Breakfast Suggestions

[TheresaB]

So gluten free pasta is a no go? Why is that gang?

Simply, gluten tends to lead to leaky gut and that results in inflammation. Do you have Dr Bredesen's book, "The End of Alzheimer's" he goes into it more but says high gluten food should be avoided as much as possible.

[slacker]

So gluten free pasta is a no go? Why is that gang?

Many of us are focused on nutritional ketosis for cognitive health, which is difficult to achieve if eating high glycemic foods (those that turn to glucose/sugar rapidly upon eating). Gluten free pasta is highly processed, and therefore high glycemic.

[Richard McG]

Thanks yes just reading Bredesen's book now. I assumed it had a low GL so it would be ok. Wrong

[HLT]

Am I wrong in thinking that if we are fasting...we aren’t really eating breakfast? I was going to ask the breakfast question and then stopped myself for that very reason...I am new to fasting.

[TheresaB]

Am I wrong in thinking that if we are fasting...we aren’t really eating breakfast? I was going to ask the breakfast question and then stopped myself for that very reason...I am new to fasting.

No, you're not wrong. But as you read more here you will notice there are varying opinions/personal protocols that folks follow. Dr Bredesen recommends 16 hour fasts for APOE ε4 carriers to aid ketosis and autophagy, i.e. ketoflex 3/16, where the fast starts after dinner and dinner is at least 3 hours before bedtime and then fasting overnight for a total of 16 hours.

But there are those who, in trying to follow circadian rhythm, believe our biggest meal should be in the morning, because that's when we're most insulin sensitive and by the end of the day the pancreas wants to take a break . Because of work schedules and the desired social aspect of having a meal together my husband and I eat our big meal in the evening, but maybe when he retires we'll have our big meal sometime in the morning, a light snack a few hours later and start our 16 hour fast in the afternoon with no evening meal.

In trying to emulate what our ancestors did, (remember we're the ancestral gene) they likely did not get up and start to eat right away, they had to forage for their food after the sun came up and likely did not have a heavy meal in the evening, so their habits aligned more with the body's circadian rhythm, following a sort of ketoflex routine.

Or one could get really snarky and just say, whenever you break your fast is breakfast. But I won't say that.

[WifeOfJoel]

So gluten free pasta is a no go? Why is that gang?

Thanks!

Dr. Bredesen (End of Alzheimer's) puts grains in his "red" column, as in "avoid" but also puts "gluten" separately in the red column, and talks about gluten specifically at length in his book, implying I thought to avoid gluten first, then avoid grains in general as much as possible. Dr. Perlmutter (Grain Brain) says to eliminate grains, due to inflammation and other reasons. Dr. Gundry says to omit all grains except millet and sorghum, because excepting those two, all grains (and "pseudograins" like quinoa) have lectins, which bind to the sugars on certain proteins in our body and wreak havoc.

I haven't managed to eliminate grains yet. We've been doing some gluten-free products, but I have learned recently that those can be "bad" as well, because they might still be high glycemic, or have lectins, or have transglutaminase. This last word refers to what is commonly known as "meat glue." Seriously. It is often in gluten-free bread (and doesn't have to be listed specifically; it can just say "enzymes"), and may potentiate celiac disease! (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30543926) I have never seen transglutaminase in pasta, however, so the gluten-free pasta may be OK. I got some (non-grain) sweet potato starch noodles delivered today; I'll let you know how those work out

[TheresaB]

So gluten free pasta is a no go? Why is that gang?

Thanks!

I would say no pasta, gluten free or otherwise, due to the fact that it is carby, thus raises blood sugar which in turn places a demand on insulin, too much of that causes insulin resistance. Maintaining insulin sensitivity is important for everyone, but especially E4s. It's estimated 50% of the population in the US is insulin resistant, and insulin resistance is at the root of virtually all chronic disease: cancer, heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's (you may have heard of Alzheimer's being referred to as Type 3 diabetes), etc.

Insulin resistance probably isn't considered a health crisis because it develops slowly and silently with no obvious symptoms, there's no drug that folks can take to "fix it" rather it requires changes to diet and lifestyle which especially when someone feels fine, they're hesitant to do, plus there's the huge influence exerted by the food and drug industry, whose motivations unfortunately are more greatly incentivized at keeping us unhealthy.

If you haven't already read the PRIMER: An introduction to ApoE4, biochemistry, and possible prevention strategies, now might be a good time. In it is a discussion of strategy #1 - Insulin Resistance. We also have a wiki articleInsulin Resistance

I just can't stress enough how important this is. Often newbies come onto these forums and get overwhelmed, but if there is JUST ONE thing they can adopt, it should be to concentrate on lowering insulin resistance.

In the past I have said, and I would like to reiterate now, I would rather be an insulin sensitive ApoE4/4 than a non-4 carrier with insulin resistance.

[buck3Maureen]

A lot of gluten free pasta is made from rice. You can find gluten free pasta made 100% from lentils or beans. I think the chickpea pasta is very good. I know beans have carbs but I think they are good for you.

[Richard McG]

Ya thanks eveyone.....re-read the primer and now have Bredesen's matrix on my fridge
NO GLUTEN!