Rethinking Gluten Free – Modern wheat has been shown to cause inflammation; ancient wheat actually reduces it, according to Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle for Medium/Heated, 16 May 2019. 

The wheat you eat in a typical store-bought cookie or hamburger bun is very different from the wheat your great-grandparents ate. Over the course of the twentieth century, wheat was aggressively bred to improve crop yield and loaf volume — the number of loaves of bread industrial processors can squeeze out of each bag of flour by pumping as much air into the dough as quickly as possible.

In the process, the chemical composition and nutrient profile were significantly changed. While modern wheat has been shown to cause inflammation, ancient wheat actually reduces it, improving outcomes for patients with chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.

To be sure, there are some people who should never eat wheat. About one percent of the population has Celiac disease, which is a very serious gluten intolerance that can be life or death. But for the rest of us, a better solution is bypassing processed foods and choosing ancient or heirloom whole wheat, which has been raised organically and prepared using time-tested culinary practices like sourdough baking.

Read more: Rethinking Gluten Free

My Journey from Bread Blogger to Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution was written by Elise Rumph for ASweetLife.org, May 2019.

My husband and I, along with our children, ages 16, 14, and 4 had spent two years living and volunteering in Loja, Ecuador. On the hour-long bus ride through the winding Andes Mountains to the hospital on the day we received our son’s lab results, we discussed what seemed like simple logic: our son had diabetes and could no longer metabolize carbohydrates, therefore, we planned to cut out carbs. I lamented and my heart sank for a moment. I would have to give up bread. Making bread was a skill I not only prided myself on, but it had taken years to evolve and perfect and one my family immensely enjoyed. I even had a bread blog. But now, for our son, all of my bread recipes were bad. So bread had to go.

One of the first things our health care team  taught us was that we didn’t need to follow a special diet. They explained that insulin was so advanced now that all we needed to do was eat as we normally did and cover our son’s carbs with insulin. When I asked questions about low carb, they assured us that it wasn’t necessary, and my heart was full of hope.. My mind went back to bread. For me, bread was so much more than just bread. I’m fascinated with the whole beautiful process of baking bread. I wrote about bread for crying out loud. What if I could  have my bread and eat it too? What if my son could have diabetes and still eat bread?

Almond flour, xanthan gum, and psyllium husks became staples in our house. I learned to make low carb pancakes, muffins, brownies, cake and yes, even bread. My son can have diabetes and eat low carb bread. And my son can have the normal blood sugars and the sweet life he deserves.  

Read more: My Journey from Bread Blogger

Of course, you want some recipes!  Here you go!

Vegetable Magic: Plant-Based Recipes was published by Catherine Newman for diaTribe.org, 14 May 2019.  As she discloses: Full disclosure: I love vegetables. Love, love, love them. Would I rather eat melted cheese with a spoon than a giant bowl of kale? Sure. But vegetables have so much to offer, with all their colors and flavors and textures: bright or soft; loud or quiet; tender or creamy or crunchy, depending on how, or whether, you cook them. And maybe it’s the power of suggestion or the real power of vegetables, but I feel great after I eat a big plateful of something plant-based. It’s like a kind of vegetal high. Which I want to share with you here.

Recipes include Parmesan-crusted Zucchini Wheels, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower, Double-Crunch Kale Slaw and Lemony One-Pan Green Beans! ALSO, Cauliflower “Mac and Cheese”, Basic Edamame, Tex-Mex Kale Bowl with Creamy Lime Dressing, Everyone’s Favorite Salad, Basic Cauliflower Rice, Zucchini Spaghetti and The Best Roasted Vegetables

YUMMMMM!

Find these recipes and more: Vegetable Magic: Plant-Based Recipes

Do Our Brains Really Need Carbohydrates? was discussed by Dr. Judi Walters for the Eating section of  ASweetLife.org, May 2019. 

Brain cells are unique because they cannot use fat, and they don’t have a store of glucose (or glycogen). This means that the brain’s fuel needs must be met by a continuous supply from the bloodstream. Most people eating the modern high carb diet will fuel their brains with just glucose, provided through the consumption of a large amount of carbohydrate-based foods. However, when carbohydrate intake is reduced, insulin (the hormone that facilitates the movement of glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells) levels decrease, stimulating the liver to produce molecules called  ketones. To make ketones, first the liver breaks down fat (either consumed in the diet or from stored body fat) into its constituent parts: glycerol and fatty acids. The fatty acids are then broken down further in a process called ketogenesis to produce ketones.

When the level of ketones in the blood increases, the brain uses them as an additional fuel source, reducing the need for glucose. Through this mechanism, ketones can supply up to 75% of the brain’s energy needs.

When carbohydrate from the diet is decreased, glucose can be supplied through the breakdown of glycogen via a process called glycogenolysis, or through an alternative pathway known as gluconeogenesis: the making of glucose from other (non-carbohydrate) sources. During gluconeogenesis, glucose can be manufactured in the liver from the glycerol molecules released during the production of ketones. Our bodies use glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis to maintain blood glucose levels within a narrow range, facilitated mainly by the action of hormones (insulin and glucagon) produced in the pancreas (the obvious exception to this is people with diabetes, who have to actively manage their own blood glucose levels, usually with the use of exogenous (injected) insulin and ingested glucose).

In this way, your body (and especially your liver) ensures that your brain has all the energy it needs, even if you don’t consume any carbohydrate at all.

Read more: Do Our Brains Really Need Carbohydrates?

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