No Wheat diet

[hosko]

Just wanted to see if anyone else has done something similar to removing wheat from their diet?

Trying something new at the moment with this to try and rectify issues I have had gastro wise for quite some time. It's a possible intolerance to wheat based foods, so we are going to give it a few weeks of removing wheat and see if that improves it all.

So far, we have noticed that a lot of Low GI foods (not all) seem to be the non-wheat products. Rice is ok as is a version of cornflakes I ate this morning.
No cold meats from the deli it would seem, but steak, chicken..etc all ok.

So curious what others who have a similar diet as to what they try and eat as alternatives to no wheat in their daily diet so that they get the right balance between exercise and right food intake?

If anything if I do it correct it should assist in getting my weight down with the right amount of exercise.

And yes, no beer for a while....sniff.

[arand18]

Hi there I have given up sugar not entirely as have 1 thing with sugar in it during the weekend, also wheat substitutes are spelt flour, rhy flour, bali, quinoa ect.

[RonK]

Just wanted to see if anyone else has done something similar to removing wheat from their diet?

Trying something new at the moment with this to try and rectify issues I have had gastro wise for quite some time. It's a possible intolerance to wheat based foods, so we are going to give it a few weeks of removing wheat and see if that improves it all.

So far, we have noticed that a lot of Low GI foods (not all) seem to be the non-wheat products. Rice is ok as is a version of cornflakes I ate this morning.
No cold meats from the deli it would seem, but steak, chicken..etc all ok.

So curious what others who have a similar diet as to what they try and eat as alternatives to no wheat in their daily diet so that they get the right balance between exercise and right food intake?

If anything if I do it correct it should assist in getting my weight down with the right amount of exercise.

And yes, no beer for a while....sniff.

A mate has coeliac disease. It's an auto-immune disease which means he is unable to tolerate gluten, which is present in many processed foods. Wheat and other grains are primary sources of gluten, so this could be your problem. The supermarkets have a section with gluten free substitutes for many common foods, but for sure your choices are limited. He survived on rice cakes and Nutella when we walked the Overland Track a few years ago.
Another mate has Crohn's disease, also an auto-immune disease. I'm not sure if wheat is a specific irritant for him.
And yet another mate is lactose-intolerant. Milk is the primary source but again, it's common in processed foods.
As I understand it, all these conditions (particularly Crohn's) can have serious consequences and you should consult your physician.

[hosko]

Yes have heard about both diseases but gastro wise, it isn't anything severe. Just thought I would see what no-wheat might do for a few weeks.

I have heard that rice cakes were a good one also to move towards which I don't mind. Didn't know about nutella.

[greyhoundtom]

If you have gastric problems that are of a recent nature such as in the last 12 months, it would be worthwhile to have the cause investigated thoroughly.

There are health problems that can result in not being able to digest food properly with a range of symptoms that have nothing to do with gluten.

[coffeeandwine]

Hi Hosko,
my wife has had similar issues, has been diagnosed with a Fructose Malabsorotion issue. There are a range of foods that will aggravate things; there is good advice at Shepherd Works website and also a very good source at Griffith University (so my wife tells me but do you think i can find it?).

I posted a separate thread a few weeks back, as a consequence of her no wheat and limited fruit and sugars diet - she is running out of energy on long distance rides.

Agree with replacement sources of carbs, have found rice and potatoes work well. For flour, you can find Spelt flour pretty easily and works well as replacement when baking (lower oven temp by 10° as it cooks more quickly and can burn) and some GF flours based on rice and potatoes but they dont work all that well. Healthybake bread is really quite tasty and available in Vic. Quinoa also good although haven't done a lot with it yet. Corn is excellent, cooked a big dish of polenta last night (YUM!), love it in winter, find a recipe for soft polenta (includes milk, cream and parmesan-can send you one).

Have also cooked up the power bars as described and they tasted great, easy to carry.

Good luck and PM me if you need more info.

cheers

Peter

[Meditator]

If you are going to give up eating wheat, you should increase your intake of beans. All sorts of beans. Bean dishes usually go well with rice.

indian dal is great. and goes well with rice.

I had a friend who also had malabsorption of fructose and had been treating it as a gluten and lactose problem for years only to find out what really was the cause not too long before she died when she had the colonoscopy. but i wonder about teh woman above who is not eating gluten when gluten doesn't appear to be the problem.

People who give up wheat should just eat a lot more rice. Learn to love it. Rice is what asians eat, not bread. there's all the asian rice based noodles you can eat too.

If people weren't so addicted to meat they'd know all this other great food out there to eat and how to cook it.

[twizzle]

Simplified Carbohydrate diet.
Paleo Diet.


Most of the food we pull off the shelf is _very_ unhealthy for us. Rice and beans are both in that category.

[geraldobeavis]

My girlfriend is coeliac and like noted above has had to cut out all wheat based products. As I do the majority of the cooking I have a pretty good grasp of which products are good and which are no go.

Many dietitians do not recommend taking up a gluten free diet unless you actually need to, as your intake of some essential things becomes deficient (for example fibre). So definitely a good idea to get some test done to determine if your dietary choice is essential.

If it is essential in addition to the above recommendations, start eating brown instead of white rice.

[Meditator]

Simplified Carbohydrate diet.
Paleo Diet.


Most of the food we pull off the shelf is _very_ unhealthy for us. Rice and beans are both in that category.

Are you saying rice and beans are very unhealthy. What rubbish!

Gerald if you are eating beans, you don't really need the extra fibre from brown rice. I am very pro basmati as it is the rice with the lowest GI, lower than brown rice. If you are getting plenty of fibre in the rest of your diet you don't need brown rice. fruit and vegies are full of fibre, as are oats. But of course if you like brown rice then eat it too.

[twizzle]

Are you saying rice and beans are very unhealthy. What rubbish!

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Didn't stop me from spending the night in hospital on Monday either, but that's a lesson to me not to push the boundaries on things that I can digest.

Edit: For 'normal' people, nothing wrong with eating wheat/rice/legumes... but in moderation. But if your digestive system is playing up, it's a good idea to understand why. And don't expect the health professionals to understand, this is very much into specialist territory. I've have a gasto specialist and his recommended dietician both send me down the wrong path even with the knowlege that I couldn't process complex carbs.

Edit2: Don't ever accept "irritable bowel syndrome" as the answer, it's just the default response for 'some problem we don't understand'.

[Cheesewheel]

Are you saying rice and beans are very unhealthy. What rubbish!

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Didn't stop me from spending the night in hospital on Monday either, but that's a lesson to me not to push the boundaries on things that I can digest.

Edit: For 'normal' people, nothing wrong with eating wheat/rice/legumes... but in moderation. But if your digestive system is playing up, it's a good idea to understand why. And don't expect the health professionals to understand, this is very much into specialist territory. I've have a gasto specialist and his recommended dietician both send me down the wrong path even with the knowlege that I couldn't process complex carbs.

Edit2: Don't ever accept "irritable bowel syndrome" as the answer, it's just the default response for 'some problem we don't understand'.

I think part of the problem is that you can't find many contemporary ideas about diet and health that have been valid for more than ten years - the mainstream "science" of diet and food assimilation hasn't really been around for long

[Meditator]

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Sounds like you believe that what is trouble for you is trouble for everyone. This is not the case.

When you say that beans and rice are categorically unhealthy, its just like saying cycling is unhealthy. The fact is it may not be good for you, just as cycling may not be good for someone whose got arthritis or some other damaged body. But for those without these disadvantages rice and beans are healthy as is cycling. For those who are intolerant to gluten, beans and rice should be healthy if they don't contain gluten. As far as i know they don't contain gluten.

[twizzle]

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Sounds like you believe that what is trouble for you is trouble for everyone. This is not the case.

When you say that beans and rice are categorically unhealthy, its just like saying cycling is unhealthy. The fact is it may not be good for you, just as cycling may not be good for someone whose got arthritis or some other damaged body. But for those without these disadvantages rice and beans are healthy as is cycling. For those who are intolerant to gluten, beans and rice should be healthy if they don't contain gluten. As far as i know they don't contain gluten.

Beans contain high levels of Lectins unless correctly cooked.

Rice is a low nutrient/high starch food that cannot be absored by the human body without cooking. Same goes for all of the grains. We are not 'designed' to eat it. It causes insulin spikes which affects the auto immune system and your general health... unless you have it as sushi, where it becomes low GI, something to do with the sushi vinegar. And, once again, unless properly cooked, it contains lectins.

[Parrott]

Are you saying rice and beans are very unhealthy. What rubbish!

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Didn't stop me from spending the night in hospital on Monday either, but that's a lesson to me not to push the boundaries on things that I can digest.

Edit: For 'normal' people, nothing wrong with eating wheat/rice/legumes... but in moderation. But if your digestive system is playing up, it's a good idea to understand why. And don't expect the health professionals to understand, this is very much into specialist territory. I've have a gasto specialist and his recommended dietician both send me down the wrong path even with the knowlege that I couldn't process complex carbs.

Edit2: Don't ever accept "irritable bowel syndrome" as the answer, it's just the default response for 'some problem we don't understand'.

How did you get it diagnosed?

I have intermittent GI symptoms, which I believe have a shiftwork as part of the cause. Doesn't go away entirely when the shift work ceases though.

Have been to a GP who didn't do much investigation. No conclusive diagnosis or management plan. So I cut out milk and reduced my intake of wheat products with limited success.

[twizzle]

How did you get it diagnosed?

I have intermittent GI symptoms, which I believe have a shiftwork as part of the cause. Doesn't go away entirely when the shift work ceases though.

Have been to a GP who didn't do much investigation. No conclusive diagnosis or management plan. So I cut out milk and reduced my intake of wheat products with limited success.

Didn't as such - the only thing picked up via diagnosis (stomach biopsy) was the inflammation damage to the small intestine and the loss of most of the disaccharides enzymes. The next six months was doing my own research, mainly around food intolerance, until I found out about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. In my case, life changing. The Paleo diet is very similar, but Paleo goes a bit further into food toxicity issues. SCD is for people with a problem, Paleo is meant to be a lifestyle choice, but at the end of the day they both address the same basic issue that agrarian based societies drinking milk from cows is miles away from hunter/gatherer. And anything your digestive system can't deal with becomes food for the bacteria in your lower intestine.

[Parrott]

Didn't as such - the only thing picked up via diagnosis (stomach biopsy) was the inflammation damage to the small intestine and the loss of most of the disaccharides enzymes. The next six months was doing my own research, mainly around food intolerance, until I found out about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. In my case, life changing. The Paleo diet is very similar, but Paleo goes a bit further into food toxicity issues. SCD is for people with a problem, Paleo is meant to be a lifestyle choice, but at the end of the day they both address the same basic issue that agrarian based societies drinking milk from cows is miles away from hunter/gatherer. And anything your digestive system can't deal with becomes food for the bacteria in your lower intestine.

Thanks,I'll check it out.

I reckon you are right, what we are eating now is miles away from our evolutionary past.

[deadcat]

nteresting article in a tri mag not too long ago about going gluten free not because of intolerance but to increase performance as the theory goes we all have some autoimmune reaction wheather we realise it or not..

[scirocco]

Ask your doc for a blood test. They can pick up gluten intolerance quite well without the need for a biopsy. A negative blood test doesn't prove you don't have intolerance but a positive one is a very good indicator that you do.

Well worth doing, as there's little point depriving yourself of the tastiest and best grain around if you don't have to. I live without wheat these days and while it's not that big a hassle I would kill for a nice white (wheat) bread ham sandwich sometimes. If you really have intolerance you will notice a huge difference in overall health once you change your diet.

[Seaweeds]

Hi,

i have some advice. I have a diet that is gluten free (tested positive to coeliac about 8 years ago - currently 27yrs old / 184cm / 72kg / 21.5 BMI)

My diet contains a huge amount of fiber. Fresh veg / fruit and alternative grains ensure this. Not so much a problem with cycling, so long as you allow you digestive system to adapt to it's new fuel a gain some routine. Higher fiber intake = ... well, im sure you can see where im going with this...

Processed Gfree foods: I find that a large majority of gfree prepackaged goods such as bread / pasta / crap like pancake mixes contain substitution ingredients which bloat, and often cause as much annoyance as a gluten based product. I do eat 'country harvest LOW GI gfree bread' but only in moderation. Ive always found that bread from 'green / hippy' bakeries that is hand made and gfree is far kinder than anything purchasable in a supermarket / convenience store.

Salt / sugar content: Two things that after often loaded into gfree food to make it 'taste' nicer. Salt especially, its kinda outta control in 'convenient' gfree food.

Alcohol: Apparently (depending on the month - and who you speak to) spirits are fine to drink. I cant back this up with evidence on hand, but they destroy my stomach lining. When i have a beverage (post ride) i usually have a cider that i know is gluten free (gluten can enter through coloring)

Eating out: Down here in Tas resteraunts will sell you anything as 'gfree'. It is maxi annoying to be served up a gluten free haloumi salad that is dripping with balsamic vinegar or having a waiter tell you that 'commercial corn flower is gluten free'. Online peer grps / support grps often give good advice on where is good to eat out.

Carb content: Something to watch - depending on your diet. Alot of the alt. food can be carbo heavy.

Also, a gfree diet takes time to get used to. How to cook amazing silverbeet rice rolls / vege lasagne with cauliflower sauce take time n effort to master. Soup is maxi awesome btw, and can be cooked and carbo controlled easily.

And get a test bro (bloods) - i have heard that 'gfree makes for better performance' but i take such comment with a grain of salt. It can be much more expensive and less convenient to follow such a diet if not needed. If you are tho, embrace it - i know from experience your muscles and body sure will

[Cinder]

Hi Hosko,
my wife has had similar issues, has been diagnosed with a Fructose Malabsorotion issue. There are a range of foods that will aggravate things; there is good advice at Shepherd Works website and also a very good source at Griffith University (so my wife tells me but do you think i can find it?).

I posted a separate thread a few weeks back, as a consequence of her no wheat and limited fruit and sugars diet - she is running out of energy on long distance rides.

This.

The fructose thing is a lot more common than most people realise. I went though a few years of ruling out this and that to see what was causing my problems and was eventually (when I got hold of a decent GP) properly diagnosed. A few meetings with Sue Shepherd and her dietitians later and all is pretty much good in my life.

I'm not saying you have this, but seriously don't waste your time trying to rule out foods through trial and error, go see a good GP and get it diagnosed properly. The breath test for the fructose thing is quick, cheap, painless and answers a lot of questions.

[Cinder]

Are you saying rice and beans are very unhealthy. What rubbish!

Yes I am, and I'm guessing you don't understand as much about the digestive process as you think you do. Personally, I have reduced digestive enzyme production due to major inflammation of my small intestine seven years ago, so I'm far more aware of the do's/dont's.

Didn't stop me from spending the night in hospital on Monday either, but that's a lesson to me not to push the boundaries on things that I can digest.

Edit: For 'normal' people, nothing wrong with eating wheat/rice/legumes... but in moderation. But if your digestive system is playing up, it's a good idea to understand why. And don't expect the health professionals to understand, this is very much into specialist territory. I've have a gasto specialist and his recommended dietician both send me down the wrong path even with the knowlege that I couldn't process complex carbs.

Edit2: Don't ever accept "irritable bowel syndrome" as the answer, it's just the default response for 'some problem we don't understand'.

One thing I have learned over the last few years is that a majority of people don't really understand the digestive process as well as they think they do. Most have, at best a high school PE or mens health magazine understanding of how things work (so did I until fairly recently) which is fine if as you say, everything is working as it should.

Amen on the IBS thing, my god I got that a lot before I was diagnosed properly.

My next most favorite topic to discuss is thins mans diabetes...

[twizzle]

Week 4 back on the serious SCD/Paleo diet (exclude sweet potato). First two weeks crap, but today I did the biggest climb in the region, ~8000Kj/2000KCal according to the Powertap... without bonking. And I've lost 5.5kg in 28 days. For rides, I'm fuelling on glucose sugar with some flavor ("food zoo" cordial powder from Woolies).

[PawPaw]

Twizzle, I wasn't aware of something called the Simplified Carbohydrate Diet. Did you mean the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?
Doesn't this exclude simple sugars, such as glucose, allowing only honey?

When you do a ride that includes a 2000 Calorie climb, what are you eating to fuel or re-fuel that?
The Paleo Diet would suggest animal fat.

[twizzle]

Twizzle, I wasn't aware of something called the Simplified Carbohydrate Diet. Did you mean the Specific Carbohydrate Diet?
Doesn't this exclude simple sugars, such as glucose, allowing only honey?

When you do a ride that includes a 2000 Calorie climb, what are you eating to fuel or re-fuel that?
The Paleo Diet would suggest animal fat.

You are correct - Specific Carb diet. No - it _only_ allows simple sugars or foods which contain simple sugars. If you can't produce the disaccharide enzymes due to damage to the villi (which is what my biopsy showed), you can't break down the polysaccharides and they end up in the large intestine. Where they feed the bacteria and make gases and all kinds of other fun stuff (such as alcohol, lactic acid etc.).

For my rides, I'm just mixing up glucodin (pure glocose) and cordial powder (no sugars), about 30 - 40gm per 700ml bidon. I tried adding fructose as well, but I don't seem to tolerate that at all now. Or it wasn't pure fructose, because I'm not having problems with fruit.

There isn't a lot of difference between SCD and Paleo, Paleo allows sweet potato which is banned under SCD because it's a complex starch that's hard to digest. But the science behind SCD is getting outdated, ie. beans containing lectins which increase gut permiability, which are allowed under SCD but banned under Paleo.

Edit : And just to be clear, there was about 1400 KCal in threshold climbing, the other 600KCal was on the flats getting to/from the hill. I didn't actually fuel on the main climb, it's a solid 40-odd minutes of grinding up ~700M elevation over about 12Km, but you are going so slowly you can't stop to drink.