Non-gluten "grains" page

[TriGirl]

Hi everyone,

So I have a question concerning the glutenfree "grains". For a while now I have felt like my breakfast didn't keep me full for very long (3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, onion and mushrooms) and in a carb craving kinda mood I ended up buying two types of glutenfree "oatmeal" mix from the local health food store.

It contains:
1. Rice flakes, roasted millet, quinua, and chopped apricots
2. Toasted millet, toasted buckwheat, quinua, roasted almonds, flaxseed, and dried apple pieces

Now I know this is not really primal at all, and that Marks has written a few post on some of the ingredients as being in the grey zone. I generally try to stay away from gluten, but a small portion of this for breakfast (app 200-250 cal) will keep me full for a very long time. My problem is that I am not sure if I am eating stuff that will cause inflammation or something bad like that? I know it's high carb, and probably gives a enormous spike in insulin, but compared to fx bread I do not get that more more more craving.

What is your take on this?

P.s. I saw that no oat oatmeal recipe in here and will definitely try that out as well.

[Ayla2010]

I wouldn't do it, but I would prefer to stay away from all grains.

I don't understand how your bacon and egg breakfast doesn't keep you going as long as that other breakfast, very strange.

Are you cooking your breakfast in any other fat?

[breadsauce]

TriGirl,

I was having the same type of breakfast as you outline and having the same problem. My solution is to boil some white potatoes up the night before and fry them with the bacon. Two or three pieces - and I stay feeling full for ages. It also helped massively with stomach issues ...

[TriGirl]

Breadsauce, do you generally feel like you need more carbs with your meals to keep you full?
Ayla2010: The extra fat thing depends on how much grease I get from the bacon, but I definitely am not afraid of using fat in my meals and cooking, just use the amount that seem fitting to the meal taste and texture wise!

[Forgotmylastusername]

Sounds perfectly fine. Enjoy

[Neckhammer]

I would go bredsauces route personally. As a general rule tubers are suprior to any grain.

Actually I'd go my route and eat 2-3 more eggs in that meal, but that wasn't really your question

[Chaohinon]

Since the meal contains fats, fiber, and protein, you don't have to worry about an insulin spike or anything like that. Although I agree with breadsauce and neckhammer, tubers are nutritionally superior and way more friendly to your gut. I can already feel the daggers in my stomach just looking at the ingredients you listed. But if it works for you, then don't fix what isn't broken.

[ChocoTaco369]

Gluten isn't the biggest issue with grain. Yea, gluten isn't healthy, but chances are you can tolerate small quantities of it without exploding. Constant exposure is definitely an issue for all, but there are worse things in grains.

Grains are very high in phytic acid, which binds to minerals and prevents you from absorbing them. Wheat is actually fairly low in phytic acid. Oats, quinoa and brown rice are all much, much higher in phytate. Phytate leads to all kinds of mineral deficiencies, and over time leads to tooth decay and osteoporosis, especially in women (and especially especially in coffee drinking women). Wheat may have gluten, but due to its relatively low phytic acid content, it's actually...more nutritious...than most gluten free grains.

Grains are typically rich in polyunsaturated fat. While they may be cumulatively low in fat compared so, say, meat and cheese, the percentage of polyunsaturated fat is going to make it go rancid even faster. Since grains are typically weeks or months old before you buy them, freshness and rancidity is a huge issue.

100g of uncooked quinoa contains 6.1g of fat, where 3.3g is polyunsaturated.
100g of oats contain 6.9g of fat with 2.5g polyunsaturated.
100g of whole wheat flour contains 1.9g of fat with 0.8g being polyunsaturated.

Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Quinoa, uncooked
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Oats
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Wheat flour, whole-grain

Quinoa and oats are more likely to be rancid sitting on the shelf than wheat, which is a major issue. There is a big reason why you can almost never find uncooked oats - the cooking process helps prevent (and mask) the rancidity. The higher the fat content of a grain, the more likely it is that you're ingesting rancid, inflammatory fats.

While gluten is definitely a problem, IMO the biggest problems with grains are the anti-nutrient activity, the overall low nutrition content and the rancid, inflammatory fats and proteins you're ingesting. Oh, and then there's the insoluble grain fiber, which has been shown to scar your large intestine due to your body's inability to digest what is essentially fiberglass. Just like all fat is not created equal and all carbs are not created equal, all fiber is not created equal!

The only grain I mess around with is white rice. I suggest everyone else does the same.

[sbhikes]

I find that the same breakfast over and over doesn't keep me full. So once in a while I have no breakfast, once in a while I'll have a meaty-veggie or salady breakfast, once in a while a meaty-potatoey breakfast and every now and then, I'll whip up a banana/egg/almond butter "muffin" and surprise myself with how long that keeps me full.

[JoanieL]

I don't think fat satiates for everyone the same. I found that after ~50%, the higher I went in fat as a % of calories, the more I just wanted fatty things and more and more of them. Which doesn't mean I reverted to a fat-free way of eating, just that I learned that "eat moar fat" doesn't necessarily work after a certain point for me.

Grains aren't great. I think if I ate breakfast, I'd either do a primal version of a muffin like sbhikes, or I'd make some potatoes and eggs. Note: a 10 oz potato (which is pretty much a lot of food) has ~45 gms carbs. Or just a pile of scrambled eggs.