Gluten-Free Fitness Nutrition

Gluten is the 'glue' in grains. 'Gluten' means 'glue' in Latin, and it's a mix of proteins in bread and other grain products that makes bread rise. It's the gluten in pancakes that holds them together.

But it's probably not all that good for us to eat glue.

Others have what's known as NCGS, which stands for Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance. That means they don't have clinical Celiac disease. If you want to tell them that means there's nothing wrong with them, though, be prepared for a litany of complaints that focus around abdominal discomfort but extend to nausea and dizziness, lethargy, depression and joint pain systemic inflammation and chronic weakness and even depression as well as pain in the digestive system.

Rather than being an allergic reaction, as such, NCGS may be a result of a lack of digestive enzymes.

Compare the case of milk

Like all mammals, humans evolved to consume milk in childhood and then to stop consuming it.

For most humans worldwide that's still the case; Asiatics, especially Chinese, are almost uniformaly lacking the enzyme required to digest milk, called lactase because it metabolizes lactose. Lactase persistence is the genetically determined tendency to produce lactase into adulthood and it's most common in Western European populations and their descendants. If you're non-lactase-persistent, your body won't be able to digest the lactose in milk and it will ferment inside you, leading to pain and discomfort.

When the human race was evolving, we didn't eat gluten-containing foods much, and the reason is pretty easy to figure out. Just take a look at the ancestral wild forms of our grain crops. They're tiny, bitter and relatively sparse, and they take a large amount of processing. Why would people eat them when other, more nutritious foods were more easily available? The evidence from modern hunter-gatherer groups suggests that even now they eat pretty much no gluten-containing grains. Nuts, seeds, meat and fish are far more nutritious and available.

We started eating grains when we settled down and started farming, because they can be persuaded to be harvested at the same time. Grains can be grown in fields, they're easy to plant, they're easy to store, and they're high in calories. An ideal 'survival ration' food, in fact. But none of those reasons has anything to do with being good for you.

The enzyme that's responsible for digesting gluten is totally different from the one that digests animal protein. Animal protein is digested by pepsin; gluten is digested by transglutaminase, when it's digested at all. It's been suggested that there's a genetic issue with transglutaminase production, and gluten intolerance does seem to run in families.

See Also: Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes

Eventually most people who suffer from something like this will simply stop eating foods with gluten in. For sedentary people who are trying to lose weight, this can be a blessing in disguise: gluten containing foods are high in calories, so cutting gluten from your diet can help you lose weight. But if you're active it's a nightmare!

Gluten Free Foods To Fuel Your Success

These gluten free foods can help you keep up the energy expenditure your athletic endeavours require of you, without having to go back to the pain and discomfort of eating gluten foods.

1: Fats!

Fats get a bad reputation these days, mainly because of some faulty research that seemed to indicate a link between fat consumption and heart disease. But it's also because obesity is a widespread problem now, and people think that fat makes them fat. In fact, fat doesn't make you fat any more than carbohydrates make you carbohydrate.

Try adding coconut oil to your meals, or add a little butter to your potatoes to drive up their caloric content.

2: Tubers

Tubers are starchy roots like potatoes, manioc, sweet potatoes, yams, turnips, swedes and parsnips. They're great sources of gut-friendly long-chain carbs and unlike cereal foods, they're rich in vitamins too.

Sweet potatoes are some of the most versatile vegetables out there. You can make them into fries, just as you would with white potatoes, or you can bake, boil, steam or roast them too. Mashed sweet potatoes can be seasoned with pepper for a delicious sweet and spicy mix, or you can use cinnamon to bring out the sweetness. My favourite way to cook sweet potatoes is to roast them under a salmon steak!

Parsnips, swedes and turnips can be steamed and served lightly buttered, or they can be mashed, sometimes with other root vegetables like potatoes. Try flavouring mashed potato with mashed swede or parsnips.

Yams are a staple across Africa, and a major ingredient in traditional African cooking. You can simply slice them, boil them and eat them, meaning they're a convenient replacement for gluten-containing convenience foods like noodles or pasta.

Manioc needs to be processed carefully before it can be eaten, so you'll usually find it sold in its processed form as a flour, often in African-Caribbean stores. You can use it for many of the same things as wheat flour.

3: Non- or low- gluten grains

Rice has no gluten, and oats have very little: far and away the least of any of the gluten grains. Some people with gluten intolerance find they have to cut out rice until their gut recovers from the effects of a gluten heavy diet but that it can then be reintroduced. Some find that oats trigger their issues, others find that they can eat oats just fine. Only you know where you sit on the scale, but if you can tolerate them, rice is great energy food and oats are an excellent addition to your diet.

See Also: The best possible diet plans for patients with Celiac Disease

4: Fruit

We tend not to think of fruit as a source of energy. But 4 pieces of fruit contains as much calories as 100g of dry pasta, in a much safer and healthier form. Try throwing a few more bananas and apples into your diet for the best results.

5: Complex Carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates are a key component of a balanced diet and play a critical role in maintaining steady energy levels. These carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules that are strung together in long, complex chains, which take more time for the body to break down and utilize.

This slow release of energy is what helps in maintaining stamina and keeping blood sugar levels stable, making them especially important for activities requiring prolonged energy, such as endurance sports. Some excellent sources of complex carbohydrates include quinoa, which is not only rich in carbs but also offers a complete protein source, containing all nine essential amino acids. Brown rice is another valuable source, loaded with essential B vitamins that aid in energy production while also providing sustained energy through its fiber content.

If you have a tip for navigating life as an active gluten-intolerant individual, or there's something you want to pull me up on, please get in touch in the comments section below!