Welcome to The Healthy Celiac Podcast—the go-to podcast for women with celiac disease! This podcast is designed to help you thrive beyond your diagnosis and embrace life to the fullest because you are so much more than just a woman with celiac disease.
Hosted by Certified Health Coach Belinda Whelan, who specializes in follow-up care for women with celiac disease, each episode is a blend of practical advice, personal stories, and expert interviews. Belinda shares valuable insights on everything from navigating a gluten free lifestyle to managing the emotional aspects of celiac disease.
Join me as we explore topics that empower you to take control of your health, and discover joy in every meal and moment. Tune in for practical advice and support as we navigate the challenges of celiac disease and empower you to live confidently.
To find out how Belinda can support you, visit her website www.belindawhelan.com and while you're there be sure to download your FREE eBook '11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free'.
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How Macronutrients Support a Celiac's Gluten Free Diet - Part 1 Ep. 142
•Belinda Whelan•Season 1•Episode 142
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In today's episode which is part 1 in a 3-part series, I'm sharing the importance of macronutrients to thrive on a gluten-free diet.
You'll discover that carbohydrates aren't the enemy; in fact, they're the unsung heroes that fuel our bodies with energy and bring satisfaction to every meal.
In this episode, we're not just talking about any carbs—I'm sharing the ones that will support your gluten-free life with taste and nutrition.
Make sure to join me next week as we continue our macronutrient discussion, focusing on the proteins that will perfectly complement these carbs for a truly balanced and energy-boosting diet.
Welcome back to this week's episode of the Healthy Celiac Podcast. Now, today, we're talking about macronutrients, and this is the first part of a three-part series because I wanted to talk with you about fats, carbs and proteins. Because so many people are telling me that they've transitioned to a gluten-free diet and they are struggling with a various number of problems, from fatigue, from lack of energy, from feeling hungry all the time and not knowing what they're doing wrong. So many of these people, it turns out that actually not eating enough food. So I thought it would be interesting to share this episode with you, because it might be helpful for you as well, and give you a bit of an outline of why it's important to include fats, carbs and proteins into your meals so that you can have more energy and feel fuller for longer and obviously, feel better living on a gluten-free diet. So let's jump on into it Now.
Speaker 1:
When I studied to become a health coach, we studied over a hundred different dietary theories and there's so many different diets out there. You would have heard of so many different diets in your time, no doubt, and we were encouraged to try some of these diets on our journey during our study, and at the time, I had already been diagnosed with celiac disease, so obviously I had to adapt every single one of those diets to be gluten-free. I didn't do all of the diets because a lot of them did not appeal to me at all. They were very restrictive. There was a lot that went into many of those diets and I don't recommend a lot of them. But what I found was, after trialing a number of these different diets, was diets are something that people go on and they go off of eventually, don't they? So I don't actually teach people to diet as such. I teach people to be healthier and to add in the goodness that your body needs, rather than really focusing on taking out things and feeling restricted and counting calories and living with this kind of lack mentality.
Speaker 1:
That's not the way that I work as a health coach and I find that it gets my clients long-term results and I've found that for me, I don't feel restricted. So I know a lot of people feel restricted on a gluten-free diet and that they're missing out on all their favorite foods and things like that. But when you start to really nourish your body and look after yourself by focusing on good, nutritionally, amazingly healthy food, you kind of stop thinking about all those foods that you miss before. Yes, I have those moments of you know I might see someone eating a chocolate donor and wish that I could eat one, but it's not something I'd be eating every single day if I wasn't gluten-free and didn't have celiac disease. So it's not a big deal. It's not like it's the end of the world for me, and I think this comes down to the fact that I do feel nourished. My body is reacting really well to eating a good, balanced diet, and so many people share the same thing with me that when they start doing this after I teach them exactly how to eat well and what to look for and what to add in, and it kind of naturally pushes out those things that we shouldn't be eating. And I'm not going to say never, because I still eat treats and I still have things that I wouldn't eat on a regular kind of basis.
Speaker 1:
But with, what I learned when I became a health coach was the 80-20 rule and I think I've talked about this before on the show or you might have heard other people talk about this and basically the 80-20 rule is eating really, really well 80% of the time and 20% of the time having treats, having things that you wouldn't normally be shoveling down, they're just. It takes away the restriction, as you might think about it that way. So a lot of people think of diets as feeling restricted. I never feel restricted. I never want my clients to feel restricted and by having this balance it helps you. You know, if you want to go out for a meal with friends, you can let your hair down and have something that you wouldn't perhaps normally be eating on a diet. Or you know, if you want to have a little treat at home, it's okay, because eating guilt-free is very, very healthy for your mindset. It's very healthy for the way that you live in this world and when we take away restriction and we take away the rules, it makes life so much easier to enjoy eating and to enjoy, you know, socializing and being a part of, you know, your family and your community. So that's why I came to the conclusion that when we eat a well-balanced diet, we take away restriction, we take away dieting, we take away that mentality of feeling left out. So that's why I wanted to talk with you about macronutrients and break it down for you a little bit.
Speaker 1:
This is going to be an overview over three parts. So today we're going to talk about carbohydrates and then on the next episode, next week, we'll talk about proteins and then the following week we'll talk about fats and the importance of fats. So each of these macronutrients are important to include in your diet, and the main reason for that is because when we have these macronutrients in the amounts that are needed, our body will function optimally. Okay, and that's what we want. We want our body to be at its best, we want to be performing at our best. We don't want to feel low in energy, we don't want to feel hungry. So when you take away those feelings, life becomes completely different. Life becomes so much easier when we take away those elements of our bodily functions, of, you know, the hunger and the lack of energy. So by adding in macronutrients, it helps to stabilize so many things within your life and your health. Okay, so let's jump into it.
Speaker 1:
So carbohydrates are the main source of energy that you can get from your diet. So your body will break down the carbohydrates into glucose and that's what your body uses to fuel it, to make it, you know, be able to be active and to be able to exercise and to be able to have that energy. So when people say to me, oh, I'm cutting out carbs, you shouldn't really be cutting out carbs. It's not a matter of completely cutting out carbs and being no carbohydrate diet. You should never, ever be on a no carb diet or a very low carb diet, because of the fact that this is where you get your energy from. Now, this is not medical advice. This is my personal experience with supporting women with celiac disease that do not have diabetes. If you have diabetes, these rules will be completely different. These will completely be something that you'll need to work on with your medical team. So if you have diabetes, please don't take on board what I'm sharing. It's completely different because obviously your glucose levels will be very different to what we're talking about today.
Speaker 1:
So your body can store that glucose as glycogen in your muscles and your liver for later. So it actually helps to keep that energy going for the day. So if you're not having carbohydrates, you might find by the afternoon you are struggling with energy. You know you might have gone and had a decent breakfast and then you think, oh, I'm going to be really good and have a healthy lunch and you don't eat enough carbohydrates and then by the afternoon you feel like you're in this slump because you're struggling because you haven't fueled your body with enough, okay, so this is where we need to have carbs in our diet.
Speaker 1:
Another benefit of consuming carbs is you're going to get fiber. Okay, so your body will use some of those carbs and use it as fiber to pass the food through your digestive tract. So if you're not eating enough and you're struggling with constipation, bam, there's another reason You're simply not eating enough carbohydrates to be able to help your body pass through the food the fiber part of the food through your body. So that's super important to be making sure that you're eating enough so that your body can do what it needs to do to help with your bowel movements. And I've done an entire episode on constipation that you can go back and listen to if you're like oh, that's interesting, I do need to learn more about this. I will link that below this episode as well. And, like I said, eating carbohydrates will help you feel fuller for longer. Okay, it makes your body feel fuller and will help sustain you for the day.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you are an athlete or you are a bit of a gym junkie or you just simply like to work out, you will need to eat more carbohydrates than the next person. You will need to have that fuel to be able to, you know, go and do your workout. A lot of people say that they work out on an empty stomach. By all means. That might work for them. That doesn't work for me. I would seriously feel like I'm going to be sick and passed out if I go to the gym on an empty stomach. I make sure that I energize myself prior to going to the gym, at least an hour before, by making sure that I eat a balanced meal. So if you're not eating enough, you may not have the energy to feel like working out or going to the gym or going for a walk or doing what you maybe used to do before your celiac diagnosis. You might be blaming celiac disease for not having the energy, but perhaps, since you've transitioned to a gluten-free diet, you're not having the balance of micronutrients and your body is not feeling fueled and energized to be able to do what it needs to do. So that's something to think about Now, when we talk about carbohydrates and people say I'm cutting out carbs, I'm a low carb diet what a lot of people think when they're cutting out carbs is they're no longer eating things like pastries and breads and pastas and things like that.
Speaker 1:
So, yes, they are carbohydrates, but they are simply cutting out probably the worst kind of carbohydrates, which is a good thing, but you still need to have the healthy carbohydrates. So where can we get these carbohydrates from into our diet? So there's a number of categories that we can get our carbs from, and they fall into fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and milk products, beans and legumes. So let's talk about some of those where you might need to get your carbohydrates from. So when we talk about fruit, there are fruits that are higher in carbs than others. So you might feel like you, you just want to have something to eat before going to the gym, and that could include a banana Bananas are great for having before working out because they are a good carbohydrate fruit, so mango is also a good choice and apples. So there are different levels, or amounts, I should say, of carbohydrates in fruit, so you might want to just jump on to the internet and search up what fruits have different amounts of carbs, just so you can check that out out of interest.
Speaker 1:
The next one is vegetables. So it's recommended that you load up your plate with vegetables, like if you're having a meal and you balance out that meal with a heap of vegetables and I would recommend that you you basically have half the amount of food on your plate with vegetables you'll make a difference to feeling fuller longer. And some of the best vegetables are things like peas, potatoes, corn, things like that. They are quite high in carbohydrates, but you'll find that just consuming vegetables in general and when we talk about eating vegetables, I say the more that you can get a range of vegetables, the more other nutrients you're going to get into your diet as well. So find the ones that you love and eat those and enjoy those, because they will make you feel fuller and give you that energy that you need.
Speaker 1:
Alright, the next one is whole grains. You know this is where we need to look at. Where are you? Where are you thinking you're getting your carbs from? Are you eating heaps of bread? Are you eating heaps of, you know, pastry type food? So you're eating the processed, gluten-free crackers, things like that. They are not the best choices for your whole brains.
Speaker 1:
Brown rice is a good choice for many people. I personally can't eat brown rice. It messes with me big time, so I don't eat brown rice. So if you do choose to eat brown rice, just see how you feel on it, because it might not agree with you. A lot of people notice that it makes them feel the same as if they've had a gluten brain. So that's how I feel when I have brown rice, so I don't consume it, but it is an excellent choice of carbohydrates.
Speaker 1:
The next one is millet. Quinoa is my favorite. You can have quinoa pretty much breakfast, lunch and tea, because you can consume it in different ways. You can buy quinoa as a flake and you can make a cereal out of it. You can cook it up, you can eat it cold, you can mix it through salads. You can have it instead of rice, like. It's an excellent choice. The next one is popcorn. So you might not really think of popcorn as a healthy treat, but if you make your own popcorn, it is actually a really healthy whole brain choice. So that can be a good snack. If you just need some carbs in the afternoon, you can munch on some plain popcorn or put some spices on. It is a great choice as well Now if you're looking at eating bread to get carbohydrates into your diet, which can be an easy choice for a lunch, like don't get me wrong, I do eat bread, but I don't buy white bread.
Speaker 1:
I don't like white bread. I don't see the benefit of eating white bread. But if you buy a gluten-free bread that's got seeds in it, you can see those seeds or grains in it. You will get more benefit from that bread overall. You'll get more fiber, you'll get better carbohydrates from it and it will probably be more nutrient dense than a bread that doesn't contain the grains or the seeds. So look out for one that has got those in it.
Speaker 1:
Now the next one is dairy. So we're looking at things like milk and yoga are excellent choices of carbs, and we'll talk about those as well when we talk about protein. And then the next one is beans and legumes. So, depending on you, you may not like beans and legumes. I know a lot of people don't. So, for instance, maybe you're making a chili con carne and normally you use minced meat or ground beef. In your chili con carne, you could add some beans to it. So maybe some black beans into it and mix in. You generally wouldn't notice the taste of it to be that much different, but you're gonna add in some healthy carbs into your meal. So think of things like chickpeas, lentils and black beans are really great for getting a healthy source of carbohydrates into your diet.
Speaker 1:
So I hope this helps you understand our first macronutrient, which is carbohydrates, and why it's important to add them into your diet. Just looking at healthier options of the macronutrients and avoiding the worst ones the majority of the time Okay, I'm not saying completely never eat a gluten-free pastry, ever again. I'm saying the majority of the time be focusing on these good, healthy carbohydrates will make a massive difference to the way that you feel and the energy that you can gain from your meal. And just winding back to the whole grains, making sure that we have about a quarter of a plateful of those is helpful as well. So when we look at that balanced plate, we're focusing on half a plateful of vegetables, a quarter of the whole grains, and then we'll talk about what needs to be on that other quarter in next week's episode. So make sure you tune in where we're talking all about proteins and I will talk with you then. Have a fantastic week. Talk to you soon. Take care bye.
