For some people going gluten free isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity. For those with gluten allergies or Celiac disease, avoiding gluten is key to avoiding disabling and sometimes life threatening illness.
However, there are some that avoid gluten as a weight loss plan. A gluten free diet can result in weight loss, if done properly, but is it something that you should consider? Read on to find out how gluten free diets work.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that is found in many kinds of grain. It’s present in wheat, barley and rye. It may seem easy to avoid eating these, but it’s important to realise just how many foods contain grain products.
Breads, cookies, crackers, even ice cream and bouillon cubes all contain gluten. Avoiding gluten completely is incredibly difficult, as anyone with Celiac disease will tell you, and there is even the possibility of cross contamination, much akin to the problem that those with peanut allergies have.
You may see foods marked with warnings that they are made in manufacturing plants that also produce gluten containing products. And some doctors even recommend avoiding oats, which do not in themselves contain gluten, but may be grown in fields that have previously grown wheat and could therefore be contaminated.
Can a Gluten Free Diet Help Me Lose Weight?
Yes, and no, depending on how it’s done. Replacing your regular foods with gluten free varieties of the same foods will probably not cause you to lose much weight at all. Eating gluten free waffles, for example, is really no different or healthier than eating regular waffles.
In fact, it may be worse, as many gluten free foods lack the vitamins and fibre of their gluten containing counterparts. However, carefully choosing your gluten free diet can result in weight loss. A lot of this is slightly accidental, however, as going gluten free by necessity forces you to make healthier food choices.
If you’re not eating gluten you can’t eat pizza, ice cream, bread or pasta, all things that are relatively high calorie foods, so simply by avoiding these you will lose weight. Does that mean that you should drop gluten from your diet?
Is a Gluten Free Diet Healthy?
That’s a tough question to answer. Theoretically, yes, gluten free is healthy. Basically because it means that you have to eat more natural foods, as most processed foods contain gluten in some shape or form.
However, one of the disadvantages of so many people going gluten free either through choice or necessity is that many manufacturers are now making gluten free forms of their products. As in the waffle example above, these no gluten choices aren’t necessarily healthy ones. However, if you stick to natural gluten free foods, fruits, vegetables and the like, yes, being gluten free is healthy.
But, and there’s always a but, people who go gluten free often lack vitamins and fibre. If you decide not to eat gluten you must be careful to give your body the nutrients that it needs, maybe by taking supplements.
Should I Go Gluten Free?
It’s a personal choice. By all means try it if you think you can handle it. However, it is not the right choice for the majority of people. There are two reasons for this.
Firstly, cutting anything out of your diet completely is usually a bad idea. Your body needs certain nutrients, and by cutting an entire food group from your diet you may suffer as a result. Whole grain breads are banned on a gluten free diet, for example, and yet they are an excellent source of fibre and B vitamins.
Secondly, going gluten free is hard. Gluten hides in many every day foods that you may not be aware of. The psychological impact of this can’t be underestimated. The more difficult a diet is to follow, the more difficult it is to stick to. And when you fall off the wagon you will find yourself piling the pounds back on.
A far better choice than going gluten free is to decide to eat a healthy, balanced diet. This will ensure both that you lose weight and that you’re getting good nutrition. Being healthy is all about balance, and going gluten free isn’t a balance, it’s a sacrifice.