What is Gluten?
Gluten is a type of protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and other grains. It acts as a sort of glue, helping to hold food together, and can be found in many unexpected places such as soy sauce and toothpaste.
Is Gluten Free Healthier?
This is where the discussion and heated debate starts.
Many people would say that a gluten-free diet is not necessarily healthier than a diet with gluten in it. They would also say that for people who are intolerant to gluten, it is important to follow a strict gluten-free diet, because even a tiny amount of gluten can make them very sick.
The severity of gluten intolerance can vary from causing mild gas and bloating to full-blown Celiac Disease. However, there are other factors to consider, such as the source of our wheat. In the USA, the wheat is genetically modified and tainted with glyphosate, AKA the weed killer RoundUp. This is where the issue lies. Many people without a gluten sensitivity or intolerance will experience health benefits from removing gluten from their diet because many of the food items consumed with gluten are processed, genetically modified, and laced with chemicals like insecticides, which can lead to difficulty with digestion and inflammation. I'll talk more about this hot topic later…
Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that is caused by genetics. People with celiac disease have to avoid eating gluten for their entire life. If they eat gluten, their immune system will attack their small intestine. This will damage the microvilli over time, which are small fingerlike projections that help absorb nutrients. By avoiding gluten, it will allow their digestive tract to heal and resolve any symptoms.
Celiac disease can cause many health problems if not treated, such as nutrient deficiencies, chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, infertility, and intestinal cancers. It is estimated to affect 1% of people in the United States.
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
NCGS is a relatively new medical condition that affects around 6% of the population. It is used to describe individuals who cannot tolerate gluten and experience symptoms similar to those with celiac disease, yet lack the specific immune response and intestinal damage seen in celiac disease or a wheat allergy.
People with gluten sensitivity may experience non-gastrointestinal symptoms, such as skin rashes, headaches, joint and muscle pain, chronic tiredness, and limb numbness. These symptoms are similar to those experienced by people with celiac disease.
The symptoms of gluten intolerance vary from person to person. For example, some people report feeling extremely tired after eating gluten, while others experience bloating and diarrhea a few days afterward. When symptoms appear shortly after consumption, within a few minutes to hours, a wheat allergy is typically the cause.
Wheat Allergy
A wheat allergy is often confused with celiac disease. A wheat allergy is not the same as celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. With a wheat allergy, the body's immune system has an reaction to wheat. This can cause hives or skin rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, or a stuffy nose. In severe cases, a wheat allergy can lead to anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening. It is often hard to tell the difference between a wheat allergy and celiac disease.
A gluten-free diet may be necessary for some people, but it is not necessarily healthier for everyone. People with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity need to avoid gluten in order to stay healthy, but people with a wheat allergy can still eat foods that contain gluten proteins as long as they avoid wheat.
Increasing Prevalence of Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity
Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are much more common in the United States than they were three decades ago, and are now thought to affect 18 million people. More and more people are choosing to follow a gluten-free diet, and the amount of money spent on gluten-free foods has increased from $5.5 billion to $15.5 billion in just five years.
There is more than just genetics that plays into the rapid rise of gluten-related disorders. A greater level of awareness and people's perspectives could help explain the increased rates. With celebrities touting the benefits of a gluten-free diet and professional athletes raving about its ability to improve performance, more and more people are willing to try it, even those without a diagnosed gluten sensitivity. Experts are beginning to believe that there's more to the diet than meets the eye.
Gluten is being blamed for a lot of different health problems, even though many of us don't have any scientific reason for avoiding it. Some people also think that not eating gluten can help with weight loss, but science suggests that the relationship between gluten and health is more complicated than that.
1) Gluten is found in lots of foods — but gluten-free options are growing
You'll also want to shy away from barley, rye, and oats, and any foods processed from these grains, such as malt, triticale, and wheat germ oil. Gluten is made up of two different proteins, glutenin and gliadin, which are found in foods that come from wheat and other grains like barley and rye. If you want to avoid gluten, you need to stay away from any food that contains wheat or any wheat-based ingredients, including white and whole wheat flour, kamut, spelt, semolina, wheat bran, and wheat germ. You should also stay away from barley, rye, and oats, as well as any foods made from these grains, such as malt, triticale, and wheat germ oil.
No wheat means no bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc. You would also have to avoid soy sauce, cubes of bouillon, food starch, fried foods, and oats if they were processed in the same facility as wheat. The demand for gluten-free products has resulted in more options, such as gluten-free pancake mix, granola bars, “gluten-free” almond meal, and lollipops. This is now growing even faster than vegetarian options. According to the Economist, sales of alternatives to meat have decreased in America since 2008, but “consumer demand for products without gluten, however, is rising rapidly.”
2) A tiny fraction of people have celiac disease or wheat allergies and truly can't eat glut
Bread is seen as a dietary enemy by many, despite the fact that it's a minority of people who are actually allergic.
There are several disorders that are caused by gluten that people have to deal with. Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune condition that causes people's immune systems to attack their small intestine whenever they eat gluten. According to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, many people suffer from this disease undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.
Wheat allergies are estimated to affect 0.1 percent of people in Westernized countries. Gluten-free products can be used by those with this allergy, but a wheat-free diet may be more permissive than a strict gluten-free diet. Gluten-free eating patterns may also improve symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and psoriasis.
3) For the rest of us, the science behind “gluten sensitivity” or “gluten intolerance” is foggy
Many people are cutting gluten out of their diets to try and improve symptoms like bloating, obesity, brain fog, Alzheimer's, and autism. However, there is not much evidence that this will actually help.
4) “The vast majority of people who think they react to gluten don’t”
For now, non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a little-understood condition in need of further scientific study in order to validate it and create objective diagnostic criteria. Some people may have stomach problems brought on by gluten or something else that lurks in grains, but even then, the available research suggests it’s only a small portion of the population (between 0.63 percent and 6 percent) that has any sensitivity to these foods. (Remember: 33 percent of Americans say they want to avoid gluten.) “The state of science right now, as far as we know, is that the vast majority of people who think they react to gluten don’t,” Alan Jay Levinovitz, author of the new book The Gluten Lie, told me in an interview.
5) There's no evidence that going gluten-free will help you lose weight
People try a gluten-free diet for many reasons, one of which is the belief that it will help them lose weight. However, science suggests that gluten-free diets may actually cause people to gain weight. In his book Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?, author Tim Caulfield discusses the science behind the gluten-free craze and concludes that there is no evidence to suggest that eliminating gluten and wheat from your diet is a wise choice. A 2006 study that tracked 371 gluten-free dieters found that 82% gained weight after two years.The weight gain may be, at least in part, due to people who think that substituting gluten-free pastas and breads for regular ones are healthier. However, these gluten-free alternatives are not always healthier. As an article Linda Geddes in New Scientist noted: “A team in Spain recently looked at the daily diets of 58 people with celiac disease and found that, on the whole, they contained more fat and less fiber than those of people who do eat gluten.”
6) A gluten-free diet carries health risks
There is very little evidence to suggest that gluten is bad for you. However, there is some evidence that suggests that gluten might be beneficial for people. It is possible that eliminating gluten from one's diet might carry some health risks. For example, people who follow a gluten-free diet may have low levels of certain vitamins and nutrients, including iron, calcium, fiber, and folate.
7) Researchers who study gluten allergies say people should avoid going gluten-free unless it's absolutely necessary
The researchers advise people to think twice before going gluten free unless they have celiac disease or a diagnosed allergy. Dr. Volta wrote in an email that this diet can “favor nutrient deficiency” and throw off the gut's microflora.
8) Gluten-free appears to be the latest in a long line of food fads
People see this and want to get back to a time when food was simple and honest.” Gluten-free options have become increasingly popular in recent years, appearing on menus, in coffee shops, and in grocery stores. This is largely due to the popularity of the low-carb movement and the belief that gluten is part of “modern engineered agriculture” that has taken us away from a more natural way of eating. The gluten-free fad has been good for people with real adverse reactions to gluten as it has created more food options for them. However, some celiac sufferers feel that the fad has made it harder for them to be taken seriously when they request special precautions to be taken when dining out.
