Gluten-free diets are one of the largest dietary cracks in the United States. In the supermarket, you will see a lot of gluten-free products on the shelves. As you look through the tabloids while standing at the contractor, you will see a celebrity on a gluten-free diet. You ask, “Will free gluten help me lose weight and get in shape?”
No Weight Loss Diet
The answer for 99% of Americans is NO.
Gluten-free is not a weight loss diet. It is an elimination diet specifically designed for the 1% of Americans who have the autoimmune disorder, celiac disease. It also helps people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
What is Gluten?
Most people don’t even know what gluten still believes is that it’s as harmful to their waistline as Twinkies. Gluten is a protein found in many grains such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, and wheat. Examples of gluten-free foods include pasta, loaves of bread, and cereals. Gluten has a similar effect that holds foods together and helps maintain their shape. Gluten is not bad for you unless you have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, where gluten acts irritatingly so a gluten-free diet would provide relief to the body.
Celiac Disease vs. Gluten Sensitivity
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the body is so extremely sensitive to gluten that the immune system reacts violently and damages the intestine in the process.
When a person with celiac disease eats even a little gluten, the immune system attacks the small intestine. This causes chronic inflammation in the digestive tract and damages tissues that aid digestion. The damage disrupts the digestive process and prevents important vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from being properly digested and absorbed into the body.
The most common symptoms of celiac disease are vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and legs, after eating gluten. People with celiac disease need to know that it is a lasting condition and they need to strictly adhere to a 100% gluten-free diet to effectively manage their condition. The diet should be monitored by a doctor to avoid complications.
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity, more commonly referred to as gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance, does not cause an immune response to gluten or damage the intestinal lining. However, people with gluten intolerance have similar symptoms to those with celiac disease, including bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Symptoms can set in within hours or even days after consuming gluten. Some additional symptoms of this intolerance include non-intestinal symptoms such as headaches, difficulty, clear thinking, joint pain, and numbness in the legs, arms, or fingers. Headaches and fatigue are most common.
Celiac disease is commonly defined
Celiac disease is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed diseases by doctors along with lupus, Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, and multiple sclerosis. It usually takes about 4 years for someone with celiac disease to be properly diagnosed.
Early diagnosis is important because it helps prevent complications and other disorders. Their intestines become highly permeable and toxins, bacteria, and undigested food protect through the gastrointestinal barrier into their bloodstream. This can trigger complications and the onset of other autoimmune diseases.
Symptoms of celiac disease mimic those of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and cystic fibrosis. The presence of celiac disease can be diagnosed by blood tests, small bowel specimen biopsies, and genetic testing. If you are getting a blood test to control celiac disease, do not eliminate gluten from your diet beforehand, as this could give a false result.
In 90% of cases, blood tests can detect high levels of some antibodies present in those with celiac disease. 10% of people with celiac disease have the antibodies present but test negative for them.
Since people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity do not have the antibodies tested in blood tests, there are no current tests or markers to diagnose gluten intolerance AARP. The best way to diagnose intolerance as it is now is by elimination. If testing for wheat allergy and celiac disease are both negative, your doctor may recommend a gluten-free diet to see if symptoms improve. If they do, then you probably have gluten intolerance. Make sure your doctor oversees all gluten elimination diets and all other treatments for celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
Don’t Benefit From Avoiding Gluten If You Don’t Have To
If you do not have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, there is no benefit to avoiding gluten. The gluten-free diet promotes healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, rice, and corn. Since gluten is found in many common edible foods and processed foods, the mere act of stopping these unhealthy calories will help you lose weight. However, there are gluten-free versions of almost every food on the market, from gluten-free cookies and cakes to gluten-free pizza and pasta. Extracting the gluten doesn’t make it healthier for you, as these gluten-free alternatives are just like chocolate full of empty calories, like their gluten-containing counterparts.
If you think you have a gluten problem, you should see your doctor get rid of other serious illnesses and find the root of the problem. Your doctor will let you know if a gluten-free diet is mandatory for you and will guide you through the process.
Bottom Line
If it is not necessary for you to avoid gluten, do not waste your time, money, or energy on free gluten-free. You don’t get health benefits by avoiding gluten. Gluten-free will not help you lose weight or get in shape. If you are looking to get healthier and lose weight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a healthy weight loss diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and hard fat dairy products, and lean meats such as poultry, fish, beans, eggs. and nuts. Be sure to keep saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, and salt and add sugars to a net minimum or avoid them altogether if possible. Most importantly, staying within your daily calories needs to control your weight. A nutritious diet, sleep, hydration, positive thinking, and physical activity are all nurtured and nurtured.
