Gluten-free and keto diets are some of the hottest topics these days in recipe blogs with many people trying to adopt these diets for health reasons. However, if you are moving to a keto diet you may be wondering whether gluten-free bread which is specifically made for coeliacs is suitable for a keto diet.
Gluten-free bread is not suitable for a keto diet; it usually has a carb loading that is similar to normal wheat bread which is eaten by the majority of the population. Gluten-free bread is made from grains other than wheat and rye which contain gluten that also contains high levels of carbohydrates such as rice flour.
For some people, it has become increasingly trendy to adopt a gluten-free diet for health reasons even if they are not allergic to wheat. However, because gluten-free diets do not contain significantly different amounts of carbohydrates for the most part they do not provide any benefit in most cases as the carbohydrates in the gluten bread convert to sugars just as readily as conventional bread.
What Is The Difference Between Gluten-Containing And Gluten-Free Bread?
The main difference, as mentioned above, between gluten-containing and gluten-free bread is the type of flour that is used. However, as gluten contains various specific properties that aid the bread in forming a fluffy texture it is almost impossible to reproduce when using flours that do not contain gluten.
Gluten is a protein that provides bread dough with extremely elastic properties which means that the dough can rise readily and still maintain its structure. As a result of this, bread based on wheat have a much lower density than gluten-free bread which lack the elasticity required to rise very much.
Additionally, the texture of gluten-free bread is much crumbly than wheat-based bread and also generally doesn’t taste that good. As a result of this most people tend to toast gluten-free bread to improve its texture.
The other factor that also affects the texture of the bread is the fact that most gluten-free flours absorb more water. This means that recipes require much more water which has an effect on the length of time that the loaves take to cook which in turn affects the size of the loaves.
The loaves need to be significantly smaller to reduce the cooking time and reduce the crusts which are also smaller because of the increased density of the loaf itself.
What other alternatives are available to reduce the level of carbs?
When moving to a keto diet one of the biggest problems is replacing bread which is often used as a convenient way to create a meal. So if you need to reduce the carbs what are the options available?
The first option is to use thins which are basically bread slices that are made extremely thin which means that the overall amount of carbohydrates consumed when eating a sandwich made with thins is reduced by approximately 40%. This reduction mainly occurs as a result of the size of the serving rather than the percentage of carbs within the slice itself going down.
However, there have been increasing numbers of low-carb bread loaves being produced commercially which have a similar density to conventional wheat bread but significantly lower levels of carbohydrates, typically around 10 to 13% versus 45% for normal loaves. These products generally will produce a similar reduction overall to the thins because the size of the slices is larger.
But the best alternative to reduce your carbohydrate consumption when making sandwiches or something similar is to use low-carb wraps as they have the advantage of being smaller than bread slices and also have reduced levels of carbs in them.
However, the level of carbs within products that are marketed as low carb does vary somewhat with some products having around half the normal loading of carbs, around 20 to 25% and they are also some products which are extremely low and fall into the range of 8 to 13%.
When comparing the total level of carbs that you are consuming when you eat a wrap made from these products compared to a sandwich you are looking at a reduction of around about 70%. However, it is important to note that with any foods of this nature you will find also that the texture and flavor do deteriorate a little bit as you get lower in the carb loading.
Conclusion
If you are moving to a keto diet there will be no significant benefit in switching to gluten-free bread. This can easily be seen by looking at the labels on the products which will show you that most gluten-free loaves will typically have around 45% of carbohydrates by weight.
To replace bread in your diet it is recommended that you try using low-carb wraps as they provide a good alternative due to the reduced volume of material consumed in a wrap compared to a sandwich along with a significant reduction in the percentage of carbs in the wrap itself.
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