The gluten-free diet has, for many decades, been built on corn, rice, potatoes, and the flours and starches made from them. As part of a balanced, varied diet, in moderate amounts, these ingredients are not considered harmful or something to avoid – in fact, when consumed in their natural form, all three contain important vitamins and minerals, and when cooked or steamed, they can also be a good source of fiber.
So boiled corn, potato salad, vegetable rice, and similar dishes – in moderation! – can be perfectly integrated into a healthy diet, of course taking their carbohydrate content into account. However, the situation is different with their flour-milled forms or extracted starches – in this form, especially in larger amounts, they are no longer friends of our health. Yet, if you read the ingredients of flour mixes and prepared foods in stores, corn starch is often listed first…
But where does the health go?
It’s true for all foods that the more processed they are before reaching our bodies, the less beneficial they are for us. Take corn, for example! The fiber, vitamins, and amino acids present in the whole kernels simply disappear during processing; in corn starch, none of these important components remain – only the refined carbohydrate, which you’ve probably heard about in less positive contexts. Rapidly absorbed carbohydrates are linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and various digestive problems. Who wants that, especially when celiac disease is already a concern?
Is there a solution?
Yes, conscious eating. If we know that something does not truly serve our well-being, we avoid it or reduce the amount we consume!
With corn starch, it’s important to note that it is present in virtually every prepared product, and indeed, many small amounts add up. By the end of the day, a significant quantity of fast-absorbing carbohydrate ends up in your calorie-tracking app… Since corn is inexpensive, neutral in taste, and performs well in baking, it’s not going to disappear from gluten-free foods. However, in recent years, healthier alternatives have appeared on the market – careful selection can break the dominance of corn starch. Strict dieters avoid it completely – we advocate moderation. There’s no need to demonize any ingredient, but caution is wise.
We don’t use corn
Mimoosa flour mixes contain no corn starch at all. We believe that at least in everyday bread, there shouldn’t be ingredients that we know can cause problems when consumed regularly. Our flour mixes are made from high-fiber, mineral- and vitamin-rich milled grains, and the missing starch is replaced with a bit of tapioca.
The raw materials for our bread flour have a beautiful, natural color, so the bread made from them resembles traditional whole-grain breads. We love this color because it shows that the bread we consume is made entirely from carefully selected ingredients. Instead of the illusion of “white bread,” we choose health.
