The latest trend in "healthy eating" is the gluten-free bandwagon. Nothing crushes my heart more than people vilifying foods with absolute no scientific backing. "But science can be wrong", was told to me by a well meaning advocate of this farcical ideology. Okay, but then WHY has bread been good for humanity for TENS of THOUSANDS of years? Yes, you read correctly. The first evidence of bread is more than 30,000 years old!!! Now, all of a sudden gluten is bad for us? Let's look at a few arguments and allow me to shed some light on the subject.
Some people are allergic to gluten. FALSE. People can have intolerance to gluten, and not because of gluten. Gluten is only developed when gliadin and glutanin combined together with water is "worked" to form a "net". This is what traps gases in and allows bread to rise. Celiac disease, the condition that truly makes people gluten intolerant, is an auto-immune deficiency wherein when a person's small intestine is exposed to gliadin, it triggers an immune reaction that inflames the small intestine. This is a SERIOUS condition. It can be confirmed with a simple blood test. If you suspect you are intolerant to gluten, please see your doctor and get a test done. Otherwise, STOP WITH THE NONSENSE!
When I eat gluten I don't feel as good- MAYBE TRUE. There are several contributing factors to how digestible wheat products are. Contributing factors can be the wheat type (strength of glutanin/gliadin), how the dough was prepared (long and slow process is always best, the stronger the wheat the more this is true), natural or commercial yeast (natural yeast is ALWAYS better, I will explain in future newsletters), cooking temperature, water content of the dough, and lastly and perhaps most importantly, how much one consumes. A pound of bread has more calories (1040) than a pound of meat (800). When you eat gluten-rich products you are consuming more calories. Plus, if you deprive yourself, you are more likely to binge because IT TASTES SO GOOD WHEN IT FIRST HITS YOUR LIPS! When you eat more calories you feel tired and, if done often enough, gain weight to boot.
But I gain weight when I eat carbs: see previous paragraph!
But I am addicted to gluten rich products and/or carbs, I know this because I crave it, and then if I start eating carbs I can't stop - NO NO NO!!! If you were going to invent a machine that was to survive in the wild, would you give it the instinct, i.e. craving, to want what it absolutely needed? OF COURSE! You need the carbs folks. End of story.
What's the harm in eating gluten-free products? If that is what the customer wants, sell it! You cannot have a leavened product without gluten unless you introduce a slew of gunk to trap CO2 gases. It amazes me that people won't eat a gluten-rich product, but will have ZERO reservations in consuming a pseudo product loaded with a laundry list of ingredients that are impossible to pronounce let alone digest. Here's an idea, if you are REALLY into gluten-free, STOP EATING products that require gluten to make. It is as absurd of a notion as having hot ice cream. Some claim that eating cold foods can interrupt your digestive process, so next time you go to the store ask them for some HOT ice cream and see what reaction you get. One SHOULD get the same reaction when people ask for gluten-free bread! I believe that we in our respective industry have an obligation to do our job in the best possible manner. This is how each of us contributes to society and ultimately we make our lives better. I believe it is an injustice to provide services or products in which one does not FULLY endorse. I could NEVER in good conscience provide a gluten-free pizza, however, I DO provide pizza made with mature and thoroughly developed dough to ensure it is healthy and nutritious. Furthermore, do we really want to destroy a food culture that has taken 30,000 years to develop? I certainly want NO part in that!
The NONSENSE of popular "healthy eating" in chronological order:
The Rice Diet
Fit for life: Fruit only in the morning; do not combine complex carbs and protein.
Vegetarian movement: Carbs good, meat bad.
Susan Powter Movement: All fat is bad for you. You like olive oil? Eat olives!
Atkins: Carbs bad, meat good.
Glycemic index diet: Anything that spikes your insulin is BAD.
Paleo Diet: Gluten is bad. You can drink whiskey, but not beer! You can't have naturally leavened pizza, but you can ingest xanthan gum and guava gum. Really? Didn't anyone's mom tell them not to swallow gum, or was that just mine?
In conclusion, say it proud and say it loud! "I LOVE GLUTEN!!!!!!!!".
I'm just saying.
Some people are allergic to gluten. FALSE. People can have intolerance to gluten, and not because of gluten. Gluten is only developed when gliadin and glutanin combined together with water is "worked" to form a "net". This is what traps gases in and allows bread to rise. Celiac disease, the condition that truly makes people gluten intolerant, is an auto-immune deficiency wherein when a person's small intestine is exposed to gliadin, it triggers an immune reaction that inflames the small intestine. This is a SERIOUS condition. It can be confirmed with a simple blood test. If you suspect you are intolerant to gluten, please see your doctor and get a test done. Otherwise, STOP WITH THE NONSENSE!
When I eat gluten I don't feel as good- MAYBE TRUE. There are several contributing factors to how digestible wheat products are. Contributing factors can be the wheat type (strength of glutanin/gliadin), how the dough was prepared (long and slow process is always best, the stronger the wheat the more this is true), natural or commercial yeast (natural yeast is ALWAYS better, I will explain in future newsletters), cooking temperature, water content of the dough, and lastly and perhaps most importantly, how much one consumes. A pound of bread has more calories (1040) than a pound of meat (800). When you eat gluten-rich products you are consuming more calories. Plus, if you deprive yourself, you are more likely to binge because IT TASTES SO GOOD WHEN IT FIRST HITS YOUR LIPS! When you eat more calories you feel tired and, if done often enough, gain weight to boot.
But I gain weight when I eat carbs: see previous paragraph!
But I am addicted to gluten rich products and/or carbs, I know this because I crave it, and then if I start eating carbs I can't stop - NO NO NO!!! If you were going to invent a machine that was to survive in the wild, would you give it the instinct, i.e. craving, to want what it absolutely needed? OF COURSE! You need the carbs folks. End of story.
What's the harm in eating gluten-free products? If that is what the customer wants, sell it! You cannot have a leavened product without gluten unless you introduce a slew of gunk to trap CO2 gases. It amazes me that people won't eat a gluten-rich product, but will have ZERO reservations in consuming a pseudo product loaded with a laundry list of ingredients that are impossible to pronounce let alone digest. Here's an idea, if you are REALLY into gluten-free, STOP EATING products that require gluten to make. It is as absurd of a notion as having hot ice cream. Some claim that eating cold foods can interrupt your digestive process, so next time you go to the store ask them for some HOT ice cream and see what reaction you get. One SHOULD get the same reaction when people ask for gluten-free bread! I believe that we in our respective industry have an obligation to do our job in the best possible manner. This is how each of us contributes to society and ultimately we make our lives better. I believe it is an injustice to provide services or products in which one does not FULLY endorse. I could NEVER in good conscience provide a gluten-free pizza, however, I DO provide pizza made with mature and thoroughly developed dough to ensure it is healthy and nutritious. Furthermore, do we really want to destroy a food culture that has taken 30,000 years to develop? I certainly want NO part in that!
The NONSENSE of popular "healthy eating" in chronological order:
The Rice Diet
Fit for life: Fruit only in the morning; do not combine complex carbs and protein.
Vegetarian movement: Carbs good, meat bad.
Susan Powter Movement: All fat is bad for you. You like olive oil? Eat olives!
Atkins: Carbs bad, meat good.
Glycemic index diet: Anything that spikes your insulin is BAD.
Paleo Diet: Gluten is bad. You can drink whiskey, but not beer! You can't have naturally leavened pizza, but you can ingest xanthan gum and guava gum. Really? Didn't anyone's mom tell them not to swallow gum, or was that just mine?
In conclusion, say it proud and say it loud! "I LOVE GLUTEN!!!!!!!!".
I'm just saying.
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