Is Gluten really the devil??

Make no mistake, Gluten-Free doesn't mean healthier. Gluten doesn't make you gain weight. It doesn't increase your risk for heart disease, nor does it clog your arteries or raise your blood pressure either. However, SOME people should not eat gluten.

There are two reasons that you shouldn't be eating gluten: 

#1: You have celiac disease (only 1% of people have this, ask your doctor to test you if you suspect it.)

#2: You don't have celiac disease, but your body reacts negatively to consuming gluten. You'll experience stomach pains, cramping, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, or constipation. This is called gluten sensitivity, according to new research. Again, ask your doctor or start keeping a food diary to determine if gluten makes you feel like crap. A lot of people experience this, but it doesn't necessarily mean YOU do.

By eliminating gluten from your diet if you DON'T fall into either of these groups, you're doing your body a disservice. Here's how:

-Whole grains are good for us. (Unless of course you have a gluten allergy or sensitivity.) They're part of a clean, whole-foods balanced diet and can aid in healthy weight maintenance and reduced risk of many chronic diseases. Don't get confused, though: whole grains are described as "100% whole grain/wheat" in the ingredients list-- NOT enriched, bleached or refined ANYTHING, and not "wheat flour." It must be 100% whole to be considered a whole grain.

-The processed snacks (pretzels, cookies, brownies, pasta, etc.) which marketers have gone to great lengths to remove the gluten from are not better for you, they're simply more processed. A gluten free cookie is not healthier than a regular cookie. Most gluten-free snacks have more sugar, or are made with corn, which is processed and doesn't contain the amount of nutrition that whole grain and whole wheat does. (Translation: not good for your waistline.) 

Keep in mind that gluten itself doesn't make you fat or unhealthy, so by replacing a wheat product with a sugary corn product, for example, your waist line is probably suffering. Don't get confused: this doesn't mean that naturally gluten-free foods (namely fruits and vegetables) are unhealthy, it means that processed snacks that have had the gluten removed are likely even worse for your waist line than their gluten-ridden counterparts. Eliminating everything processed from your diet is your best bet, NOT eliminating the gluten from your processed products. 

Are you guilty of hopping on this bandwagon a little too soon? A recent study shows that 30% of adults want to or are attempting to remove gluten from their diets. Marketers love this because they can remove the wheat, add some sugar or corn, jack up the price, and appeal to the people who want to be healthy but don't really know much about the trend. 

I hope you can use this new knowledge to avoid getting fooled in the grocery store, or to determine if you should be limiting or eliminating gluten from your diet. 

Bottom Line: Don't eliminate gluten unless you have been diagnosed with celiac disease or if gluten doesn't agree with your digestive system. Eliminating gluten for any other reason is not going to make you any thinner or any healthier. Instead, eliminate processed grains and instead eat whole grains and whole wheat.

Source: IDEA Fitness Journal