Found an article at the George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising, is a new force for change to help make a healthier you and a healthier world.
I found the above site and will quote some stuff from their article that really jumped out at me. My bake mix contains almond meal, oat flour, coconut flour and a small amount of xanthan gum. It is a truly healthy bake mix in my opinion and any low-carber who is finally allowed some grains, should be able to tolerate this bake mix since it is still low-carb. It is much better than going whole hog and having a whole wheat muffin, say, or whole grain bread; no, keep it low-carb and the fact that it is gluten-free won't hurt. It can only benefit all of us to keep gluten in our diets to a dull roar. I don't have to be gluten-free but I actually like the food I'm eating so no problem. I prefer my gluten-free bake mix to the really low-carb Splendid Low-Carb Bake Mix. At home it's easy; but eating out or visiting the city is more of a challenge. I need to plan ahead and take food with me. The Splendid Guten-Free Bake mix can be substituted for the Splendid Low-Carb Bake Mix. Just read the instructions for the bake mix. However, if one must be very low-carb, the latter bake mix makes sense for the duration of that period of dieting. Keep this bake mix for a bit later or for occasional indulgences. Remember desserts are not dieting. Eat regular food 99% of the time and keep desserts for planned treats once a week or once a month or twice a year (ha, that last one made me pause....have to hand it to the savory peeps able to do that!!). In any case, I need my "breads" made with the gluten-free bake mix.
First of all almonds are very heart healthy - a quick Google will point that out. That's the number one ingredient in the bake mix. The omega-6's in almonds are not the villains they are made out to be.
Second of all the oat flour - some people have a query as to why I would include it as it is a bit carby to be sure. Here is the quick answer: I like my baking to taste like the real thing. I don't like flax meal and I don't like soy (both contain phytoestrogens which can affect thyroid function and my men don't want it) and I don't like anything with gluten in it these days (my DH needs to be off gluten and thus the new recipes I create will be gluten-free and low-carb, as well as sugar free) and most other flours are either high carb or taste yucky to me (quinoa flour and apparently millet flour and not sure about buckwheat flour). Oat flour tastes good and is definitely quite a bit lower in carbs than white flour and that doesn't hurt - although I use so little in my bake mix that it gets diluted. I avoid peanut flour as I already eat plenty of peanuts and peanut butter and don't want to overdo the aflotoxins (sp?).
Good things about oat flour which is a whole grain (remember I use the garden variety oat flour from Arrowhead Mills - my DH is merely intolerant, not Celiac, so very slight possible gluten contamination is not a problem for him.). First some background. My DH has had high blood pressure for about 10 years or so. His blood pressure is incredibly normal since going gluten-free and guess what? Oat flour also lowers blood pressure! I use the bake mix all the time to make him neutral-tasting artisan buns (will share recipe soon) and other baked goodies as can be seen on my blog. He used to have a runny nose after eating and that has gone. He would put on weight like magic if he indulged in white flour goodies and now no longer eats things like that and his weight does not fluctuate so wildly. He has actually lost a lot of weight since going gluten-free. He is definitely intolerant of gluten. I guess had I not used gluten in my baking, we would probably never have figured it out - but when I suddenly cut it out almost completely, things came right for him.
"consuming just 3 grams of soluble oat fiber per day (an amount found in one bowl of oatmeal) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%. This is highly significant since each 1% drop in serum cholesterol translates to a 2% decrease in the risk of developing heart disease.
Antioxidant compounds unique to oats, called avenanthramides, help prevent free radicals from damaging LDL cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, suggests a study conducted at Tufts University and published in The Journal of Nutrition.
Eating a serving of oats, at least 6 times each week (still quoting that site) is an especially good idea for postmenopausal women with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other signs of cardiovascular disease (CVD). (See why my DH's blood pressure came down? Besides the fact that the internet is full of folks claiming lower blood pressure or normal blood pressure on a gluten-free diet)
A 3-year prospective study of over 200 postmenopausal women with CVD, published in the American Heart Journal, shows that those eating at least 6 servings of oats (oat flour!!) each week experienced both:
- Slowed progression of atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque that narrows the vessels through which blood flows, and
- Less progression in stenosis, the narrowing of the diameter of arterial passageways.
Enhance Immune Response to Infection
In laboratory studies reported in Surgery, beta-glucan
significantly enhanced the human immune system's response to bacterial
infection. Beta-glucan not only helps neutrophils (the most abundant
type of non-specific immune cell) navigate to the site of an infection
more quickly, it also enhances their ability to eliminate the bacteria
they find there.
Stabilize Blood Sugar
Studies also show that beta-glucan has beneficial effects in diabetes
as well. Type 2 diabetes patients given foods high in this type of oat
fiber or given oatmeal or oat bran rich foods experienced much lower
rises in blood sugar compared to those who were given white rice or
bread.
Oats Substantially Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Oats are a rich source of magnesium, a mineral
that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes
involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion." Fiber: All the major ingredients in my bake mix contain some fiber. Staying regular is also heart-protective.
"Oats, via their high fiber content, are already known to help remove cholesterol from the digestive system that would otherwise end up in the bloodstream."
All of that said, most of us with our metabolic issues cannot sit down to a bowl of oatmeal. There would be too much of an insulin response and later there could even be a blood sugar crash with a hypoglycemic reaction. Nope those days are gone, however, you will find that the Gluten-Free Bake Mix is very gentle on the system as very little oat flour is ingested per baking item. The good protein and fat content of the ground almonds also moderates the effect on the blood sugar. I have several friends with diabetes that love my Gluten-Free Bake Mix.