Evening people.

It’s 11:41 pm on Tuesday 4th July 2017.

I’m just finishing up some writing work and preparing for a podcast with Diabetics Doing Things tomorrow at 9 am. I can’t wait to get on and share my story with 1000s of others.

Anyway, about today.

I had an awesome post workout feed of crunchy fresh sourdough, grilled bacon, runny eggs, avocado and a slab of real butter spread over, (hungry yet?)

I eyeballed the nutrition of the meal to be in and around 680kcals.

67g Carbs

43g Protein

27g Fat

Having written my fair share of nutrition programs and weighed more food than I care to imagine, my figures are always pretty accurate.

Blood Glucose Pre-meal: 9.0 mm0l/L

Activity Status: 1 Hour Post strength training (looks like those stress hormones haven’t tapered off yet! as I was 6.0mmol/L at the start of training)

Insulin Dosing Strategy: 6 Units Novorapid after the first bite.

I dosed slightly less insulin in comparison to what I would normally need on a non-training day. Here’s why,

1. Post training stress hormones like Cortisol and Adrenaline inevitably wear off and the glucose disposal effects of strength training kick in- increasing the risk of hypoglycemia.
2. The fat content of the meal was relatively high, due to avocado, egg yolks and bacon. High levels of fat slow the release of carbohydrate and amino acids into the blood resulting in a slower increase in blood glucose compared to eating the bread (carbohydrate) alone. Always keep that in mind!

Blood Glucose 3 hours post meal: 6.5 mmol/L (NAILED IT)

Anyway enough talk about insulin and diabetes for the day…

Let’s talk about bread.

I love bread!

A no-nonsense, easy to prepare carb source that stacks well with pretty much any protein source.

Animal and human research does show wheat consumption has the potential to increase a condition called intestinal permeability (1). Don’t panic just yet.

For those of you who don’t know what Intestinal permeability is, here goes…

Intestinal permeability, commonly termed ‘leaky gut’, is a condition that occurs in the body when tight junctions in the bowel lining become irritated, inflamed and “leaky”.

This barrier plays a role in absorbing nutrients and preventing most food particles, bacterial toxins and germs (pathogens) passing from inside the bowel into the bloodstream and potentially causing widespread immune responses and inflammation throughout the body.

It has been proposed that leaky gut is a result of a range of factors including yeast or bacterial overgrowth in the bowel, poor diet (including bread) and overuse of drugs like antibiotics.

Increased intestinal permeability has been associated with autoimmune diseases, including our very own type 1 diabetes (2)

Don’t freak out if you eat bread.

Keep reading.

The current body of research on wheat (the cereal grain used to make bread, being the root cause of intestinal permeability) is non-conclusive.

‘Until now, human epidemiological and intervention studies investigating the health effects of whole grain intake were confounded by other dietary and lifestyle factors and, therefore, well-designed intervention studies investigating the effects of cereal grains and their individual components on intestinal permeability and inflammation are warranted.’

The area of gluten, bread and human health is a highly debated topic.

Respect there’s a big difference in how you’ll feel eating bread when you have a generally shitty lifestyle, diet, and are highly inactive, vs. eating bread as part of an energy controlled diet built for exercise performance supported by mindful living (sleep/stress management etc.)

There are so many other factors to consider for your ‘bloating’.

Take a reality check on stress, chronic anxiety, medications, illness, and too much alcohol before you start blaming bread.

If you think bread is a culprit – don’t do Google.

Get a clinical test and get to the bottom of it.

Like I say in my book, there is no such thing as a good or bad food.

You must consider the dose and frequency of any food you eat.

If you want to know more about Gluten and human health listen to this great podcast I recorded with Danny Lennon on the subject of Gluten: All You Need To Know In 30mins.

 

 

 

References

1. Karin de Punder at al. The Dietary Intake of Wheat and other Cereal Grains and Their Role in Inflammation. Nutrients. 2013 Mar; 5(3): 771–787.
2. Ultrastructural mucosal alterations and increased intestinal permeability in non-celiac, type I diabetic patients. Secondulfo M, Iafusco D, Carratù R, deMagistris L, Sapone A, Generoso M, Mezzogiomo A, Sasso FC, Cartenì M, De Rosa R, Prisco F, Esposito V Dig Liver Dis. 2004 Jan; 36(1):35-45.