David PerlmutterPresident,, Perlmutter Health Center · Board-Certified Neurologist | Functional Medicine Pioneer | #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author | International Speaker | Host of The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

On Consuming Non-Gluten Grains

8 Aug 2015 · 2 min

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1:30

In this brief talk, the speaker outlines the landscape of gluten‑free grains, noting that rice and quinoa (though technically a seed) are commonly used as grain substitutes. While gluten‑free grains avoid the gut‑leakiness associated with gluten, the speaker cautions that portion size matters because of their carbohydrate content. He recommends small servings of non‑GMO options such as wild rice and emphasizes the importance of avoiding crops treated with glyphosate, especially corn, where 70‑80% of U.S. supply is genetically modified and likely sprayed with Roundup. The overall advice is to monitor carbohydrate intake while choosing non‑GMO, glyphosate‑free gluten‑free grains.

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So there are a lot of grains out there that are gluten-free, and for example, rice is gluten-free. Quinoa is by definition not actually a grain. It's not a seed of grass, but it pretty well generally falls into the category of grains when people are talking. But that said, yes, they're gluten-free, so that's a good thing, obviously, because gluten tends to make the gut leaky. But on the other hand, you've just got to be careful when you're consuming these grains that they are— that you're consuming an amount that's not going to load you up with carbohydrate. So carbohydrate is the other part of the story that you got to be careful of. So if you want to have a small serving of wild rice, for example, non-GMO, that would be certainly appropriate. And I do mention non-GMO because I really think that's important. You really want to be certain That even though something is gluten-free, that it hasn't been sprayed, for example, with Roundup or glyphosate, which is certainly very common with another gluten-free grain called corn. More than 70 to 80% of the corn available in America has actually been treated with— is genetically modified and likely treated then for— therefore with glyphosate. So the take-home message is that as long as you're watching the carb content, You may have a small serving of rice or, or choose some quinoa.