A doctor explains the essentials of a gluten-free Mediterranean Diet and its benefits for health and well-being. Discover a new way of eating!
Creating a Balanced Gluten-Free Mediterranean Diet: A Doctor’s Guide
Are you curious about following a gluten-free version of the Mediterranean Diet? In this video, you’ll learn about the basics of the Mediterranean Diet and gluten-free diets, as well as why gluten can be problematic for some people. The video also discusses who should consider following a gluten-free approach and provides tips on how to incorporate Mediterranean Diet principles into a gluten-free diet.
The content creator, Anna Pleet, MD, aims to educate viewers about healthy eating, with a focus on Mediterranean cuisine. By simplifying complex topics and providing easy-to-understand information, Anna hopes to help individuals and families make delicious and nutritious food choices. Watch the video to discover more about gluten, gluten-free diets, and the Mediterranean Diet.
Embarking on a Mediterranean Voyage: Navigating the Gluten-Free Diet with a Doctor’s Guidance
I’ve recently been asked this question can the Mediterranean diet be gluten-free in this video you’ll learn whether or not we can adapt the Mediterranean diet to make it gluten-free while still maintaining the nutritional quality hey there I’m Dr Anna I’m a medical doctor was trained in Italy and on this channel you’re going.
To learn how to master your health with the Mediterranean diet so when deciding whether or not the Mediterranean diet can be gluten-free here’s what we’re dealing with this diet is famous for its inclusion of whole grains including wheat and wheat varieties barley Rye pasta couscous and other Ancient Grains but if you can’t eat all of these grains.
Because they have gluten in them maybe it’s because you have celiacs disease a gluten allergy or an intolerance or a sensitivity then you might assume that the Mediterranean diet is not going to work for you well this is false I’d argue that you can absolutely adapt this diet to meet your gluten-free needs and I’ll break down how to do that right now.
So it’s important that we first answer the question what is gluten and why is it so problematic gluten is a protein that’s found in a lot of grains naturally and this includes grains like wheat barley and rye and the properties of gluten add a sort of stretchiness to a lot of these grains so think of this in terms of pizza dough pizza dough.
Which is made often from flour that comes from wheat is very stretchy and malleable picture a pizza chef tossing that dough in the air to make it a large round circle if that dough did not have gluten in it it wouldn’t stretch so easily and likely would just rip apart so gluten can be thought of as very helpful in its culinary aspect but in.
Some cases people have a huge difficulty with consuming this substance someone may experience mild symptoms like fatigue gas or bloating an alternating constipation or diarrhea or even brain fog but in other cases those symptoms could be more severe like accidental weight loss malut nutrition or even intestinal damage now the causes of.
These symptoms can vary depending on what the actual issue is underlying in the case of celiac disease someone is going to experience an autoimmune reaction to gluten so every time they eat gluten their own immune cells start attacking it as a threat in other cases like an allergy response they’re going to get an allergic type of reaction.
Which can range in its symptom picture from having lung issues skin issues or digestive issues and then in other cases it’s not really clear but some people just feel worse when they eat gluten so given that gluten is not an essential nutrient for our body it’s not a vitamin or a mineral it definitely can be eliminated from a diet so that someone.
Can avoid the negative symptoms they feel however it should be noted that gluten has gotten a lot of bad press in the last years and some of this might be causing more confusion than is necessary here’s my take on it if you’re concerned about gluten I suggest that you talk to your doctor or a dietitian about your concerns it’s possible that avoiding.
Gluten and gluten products will help you feel better and resolve your symptoms but it’s possible that it’s not the gluten that’s causing the symptoms you feel what is unfortunate is when people start to avoid gluten because it’s sort of trendy or they feel like it’s going to give them some sort of health benefit but in turn they’re reducing their.
Overall intake of grains especially whole grains which are otherwise healthy foods that provide us some of the best sources of fiber in our diet overall that being said if you know that gluten is a problem for you and you must follow a gluten-free diet then let’s dive into how you can do this according to the Mediterranean diet approach to eating.
But first please subscribe and join our healthy community and that’s going to help us get these videos out to more people who really deserve to learn this information all right let’s start by first clarifying A really important point the Mediterranean diet and the Mediterranean approach to eating is not a black and white restrictive style of.
Eating in general there are no rules to restrict entirely any specific food instead the emphasis is on increasing certain foods that are known to give us a lot of health benefit like foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals fiber healthy fats and protein and instead decreasing the foods that are not giving us as much benefit and these can be.
Animal Foods or animal products processed foods and foods with lots of added sugars and chemicals so for the purpose of this video and the argu treat M we’re making here we’re going to focus in on the carbohydrate Foods since that is where the gluten comes from now thanks to Mother Nature we have a ton of alternative grains pseudo grains and.
Seeds that can be eaten instead of the gluten containing grains almost in some cases like a total substitution for the typical dishes that people are going to enjoy in the Mediterranean diet now my approach to dietary recommendations whether gluten-free or not is always to emphasize Whole Foods this way incorporating foods that are are really.
Healthful for your body and providing a lot of the essential nutrition are going to be the best things you can eat overall so I’d argue that the best way to approach a gluten-free Mediterranean diet is to emphasize foods that are naturally gluten-free rather than reaching for gluten-free products which are often going to be very processed.
With added sugars salts or other chemicals to maintain their shelf stabilization and that’s really Mediterranean diet Wellness 101 so next let’s address the foods you need to avoid if you’re avoiding gluten and finally I’ll break down for you a list of gluten-free foods that you should enjoy abundantly when following this.
Approach okay so what do you need to avoid if you’re avoiding gluten well the main player is wheat and wheat varieties and there are a lot of these think about things like Durham in corn emmer semolina spelt Graham you name it there are a ton of wheat varieties and different types of ancient wheat grains and speaking of ancient wheat grains.
Pharaoh is a typical one that is enjoyed in Italy which is a per curled green that has a very nutty chewy texture but it does contain gluten then we have barley Rye tril which is a cross between wheat and rye and finally oats but I need to point out that oats in and of themselves are not gluten containing grains it just so happens that often in.
The manufacturing oats get contaminated with gluten because other gluten containing foods are processed on the same Machinery so it’s important to be on the lookout that if you’re completely gluten-free you have to check the packaging for things like oats now let’s talk about the foods to include when following a gluten-free diet and here I.
Want to emphasize a very important point and that is to expand our understanding and our thinking about greens to also include pseudo grains and seeds the truth is carbohydrates in our diet do not have to only come from classical grains and in general the more variety that we have in our diet likely the better off we usually are and this is.
Because it helps boost boost our overall nutrient intake and keeps us from getting bored all right here’s my list of gluten-free grains pseudo grains and seeds that can be enjoyed abundantly on the Mediterranean diet we have amarith Arrow root buckwheat which note this is a misnomer it’s actually not a type of wheat it just has wheat in its name corn.
Which of course can come in many varieties like cornmeal grits Penta are often the ways it’s enjoyed then we have flax seed lots of gluten-free flowers which can be flowers from rice soy corn potato or even Bean flowers then we have Millet which is a seed quinoa a pseudo grain that also contains a good bit of protein we have rice and every kind of.
Rice variety Sor gum soy tapioca that comes from cavaro and te so as you can see if you want to follow a gluten-free diet there is no shortage of choices and variety that can be enjoyed abundantly on the Mediterranean diet now all you need to do is cook your gluten gluten-free grains pseudo grains or seeds and pair them with healthy fats.
And proteins to achieve what I argue is the most balanced meal and that is one that contains the healthy Trifecta I talk about this in many of my videos but eating healthy fats fiber and protein all together is really going to help slow down the digestion which we know is better for our blood sugar and overall nutrient extraction plus it’s going to.
Make you feel a lot better when you’re eating and this is not only important while you’re eating but important for the many hours after a meal where you want to maintain your energy levels and for maximal Success you’re going to want to make sure you know how to approach your meal planning and to make that meal planning as easy as possible you don’t.
Want to miss it in this video over here I’ll see you in there
