| Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, three of the Becoming Healthy range of products are gluten free – Swiss Chocolate, Iced Coffee and Mocha.
The remaining four - Strawberry Malt, Vanilla Malt, Banana Malt and Butterscotch - contain traces of gluten from malt. The malt is made from wheat, one of the grains to be avoided if you are following a gluten – free diet. The other grains are oats, rye, barley and triticale.
A gluten free diet is the only long term treatment for Coeliac disease, a condition in which dietary gluten damages the lining of the small bowel. This damage affects the absorption of food and symptoms can include weight loss, diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal pain, anaemia, mouth ulcers and fatigue. Complete removal of gluten from the diet is essential to allow the gut to recover to normal. Recovery takes time and even trace amounts of gluten are enough to prevent recovery or cause further damage.
Coeliac Disease can only be diagnosed by taking a sample from the lining of the small bowel. Many of the symptoms of Coeliac Disease can also occur with other conditions so symptoms alone are not a diagnosis. There is no health advantage in avoiding gluten unless you have been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.
Yes, three of the Becoming Healthy range of products are wheat free – Swiss Chocolate, Iced Coffee and Mocha.
The remaining four - Strawberry Malt, Vanilla Malt, Banana Malt and Butterscotch - contain malt which is made from wheat.
Wheat allergy is a specific response by the immune system to some proteins in wheat. Identifying possible wheat allergy is fairly easy as symptoms, including rashes, hayfever, asthma and anaphylactic shock, will occur within 2 hours of eating the wheat. However, accurate diagnosis of wheat allergy can only be achieved through controlled food trials and should be undertaken with supervision by an appropriate health professional.
Wheat intolerance is a non-immunological reaction to dietary wheat. The symptoms can be similar to wheat allergy and to Coeliac Disease and the diagnosis is the same as for allergies - complete elimination of all foods containing wheat and gradual re-introduction, food by food, to identify the foods that create problems.
Three vegetable gums are used in Becoming Healthy products. They are identified by the numbers 407, 412 and 466, are all approved by the Australian & New Zealand Food Authority as safe for use in foods, and are used in very very small amounts.
- 407 is Carrageenan. It is a fibre extracted from seaweed which is useful as a setting agent and thickener.
- 412 is Guar Gum. It is extracted from guar beans and used for its thickening properties.
- 466 is Carboxymethyl Cellulose. It’s a derivative of cellulose, a natural chemical in plants, and is used as a thickener.
The fibre comes from a product called Hi-Maize®. Hi Maize® is a food ingredient which is high in (starch which resists digestion in the small intestine). It‘s a natural product, produced from a variety of maize, grown in Australia, which does not contain material from genetically modified organisms or artificial additives and does not require any chemical pre-treatments.
Hi Maize is a good source of resistant starch which may play an important role in reducing the risk of bowel cancer. It’s also a good source of resistant starch that lowers the glycaemic index of foods in which it is used. It’s gluten-free and has properties that promote bowel health.
BodyTalk Mealshakes are suitable for use by Type II diabetics whose condition is controlled by diet. Each serve provides 12g protein, 1.8g fat, 35g carbohydrate and 210 Calories (880kJ). The shakes are substantially skim milk powder, and contain lactose from the milk solids along with other carbohydrates needed to provide the balance of 210 Calories and to make the product taste good "like a milk shake should".
Our Mealshakes have not been measured for their glycaemic index, however we have received many reports from Type II Diabetics who use our product. They say the carbohydrates are absorbed relatively slowly and have not created problems with blood sugar levels.
There are two important points to consider:
1. If you are an overweight Type II diabetic, weight loss will help control your condition.
2. There is no easy way to lose weight. Meal replacements alone will not do it for you (good advice is most important) but Mealshakes may make your diet easier and more enjoyable.
Insulin - dependent diabetics should not use BodyTalk Mealshakes without medical supervision.
Lactose is the sugar (disaccharide) in milk and dairy foods. An intolerance stems from a lack of the enzyme lactase in a person's gut. This lack may be partial or complete hence some people can tolerate a small amount of dairy foods whilst others are unable to tolerate any. BodyTalk Mealshakes are milk-based and contain lactose. I suggest to people with a lactase deficiency that they try one shake a day and monitor the situation. It won't harm them.
You're not doing anything wrong. As you exercise you'll be building muscle at the same time as you are losing fat. Muscle weighs more than fat so the results on your scales may not reflect your true progress but you'll notice the difference with your clothes and the way you look in the mirror. Stick with it.
There is no magic when it comes to losing weight. A high initial weight loss (eg 9Kg in 5 weeks) is due to a loss of about 5Kg of body tissue (mostly fat) and 4kg of body water. The water is lost temporarily because the glycogen that your body uses as an energy supply in the early days of a diet also holds water. When that glycogen is replaced water is regained. This is when you might experience a "plateau".
The reality of weight loss is that it is only possible to lose about 0.5 - 1kg of body tissue per week. If you stick with a weight loss plan of about 1000 Calories per day, and persist through the plateaux, your weight loss will resume.
It is OK to keep having a BodyTalk Mealshake in place of a meal for as long as you wish. Mealshakes are not medicines, they are food. But it is important to eat a variety of foods for good nutrition so, if you wish to keep replacing a meal with a Mealshake, select your other meals carefully. I have been having a Mealshake and an piece of fruit for breakfast for many years.
Replacing 1 or 2 meals a day with a BodyTalk Mealshake will make keeping to a restricted diet easier and more enjoyable than most strict diets. There is no magic answer but I have found that if you think about what you normally eat you will have no trouble planning a sensible diet of around 1000 calories per day. For example cereal at breakfast, a sandwich at lunch and a small meal at night with no in-between snacking.
We all know this is the ideal but unfortunately it is a bit boring and difficult to keep to for very long. So replacing a meal once or twice on any or every day can make your diet more varied and, if you like milk shakes (as I do), more enjoyable. Also swapping a meal for a Mealshake can continue long term. The approach I have outlined is flexible and, in the long term, can help to keep lost weight from coming back.
The BodyTalk Mealshakes are perfectly OK for your grandson. They are very nutritious and, if he doesn't always want to eat meals, they are an excellent substitute. Perhaps, made with water, they are too low in energy for a young growing body so serve them to him made with milk.
Yes, if you like the Weight Watchers® plan, you can use BodyTalk Mealshakes to replace one or two meals per day. Each Mealshake is 4 Weight Watchers® points. Depending upon your current Weight Watchers points target each BodyTalk shake is between 13% and 20% of your daily points allowance. You can also combine The Becoming Healthy Weight Loss Plan with Weight Watchers to ensure your third meals is wholesome and healthy.
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