMO.

GMO is a genetically modified organism  —  an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.  If you have been following the news, studies have shown that GMO food can cause an array of nasty side effects including cancer and premature death.

Now, back to how Gluten Free foods contain GMOs.  If you don’t eat wheat, barley or rye, what is the next most common gluten free grain?  Corn!  And corn is the most likely grain to be GMO.

The following article by Mike Adams, editor of Natural News, explains further:

(NaturalNews) In the wake of all the recent revelations about the dangers of GMOs, a special warning needs to go out to all those health-conscious consumers buying “gluten-free” foods. As it turns out, most “gluten-free” foods sold in the USA contain genetically modified organisms.

Why is this so? Because the primary ingredient in most gluten-free foods is corn. And most corn-based foods are made with genetically modified corn. Around 85% of the conventional corn grown in the USA is genetically modified corn, and that corn is engineered to produce its own deadly insecticide right inside every grain.

When GM corn is harvested and made into gluten-free foods, the insecticide stays with it and resides in the gluten-free food. As a result, people who are buying gluten-free are often exposing themselves to the risk of toxicity from GM corn.

As Mike points out, the best way to avoid GMO and still eat corn based foods is to find  certified organic corn products.

Personally, my husband and I had big corn chip and taco eaters.  What do we do?  Costco carries a brand of organic corn chips that we buy regularly (sorry don’t remember the brand, but it is in a big brown bag).  Food for Life Brand makes a delicious organic sprouted corn tortillas that we use for our tacos — which you could also cut up and fry into chips.

Mike also suggests to check the labels on all the food you buy.  Unfortunately, companies are not required to put GMO ingredients on the label, so look for organic corn products.  (Watch the Proposition 37 Ballot Measure coming up in California.  Passage of this measure could be the starting point for a change in the labeling laws.) Mike says …

Do the ingredients include corn? Corn syrup? Maltodextrin? These are all corn derivatives, and if they’re not USDA organic, they’re likely to be genetically modified.Of course, this is NOT true outside the USA. GMOs are already banned in many countries, and GMO labeling laws exist in prominent nations around the world. This article is written solely for American consumers who remain inundated with genetically modified corn grown from the evil seed of Monsanto and other biotech seed suppliers.