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Is It Healthy To Eat Gluten Free?

Gluten free baking is what we have been doing since 1998.

We’ve watched in awe as gluten free has gone from a marginalised, little understood term to a fully mainstream and even aspirational food category.

We cannot claim any health benefits other than that our gluten free cakes are safe for coeliacs to eat. Our cakes are deliciously indulgent treats and are typically high in calories and fat. They just also happen to be gluten free.

Who is buying Gluten free food?

Flax seeds in a jar

Those diagnosed with coeliac disease remains 1% of the population according to the Coeliac UK. What has increased exponentially is the number of people who have either self diagnosed themselves as Non Coeliac Gluten Sensitive (NCGS) or say they just feel better for leaving it out of their diet. As stated in this article: “More than half of us bought a “free from” product during the last three months, according to Kantar Worldpanel.”

Is Gluten free healthy?

There is a ‘health halo’ surrounding gluten free food with customers inferring that because it’s gluten free then that particular food is healthier than the standard version. This is a potentially dangerous assumption.

The problems with cutting out gluten

As any qualified dietitian will tell you, a balanced and varied diet is the best way to fuel the human body. It might not be the trendiest of messages but it’s an honest one. By excluding gluten you are cutting out wheat, barley, rye and spelt to name just a few starches and grains.

As well as people compromising their choice of foods; they are also in danger of eating unhealthier, highly processed options.

For instance, supermarket gluten free bread typically contains high amounts of fat, usually oil, compared to regular bread.

Gluten free bread, pastry, biscuits and cakes are challenging to make commercially. One of the difficulties is that they tend to be dry and crumbly. To counteract this manufacturers often add oil, water and starches plus other additives to act as binders to mimic the missing gluten.

What is good gluten free food?

It is possible to make delicious gluten free products without the use of such additives. The key is the quality of the ingredients used. Our go-to ingredients are ground almonds, polenta, sorghum flour and ground flax. Rather than increasing the sugar in a recipe we have managed to actually decrease the overall sugar content.

Advice on going gluten free

Our advice would be to not cut out any foods until you have consulted with your GP.

If you do decide to cut out the gluten, then try and limit your intake of processed foods and have a go at making your own baked goods.

No time to scratch bake gluten free treats?

Try our cakes, available to buy in our online shop.

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Sorghum flour in jar on shelf