Quinoa and buckwheat a great gluten-free alternative to rice & corn bread
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010With the recent explosion of Gluten free products on the market, a recent study has found that quinoa and buckwheat is a better alternative to the traditional gluten free options of corn, potato wheat, rice flour and xanthan.
The gluten-free food market is now worth a staggering $1.6bn with the annual growth at 28%, according to Packaged Facts.
Traditionally going gluten free was the only option available to sufferers of coeliac disease but with the growing body of information on the effects of wheat and gluten in the diet, many people are adopting the gluten free lifestyle.
Unfortunately there are some concerns that in a bid to find an alternative to flour based products, the current alternatives may lack the nutritional depth of conventional wheat based products.
Currently corn, potato wheat, rice flour and xanthan had lower levels of antioxidants and polyphenol than quinoa and buckwheat.
Most importantly the study found that using other grains such as quinoa and buckwheat improved the bodies absorption of protein, iron, calcium and fibre.
Source: Trends in Food Science & Technology (2010, Vol. 21, pp 106-113)


