If you ever want to lose weight and get healthy, you’re in good hands. The internet offers SOO many solutions to all your questions with all these diets. Paleo! Atkins! Low-carb!
Huh…low-carb…
The words lingered in my head wondering what type of concoctions would be brought into this world with the label low-carb?
You mean like burgers with no buns? (That’s not a burger btw)
Or tacos without a taco shell? (That’s not a taco btw)
I surfed to Pinterest to feed my curiosity. Lots of pins were labeled not only low-carb, but gluten-free. Soon I came across more and more blogs promoting a gluten-free diet. And it made me wonder…
Related: Why Pinterest Overwhelms Me
What the Heck’s a Gluten?
After a few more surfs on the web, I learned gluten is a protein found in most grains, such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Even in things that don’t contain any of these grains, you can find gluten products in many, many, many American foods.
Gluten has been touted as a weight-gain monster, and many celebs/ fad dieters praise the gluten-free diet for making their waists smaller.
But most importantly, people with Celiac disease should avoid gluten at all costs. Once gluten enters the body, it prevents nutrients from being absorbed in the digestion process. That lining on the small intestine? Yeah, it rips when someone with CD eats something like bread. Bread and the other things you swallow—bacteria, hair, feces (yes, poo)–will then enter your blood stream. And this actually brings us to our first point:
Why Gluten is Bad for You
In CD patients, it can give them the scenario above, aka a “leaky gut.” But before you scroll down thinking this doesn’t apply to you, realize that leaky gut syndrome can happen to those without CD. It’s a possibility to be gluten-sensitive.
And according to PaleoLeap, leaky gut can lead to even more problems: allergies, diarrhea, indigestion, malnutrition, Type 1 diabetes (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22633932), fibromyalgia, and of course death.
Oh, and this study supports that eating gluten increases your chances of obesity.
And to top it all off, ALL of these symptoms can still occur even if you don’t have CD.
So, in short, really bad things happen when you eat gluten…
Why I’m Still Going to Eat Gluten
I don’t have celiac disease. I’m not gluten-sensitive. I’ve been living for a while. I think I can conclude that I’m not gluten sensitive.
NIH tells us not to stop eating gluten-free products.
“The consumption of GF products is unlikely to confer health benefits unless there is clear evidence of gluten intolerance.”
And this was after executing an entire study comparing the health benefits of gluten-free and gluten products, concluding that gluten-free products LACK.
Gluten-free foods lack nutrients. In an entirely DIFFERENT NIH study, we are told that many vitamins and minerals native to wheat and other grains are lost in gluten-free products. In addition, gluten-free foods contained more saturated fats than their counterparts.
Gluten-free products are more expensive. And I find this really unfortunate for those with CD. You’re buying nutrient-lacking foods at a higher cost. Makes no sense.
And then, NIH hits us ONE MORE TIME with:” GF foods do not provide additional health benefits from a nutritional perspective.”
And on TOP of that
-I like pasta
-I like fufu
-I don’t make that much money
-I love carbs
(Just spent like 30 minutes looking for this shirt I had on Instagram that was like:
I eat dairy –free
I eat gluten-free
I eat paleo
I eat.
Man, I wish there was a history button on IG that had the ability to track down every picture you’ve stared at for more than 5 seconds!!! Oh well.)
I think those are more than enough reasons to not jump on the gluten-free bandwagon when I don’t have any type of disorder.I don’t want to go the extra mile to buy even more healthy food, especially if eating it won’t dramatically increase my chances of living like it would for those with CD.
Are you gluten-sensitive or suffer from celiac disease? How do you cope?
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Haha! I loved the beginning of this post. I can totally relate. I started making “green tacos” from a recipe off Pinterest (essentially seasoned quinoa in a lettuce shell with taco toppings) and eating it made me sad when I realized it wasn’t a taco at all, but a glorified salad.
I agree 100% with this. I used to work at a bread store that also made gluten free bread, and people were suckered in by it constantly. I’d have people come in and say “I need the gluten free! Oh, by the way… what’s gluten?” So irritating.
Ew green tacos sound disgusting! And oh, wow, I woulda banged my head on the cash register dealing with people like your customers.
AMEN. I eat gluten because I do NOT have celiac disease. I think it is silly to avoid it if you don’t have a seriously problem.
Definitely. People are missing out on the yummy carb-y deliciousness of life!
This was not only funny but true. I have known people to jump on this gluten free fad and not look into why it is not good if you do not of CD or another intolerance. I hate that a lot of foods are becoming gluten free just because of this fad.
Right! And it’s sad that these companies are probably making more money from people who don’t even have CD.
Nope I’m not gluten-sensitive but feel bad for the people that are. I don’t understand why people want to be on a gluten free diet when they don’t need to just to loose weight.
Yeah they’re getting ripped off buying these gluten-free nutrient-lacking foods. No one should have to put themselves through that if they don’t need to.
Great article! Gluten free diet like many others is a gimmick for many people who are not sensitive to gluten. People are told that gluten is bad, just like people are told that carbs are bad. Neither one of those statements are true in their entirety. Those who are sensitive to gluten should remove it fro their diet, just like someone who is sensitive to dairy removes dairy… I think people like to jump on diets without doing much research in hopes that something will help them lose weight.
Yeah,and it’s unfortunate because all their answers regarding their weight loss questions are at the tip of their fingers–literally!
A friend of mine has celiac disease, and ironically works in a bake shop, so she’s around gluten on an every day basis. I asked her how does she even do that, and she said it was easy because it’s either that bagel or being deathly ill.
I’ve thought about doing a gluten-free diet temporarily to see if I’m gluten-sensitive (I don’t get super ill eating gluten, but my stomach’s all kinds of effed, so worth a try). But my thing is…I love bread way too much to give it up.
Well..that’s a more efficient attempt at portion control! That’s strong will power right there so kudos to her.
Perhaps you might be a tad sensitive since it’s more often to be sensitive than to be intolerant fully. Ever tried gluten-free bread? I can only imagine the tastes it will bring to your buds lol.