Kitchen wisdom
How gluten-free bread, grains and rice measure up against wheat
Q
I was always told that in order to obtain complete proteins from beans they should always be eaten with wheat bread. Now, with a coeliac son, what else can I use? Does rice or gluten-free bread do as well, and what about potatoes?
– EH, Cheltenham
A
First off: is it true that beans aren’t complete proteins? The internet is riven with competing theories, so I turned to an expert – Rebecca McManamon, specialist dietitian and the British Diabetic Association’s media spokesperson. The answer is yes: they don’t provide all of the nine amino acids that we need to eat to be healthy.
You are right, eating them with grains, which contain the missing amino acids, will fill in the gaps. Combinations of grains and beans (or legumes like lentils, peanuts and chickpeas) are embedded in our food culture, with good reason. Think of pitta bread and hummus, Mexican rice and beans and peanut butter sandwiches. Sadly potatoes, almost completely carbohydrate, won’t do the job.
For a coeliac diet, McMa- namon counsels having a dietitian review because the condition is so complex. Gluten-free bread, for example, may contain grains, but is often made with legumes (chickpea flour, for example) so isn’t a reliable complementary food. McManamon suggests including glutenfree grains, such as buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth, although she warns coeliacs
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Overall, consider the protein intake over the whole the day. For most adults, the occasional meal with an incomplete protein is not going to affect our well being. Vegetarians and vegans will need to think about it a bit more carefully, but even then, as long as you eat a good range during the day, you’ll be fine. So a lentil soup for lunch followed by a salad with lots of sesame and sunflower seeds on for supper will cover your needs.