Special Diets and Dietary Restrictions
We have all grown up with some level of expectations as it relates to how we eat. I call that our food culture. It has a lot to do with the foods you ate through childhood and other important times in your life. There may also be an association with events that lend to pairing certain foods with comfort. Nonetheless, coming to a place that challenges or negates your food culture frequently presents a threat to a big piece of your identity and belief system.
Diagnosis and treatment using a gluten-free diet is typically handled so haphazardly that it leaves individuals lost in a bewildered state of impending denial and utter gloom. Making matters worse, the pre-processed gluten-free foods on the store shelves are up to three times more expensive than their glutinous counterparts, and very often do not taste very good.
InSite Wellness is very proficient in topics associated with the gluten-free diet and lifestyle. Our view is that by shutting the door on glutens, we open doors for all the other grains that have been forgotten through the industrialization of our food supply. I get very excited and passionate about showing my gluten-free clients just how delicious gluten-free is.
Gluten Intolerance
Depending on whose statistics you read, the number of individuals diagnosed as intolerant of gluten is somewhere between 1 in 150 and 1 in 100. Regardless of where we start, the truth is that the rate of gluten health issues is on the rise. Dietary gluten has been linked to a number of conditions beyond celiac sprue.
Although we have seen an increase in the available education and support for the gluten-free community, clients are typically dependent on expensive packaged products and friendly restaurants that also serve gluten-containing meals. Those packaged goods can be sadly disappointing, and gluten contamination from a mixed kitchen will happen periodically.
InSite Wellness has put together a group of services to assist individuals newly transitioning into a gluten-free diet. Convenience is always a primary focus as a fundamental factor of success and compliance. Our program focuses on healthy, diverse foods packed with flavor and textures you grew accustomed to in foods containing wheat, rye, barley, oats and associated byproducts.
Genetically Modified
Genetically modified (GM) foods are food items that have had their DNA changed through genetic engineering through means unlike conventional genetic modification that is carried out through time-tested conventional breeding of plants and animals. Combining genes from different organisms is known as recombinant DNA technology, and the resulting organism is said to be “genetically modified,” “genetically engineered,” or “transgenic.” GM products include medicines and vaccines, foods and food ingredients, feeds, and fibers.
Between 1997 and 1999, gene-modified (GM) ingredients suddenly appeared in 2/3rds of all US processed foods.
Present statistics from the Grocery Manufacturers of America estimate that 75 % of all processed foods in the U.S. contain a GM ingredient. Countries that grow genetically modified crops include the Unites States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, South Africa, and India.
It is not required to label foods that are genetically modified or contain GM ingredients in the United States or Canada.
List of genetically modified foods:
Rapeseed – Resistance to certain pesticides and improved rapeseed cultivars to be free of erucic acid and glucosinolates. Gluconsinolates, which were found in rapeseed meal leftover from pressing, are toxic and had prevented the use of the meal in animal feed. In Canada, where “double-zero” rapeseed was developed, the crop was renamed “canola” (Canadian oil) to differentiate it from non-edible rapeseed.
Honey – Honey can be produced from GM crops. Some Canadian honey comes from bees collecting nectar from GM canola plants. This has shut down exports of Canadian honey to Europe.
Cotton – Resistant to certain pesticides – considered a food because the oil can be consumed. The introduction of genetically engineered cotton plants has had an unexpectedly effect on Chinese agriculture. The so-called Bt cotton plants that produce a chemical that kills the cotton bollworm have not only reduced the incidence of the pest in cotton fields, but also in neighboring fields of corn, soybeans, and other crops.
Rice – Genetically modified to contain high amounts of Vitamin A. Rice containing human genes is to be grown in the US. Rather than end up on dinner plates, the rice will make human proteins useful for treating infant diarrhoea in the developing world.
Soybean – Genetically modified to be resistant to herbicides – Soy foods including, soy beverages, tofu, soy oil, soy flour, lecithin. Other products may include breads, pastries, snack foods, baked products, fried products, edible oil products and special purpose foods.
Sugar cane – Made resistant to certain pesticides. A large percentage of sweeteners used in processed food actually comes from corn, not sugar cane or beets. Genetically modified sugar cane is regarded so badly by consumers at the present time that it could not be marketed successfully.
Tomatoes – Made for a longer shelf life and to prevent a substance that causes tomatoes to rot and degrade.
Corn – Resistant to certain pesticides – Corn oil, flour, sugar or syrup. May include snack foods, baked goods, fried foods, edible oil products, confectionery, special purpose foods, and soft drinks.
Sweet corn – genetically modified to produces its own insecticide. Officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have said that thousands of tonnes of genetically engineered sweetcorn have made their way into the human food supply chain, even though the produce has been approved only for use in animal feed. Recently Monsanto, a biotechnology food producer, said that about half of the USA’s sweetcorn acreage has been planted with genetically modified seed this year.
Canola – Canola oil. May include edible oil products, fried foods, and baked products, snack foods.
Potatoes – (Atlantic, Russett Burbank, Russet Norkatah, and Shepody) – May include snack foods, processed potato products and other processed foods containing potatoes.
Flax – More and more food products contain flax oil and seed because of their excellent nutritional properties. No genetically modified flax is currently grown. Herbicide-resistant GM flax was introduced in 2001, but was soon taken off the market because European importers refused to buy it.
Papaya – The first virus resistant papayas were commercially grown in Hawaii in 1999. Transgenic papayas now cover about one thousand hectares, or three quarters of the total Hawaiian papaya crop. Monsanto, donated technology to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, for developing a papaya resistant to the ringspot virus in India.
Squash – (yellow crookneck) – Some zucchini and yellow crookneck squash are also GM but they are not popular with farmers.
Red-hearted chicory – (radicchio) – Chicory (Cichorium intybus var. foliosum) is popular in some regions as a salad green, especially in France and Belgium. Scientists developed a genetically modified line of chicory containing a gene that makes it male sterile, simply facilitating the production of hybrid cultivars. Today there is no genetically modified chicory on the market.
Cottonseed oil – Cottonseed oil and linters. Products may include blended vegetable oils, fried foods, baked foods, snack foods, edible oil products, and small goods casings.
Tobacco -The company Vector has a GMO tobacco being sold under the brand of Quest® cigarettes in the U.S. It is engineered to produce low or no nicotine.
Meat – Meat and dairy products usually come from animals that have eaten GM feed.
Peas – Genetically modified (GM) peas created immune responses in mice, suggesting that they may also create serious allergic reactions in people. The peas had been inserted with a gene from kidney beans, which creates a protein that acts as a pesticide.
Vegetable Oil – Most generic vegetable oils and margarines used in restaurants and in processed foods in North America are made from soy, corn, canola, or cottonseed. Unless these oils specifically say “Non-GMO” or “Organic,” it is probably genetically modified.
Sugarbeets – May include any processed foods containing sugar.
Dairy Products – About 22 percent of cows in the U.S. are injected with recombinant (genetically modified) bovine growth hormone (rbGH).
Vitamins – Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is often made from corn, vitamin E is usually made from soy. Vitamins A, B2, B6, and B12 may be derived from GMOs as well as vitamin D and vitamin K may have “carriers” derived from GM corn sources, such as starch, glucose, and maltodextrin.
Wheat will soon be added to this list of GM crops. In 2006, a coalition of US wheat industry organizations called for access to genetically-engineered wheat varieties with enhanced traits, and a survey released in February 2009 by the US national association of wheat growers found that more than three-quarters of US farmers wanted access to genetically engineered varieties with resistance to pests, disease, drought and frost. Five years after letting their biotech wheat research program wither, the largest agribusiness company, Monsanto, announced in July 2009 that it would resume development of genetically engineered wheat varieties.
Paleolithic Diet
At InSite Wellness, our enthusiasm for the gluten-free diet makes for an exciting partnership with the fitness and CrossFit community.
The Paleolithic diet is inherently gluten-free. There is a reason why the Paleolithic diet works well for so many people: it is built on the premise of whole, low-glycemic foods. Elimination of staple grains also reduces the impact of genetically questionable proteins in addition to the health issues that come at the hands of refined starches and sugars. Since eggs, soy, corn and dairy are among the most common allergens, it only seems logical that folks will feel and perform better following this diet. The only challenge is to make sure you are getting the diversity, and most compatible nutrient sources for you and your body type.
Our Paleo-support is a diverse composite of wholesome lean meats, fresh and dried fruits, veggies, and nuts. Each menu is formulated to contain a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; put together to give you convenience, quality, and satisfaction. More importantly, it gives you the extra support you need to succeed. Insite Wellness is here to support you and your goals.
