Gluten (noun): a tenacious elastic protein substance especially of wheat flour that gives cohesiveness to dough.
It’s quite possible that more than half of people who buy gluten-free things don’t even know the definition of gluten. People with celiac disease, however, know exactly what gluten is. Celiac disease a chronic digestive disorder with an immune reaction that ends up damaging the small intestine, which causes both great gastrointestinal distress and nutritional deficiencies. If untreated, these responses can then lead to intestinal cancers as well as complications such as infertility and osteoporosis.
There’s also something called “gluten sensitivity”, which is a nonceliac condition. In other words, you might experience symptoms such as cramps, diarrhea, or bloating from eating gluten, but you won’t damage your intestines. Research has found that this condition is much more common than celiac disease, affecting as many 20 million Americans.
In the food market today, gluten-free products have caught the attention of the public. Many people believe that having a gluten-free diet can lead to weight loss, but, says Mark DeMeo, M.D., director of gastroenterology and nutrition at the Adult Celiac Disease Program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, "there's nothing magical about a gluten-free diet that's going to help you lose weight." Shelley Case, R.D., author of Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, states that having a gluten-free diet simply limits the number of foods that you are able to eat, tossing overeating out the window, which leads to weight loss.
Now keep in mind the main job of gluten: to hold the dough together. If something is gluten-free, then what exactly do they use to hold that dough together? The answer: more fat and more sugar. Before opting for those gluten-free pretzels, compare the nutritional facts because you might find that the regular pretzels have fewer calories with less grams of fat.
"Gluten-free doesn't necessarily equal healthy, especially when people yank vitamin-enriched and wholegrain foods from their diets and replace them with gluten free brownies," says Case. In fact, research shows that missing out on gluten can also lead to missing out on important nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, and fiber.
There is, however, a way to incorporate those gluten-free products that you have already purchased into a healthy diet. "If you skip the gluten-free goodies and focus on fruits, vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and gluten-free grains like amaranth and quinoa, this can be a very healthy way of eating," says Marlisa Brown, R.D., author of Gluten-Free, Hassle Free. When you want to indulge, look at the nutrition label and focus on the calories, grams of fat, and carbs.
Moral of the story: if you aren’t sensitive to gluten, you might as well try a diet that focuses on real foods and eliminates ultra-processed foods than go completely gluten-free to lose weight.
