Bicycling Mag's take on gluten free diets
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posted by In Training I'm a runner and adventure-lover. I'm also a doctoral candidate in engineering. Follow me as I train my body, and my brain, in marathons of all different kinds. |
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I posted the following topic on Slowtwitch this afternoon, but I thought it could also serve as an entry for this blog! Let me know your thoughts!
I follow a gluten free diet. There are at least a handful of pros that do, too (rappstar, Brandon and Amy Marsh, etc). Which means there is probably a good chance that several of my fellow STers do, too.
I got my Bicycling Magazine yesterday and was a bit annoyed by the article "The Word on Wheat":
http://www.bicycling.com/...4-21-21043-1,00.html
Other than the lack of transition in this article, I found the article misleading (and somewhat annoying). It kind of gave me the impression that, unless you are diagnosed with Celiac disease or a wheat allergy (or a chiropractor tells you to to try a gluten free diet), then you should just keep plugging away at that plate of linguini. The bottom of the article in print (not on the website) displayed a list of gluten free foods that are available, and the reviews of these made it sound like gluten-free food was ... "meh".
What really got my panties in a bunch was this:
"...according to Julie Miller Jones, PhD, a nutritionist and advisory board member of the Grain Foods Foundation, gluten-free diets often lack a host of nutrients typically found in whole-grain wheat products such as vitamins B and D, calcium, iron, zinc, folate and magnesium. And because cyclists rely on the carbohydrates found in many wheat-based foods to pound out miles, it's important to know if you're a good candidate to go gluten free, or if you should just keep digging into that linguini."
First- Dr Miller Jones is an advisor for the Grain Foods Foundation (http://www.gowiththegrain.org/). Conflict of interest, anyone? And brown rice actually has more magnesium, Vit B5, and Vit B6 per calorie than whole wheat bread. (http://www.vitalhealthzone.com/nutrition/food-values and yes, I did the math). Plus, are you more apt to eating five slices of bread, or half cup of rice? Because calorically, that is approximately the equivalent (remember, calories are good for endurance athletes).
Second- You can still have linguini if your gluten free. I actually find that I like the taste of rice noodles better than regular ones (especially whole wheat ones, bllllah). And who ever said rice was worse for you than bleached white flour?
Third- Being gluten free by choice, not by medical prescription, for a lot of people comes down to wanting to make the right decisions about the diet one is following, and paying close attention to what goes into the body. Thus, people who do it because of their potential nonceliac gluten intolerance (or just because they want to do it) are probably following the diet closely and paying attention to the foods they are putting into their body moreso than folks who follow a regular-ol' run-of-the-mill diet. I, for one, have found that I eat a lot more whole foods now that I am gluten free, and I cook more frequently for myself (because going out to eat in Houghton is nearly impossible for someone on my diet). I pay much closer attention to the ingredient labels than before I was gluten free. For example, I have practically cut out cereal from my diet (barley malt extract is in just about everything), I no longer have a stash of Triscuits in my desk drawer, and I don't eat pork products anymore (except nitrite free bacon) because eating pork makes me sick. Maybe the injectable crap they put in pork roasts contains wheat? I wouldn't doubt it.
Anyway, I just wanted to get your thoughts on the matter. Am I just being silly and getting worked up by misreading the article, or does the article mislead the reader to thinking that gluten free diets for people not diagnosed with Celiac or non-Celiac gluten intolerance are a gimmick?
View Original Post at megankillian.blogspot.com
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- Filed Under:
- Running, SportsPLUS, Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Training
There are 5 comments on this post. Join the discussion!
jcmichener
megankillian
I definitely am not saying that my qualms with the article lie directly in the referencing of Dr Miller Jones and her work. I think the way that her quote was presented was misguided by the author of the article. The way the article was written gave the impression to a targeted audience (cyclists) that going gluten free without diagnosis of a disorder is not advisable. Also, it is misleading to say that gluten free diets often lack nutrients in "regular" diets; I'd be interested in seeing proof of this. There are deficiencies in every diet- folks that follow unrestricted diets and eat junk food are no better off than folks on a gluten free diet that don't pay attention to nutritional diversity. There are many nutritionists that would agree that, regardless of the diet you follow, endurance athletes (including cyclists) should take a daily multivitamin that would potentially account for any vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
jcmichener
As to the other questions, I can forward to Dr. Jones.
megankillian
jcmichener
)that compares the phenolic content and total antioxidant activity of corn, wheat, oats and rice. Corn is the highest, wheat and oats are next and rice is much lower (85%, 75%, 75% and 62% respectively).
Dr. Jones is also a big promoter of fiber in diets and points out that most Americans only eat half the amount of fiber we should (12-15 grams and we should eat 25g) and that the average gluten free diet only has 6% fiber.
Hope this helps!