Gluten Free Muffins : Apple Cinnamon

Gluten free muffins and muffin mixes are often high in sugar and lacking in fibre. This promotes a problem for weight and health maintenance when following a gluten free diet but is most problematic for children living with both type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease.

These muffins do have a small amount of sugar and should therefore be limited to one muffin per serving. The apple and cinnamon help to enhance the flavour of these gluten free muffins. Leaving the skin on the apples adds a little fibre, often absent in gluten free products.

A note on gluten free diets

It is not necessary to follow a gluten free diet unless you have a diagnosed intolerance or coeliac disease. Excluding gluten unnecessarily is a costly and challenging exercise but more importantly, the exclusion of wheat (whole form) results in an exclusion of one of few foods that have a pre-biotic nature. Your gut health is important and and a variety of fibre is essential for the promotion of a healthy gut. Gluten should only be avoided if it is harmful to the health of your gut. It is good to maintain dietary diversity. Having a variety of high fibre starches, rather than wheat based products (bread, cereals, wraps, pasta, cous cous) at every meal, is best.