Gluten flour and similar products sold under the name of "diabetic foods," are frequently rich in starch, the very substance we are trying to get rid of in diabetic feeding. Some gluten flours sold in the markets of the United States, advertised as "pure gluten," contain as much as forty percent, starch, and not more than thirty-five percent, protein. They are really poor ordinary bread flours.

Quoting from an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, March 22, 1913, will show how the medical profession feel towards these preparations:

"Gluten flours are, as a rule, prescribed only for diabetics to whom the starch content is of the utmost importance. A physician tells his patient to use a gluten flour not because that product is rich in protein but because it is (supposedly) poor in carbohydrates. The great majority of so-called gluten flours and gluten foods sold in this country contain dangerously high percentages of carbohydrates, and the manufacturers do their best to keep both physician and patient in ignorance of this fact. In the case of gluten flours of legal standard, the protein content is emphasized and made the main selling point. The subject of starch content is studiously avoided, and it becomes necessary to write letters to the manufacturers specifically asking for the carbohydrate content of their products, which may then be grudgingly, and not always truthfully, given."

Again, Doctor Janeway writes: "From my experience, I say without hesitation, that 'gluten bread' is the diabetic's worst enemy. Taught by the dealer, or worse yet, by the physician, not only that it is safe for him to eat, but sometimes even that it is actually a cure for the disease, he eats it in large quantities * * *."

Henry Heide, New York, makes an almond paste, 12.7 percent, protein, 47.7 percent. nitrogen free extract and fibre, 20.0 fat, ether extract, and only a trace of starch. It can be purchased in one and five pound tins at any first-class grocery. Recipes for the use of almond paste will be found in Part Second of this book.