Gluten is a protein in grass-type grains such as wheat, barley and rye. It gives food a stretchiness and stickiness and it’s in much of what Americans eat. It’s in the obvious things like bread, pasta and crackers but it’s also in sauces, medications, lipstick, imitation crabmeat and other items not normally associated with grains. Unfortunately more and more people are finding their body might not tolerate gluten products very well. Gluten intolerance can run a whole range in severity from minor symptoms when a person eats grain-based foods to Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that prevents the gastrointestinal system from properly absorbing nutrients.

Normally, people can tolerate these proteins, but if you have Celiac disease they cause the gaps between the cells in the small intestine to open too wide and allow toxins and gluten fragments into the bloodstream. These particles are seen as alien invaders by the body, and are therefore attacked.

The normal small intestine features small hair like projections along its length known as villi which increase the surface area and therefore assist in the absorption of the nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy. The autoimmune response causes so much damage to these villi (in some cases flattening them entirely) that they are no longer effective. Changing over to a gluten free diet will allow your body to repair itself, and your health will improve tremendously.

Gluten intolerance can be diagnosed with a blood test, antibody screening or biopsy. Many people simply take gluten out of their diet for a month to see if it alleviates symptoms.

Gluten Free Supplements
The following is a list of some of the gluten free supplements available at Performance Nutrition: Forzagen Protein, Intek Protein, all Irwin Naturals products, MRM Proteins, NOW Foods proteins, most NOW Foods vitamins and supplements.

The Caveman Diet, also called the Paleolithic (or Paleo), Stone Age, and Warrior diet, is a plan based on eating plants and wild animals similar to what cavemen are presumed to have eaten around 10,000 years ago.

Why turn back the hands of time and eat that way? The premise is that our bodies are genetically programmed to eat like our Paleolithic ancestors.

Proponents claim it’s the biologically appropriate diet that suits us best, with the proper balance of nutrients to promote health and reduce the incidence of chronic diseases.

The Paleo Diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.

The diet is based on the foods that could be hunted, fished, and gathered during the Paleolithic era — meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruits, and berries. But a true paleolithic diet is impossible to mimic because wild game is not readily available, most modern plant food is cultivated rather than wild, and meats are domesticated. At best, you can eat a modified version of the original diet that’s gluten-free and includes lean meat, organ meats, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. It’s a wide variety of foods. However you won’t find any dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, potatoes, processed oils, and any foods that were grown after agriculture started.

On this diet, you’d skip salt and any drinks other than water, coconut water, or organic green tea.

You can satisfy your sweet tooth with raw honey or coconut palm sugar, but only in limited quantities.

A new study found that taking a cinnamon extract for three months helped people with type 2 diabetes have better blood sugar control.

According to Nutrition Research, a study in China followed 66 people being treated for type 2 diabetes, divided into three groups. For three months, the first group received 120 mg of cinnamon extract per day, the second group received 360 mg of cinnamon extract per day, and the third group received a placebo.

At the end of the study, the researchers found the following, which are consistent with a number of previous studies:

• Fasting blood glucose levels were reduced in cinnamon users, but not the placebo group, suggesting that cinnamon improved their bodies’ ability to keep blood glucose down between meals.

• Fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c levels appeared to improve more in people taking the higher amount of cinnamon than people taking the lower amount.

You’ve heard of it, but what is the Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. It compares foods gram for gram of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion have the highest glycemic indexes. The blood glucose response is fast and high. Carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream, have low glycemic indexes.  What is the Significance of Glycemic Index?

• Low GI means a smaller rise in blood glucose levels after meals
• Low GI diets can help people lose weight
• Low GI diets can improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin
• High GI foods help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise
• Low GI can improve diabetes control
• Low GI foods keep you fuller for longer
• Low GI can prolong physical endurance

What is Glycemic Load?

• Glycemic load builds on the GI to provide a measure of total glycemic response to a food or meal
• Glycemic load = GI (%) x grams of carbohydrate per serving
• One unit of GL ~ glycemic effect of 1 gram glucose
• You can sum the GL of all the foods in a meal, for the whole day or even longer
• A typical diet has ~ 100 GL units per day (range 60 – 180)
• The GI database gives both GI & GL values

How to Switch to a Low GI Diet

• Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran
• Use “grainy” breads made with whole seeds
• Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
• Enjoy all types of fruit and vegetables (except potatoes)
• Eat plenty of salad vegetables with vinaigrette dressing

Glycemic Index Range

• Low GI = 55 or less
• Medium GI = 56 – 69
• High GI = 70 or more

To determine a food’s GI rating, measured portions of the food containing 10 – 50 grams of carbohydrate are fed to 10 healthy people after an overnight fast. Finger-prick blood samples are taken at 15-30 minute intervals over the next two hours. These blood samples are used to construct a blood sugar response curve for the two hour period. The area under the curve (AUC) is calculated to reflect the total rise in blood glucose levels after eating the test food. The GI rating (%) is calculated by dividing the AUC for the test food by the AUC for the reference food (same amount of glucose) and multiplying by 100 (see Figure 1). The use of a standard food is essential for reducing the confounding influence of differences in the physical characteristics of the subjects. The average of the GI ratings from all ten subjects is published as the GI of that food.