If you are gluten free, how do you avoid extreme UPF?

[ToastyBreads]

Listening to Ultra Processed People on audible (late to the party, I know). I have always known gluten free alternatives are not great health wise but things like xanthum gum that I use in baking had never really occurred to me until now. And I’m just thinking how awful gf bread, wraps, pastas are. If you are gluten free and try and avoid UPF, what do you eat?

I've used psyllium husk powder in place of xanthum or guar gum before. Works quite well.

Have you tried Zen B...there's usually a a 40% offer online.

There is a trick to cooking it as it goes from Rae to cooked really quickly. The knack is watching the stuff! We undercook it if putting into a pasta bake as it sucks up sauce and goes gooey otherwise.

Thanks everyone, lots for me to think about and changes to make.
just on the xanthum - for those that say they don’t use it but use GF flour, the brands of gf flour I use have it in already.

Can I ask for your bread recipe please?

@SteaknSalad with the exception of steak (my teeth can't hack it anymore) that's what my diet totally looks like

I'm afraid I do use M&S gluten free fish fingers which are mega- better I think than their non GF ones- I also like their breaded GF chicken - realise it's 'processed' to some extent , but I can live with that- bang a good salad with them and it's a great meal

Yes we use the Panasonic ones

https://experience-fresh.panasonic.eu/recipe/basic-gluten-free-bread-recipe/

@Ionacat thank you so much.

I avoid bread basically. I stick to brown rice, potato (or sweet potato), and/or lettuce wraps. I do have almond flour based wraps sometimes too. And chickpea pasta.

Becky Excell has some good bread recipes. I use a bread maker.

Same as others here. Rarely have GF bread at all. Maybe once or twice a year. Eat dinner left overs for lunch. I really like red lentil pasta from Waitrose free from range. Usually eat omelet if at home for lunch.

If out and no access to microwave I take oat cakes and humous. GF pasta is like cardboard when cold.

I do lots of baking and do sometimes use GF flour but often make flapjacks with GF oats, or crumbles, and a lot of my baking is with gluten for the family and I just don't have any!

I mainly avoid breads and pastas and have never liked cakes so that is fine. I have gf oatcakes when I need some sort of vehicle for cheese or a dip but mostly bulk up on veg and stick to rice and potatoes. That said I used a gf pasta I got from Sainsbury’s last night for bolognaise and it was great. I eat very little upf anyway I think so don’t mind about the odd occasion.

@PotterHead1985 I've tried the rice based pasta, and whatever else you can get (lentil) but they were awful. But Sainsbury's own gf pasta is identical to normal, and I use it all the time. Only about 79p as well 👌

I'm coeliac and I mainly cook from scratch, and also eat GF bread, but I bake my own cakes as I prefer them.
I don't worry about the UPFs in the bread because they are less of a threat to my health than eating gluten and my diet is probably lower in UPFs in other areas. For example I never have takeaways because I don't trust the food to be totally GF.
I don't eat junk food because so little of it is gluten free. I haven't had a KFC. Chinese meal or MacDonalds for over thirty years so a sandwich with half a teaspoon of UPFs in is not something I'll bother about, mainly because it will make my life even harder and I would be able to go out for a day with a packed lunch. I can't eat GF oat products as one of the proteins in oats is very similar to gluten and also causes me problems.

for PP
ASDA free from pasta is excellent

The edamame bean pastas you can get have all tasted good to me, and firmer than normal gf pasta.

The recipe for rolls here is easy, and they taste nice, although the colour is a bit off putting!
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/low-carb-sloppy-joes

That's weird. I rarely buy gf bread but when I do it goes mouldy as fast as any bread.

I've been gluten free for over a decade now, and aside from the first couple of years I rarely buy gluten free replacements of gluten containing products - mostly because they taste rubbish, but also the long lists of UPF ingredients puts me off.

I follow mostly a low carb diet, so mainly meat,eggs and veggies. If I do ever get anything purposefully gluten free these days (and not low carb) I occasionally buy from these places which offer products that are processed, but not ultra processed :

bread
bagels
pastries
treats

They are all pretty pricey though, so not everyday items!

GF and avoiding UPF here, I generally follow the 90% rule. In that if my diet is 80/ 90% UPF free then that’s enough for good health.
I eat a lot of pulses for lunch, or leftovers. I do bake about once a week and will use xanthum gum if needed but figure if I’m making it from scratch it’s far healthier than anything bought in.
I have a history of eating disorder and know if I get super strict with rules I could easily find my way back into it. Tbh that is one of my concerns about the narrative of avoiding UPF - that is a pathway into orthorexia, with it being taken to an extreme.
So to sum up, being gf can be done without UPF easily- but it’s not the end of the world if you occasionally have an UPF.

@Headlightshome - very sensible advice… 😊

We just did four weeks of gousto Gf then a week of mindful chef keto to get inspired. I delve into old vegetarian cook books. And just old cook books generally and adapt. I ordered a bunch of gf cookbooks and some of them are full of pastry etc but also have healthier stuff that I can adapt. I can eat gluten but he has a pot of cottage cheese for breakfast these days and I batch cook a lot of curries and chilis for his lunches and loads them up with whatever pulses or vegetables I have to hand.