So what is the buzz with gluten-free? Are too many people looking at gluten-free as the next fad diet? While there is an increasing number of people with celiac disease are too many people going gluten free for the wrong reasons? A friend of mine forwarded this article to me and asked for my perspective.
I am not a medical doctor, so I can’t tell you what is right for your body, but I can share what I have learned in my studies along with facts from other practitioners around the topic.
In today’s world, we are comsuming WAY TOO MUCH processed food. Many of which come in the form of flour, sugar and salt. Any excess amount of these products is harmful to the body and inhibits its natural flow. For people with Celiac or a gluten intolerance, gluten is the culpret underlying inflammatory damage to the intestinal tract. However, some people are questioning if removing gluten is really helping an individuals health.
Many people are using gluten free diets as a weight loss tool, due to the benefits of managing blood sugar levels. In most cases, if you are reducing or removing gluten from your diet, you are also most likey introducing more REAL foods into your diet. It’s a combination of removing excess carbs, balancing blood sugars, managing appetite and also the adding in of REAL foods into your body that gives your body the nourishment it needs.
Many people who choose to eat gluten free are making much better healthier choices. They are staying away from cookies, crackers, pastas, pastries and processed foods and replacing with more nourishing foods. It’s like switiching from regular soda to water, instead of regular soda to diet soda. It is a much healthier choice. Individuals are re-training their body to learn how to eat REAL foods and reduce or eliminate less healthier choices.
Dr. William David says, “The amazing thing about wheat elimination is that removing this food that triggers appetite and addictive behavior forges a brand new relationship with food. You eat food because you need it to supply your physiological needs, not because you have some odd food ingredient pushing your appetite and the impulse to eat more.” Wheat has been known as an appetite stimulant and has been found to make you want to eat more and yield drug-like neurological effects. So if you eliminate the wheat you are also reducing your chances of appetite triggers and addictive behaviors.
While going “gluten free” has proven health benefits for many, it is important to note that there is a DIFFERENCE in eating a gluten free lifestyle and eating “Gluten-Free” foods. The book Wheat Belly shares that many gluten-free products are made by replacing wheat flour with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch. While these foods don’t trigger an immune or neurological response of wheat gluten they still trigger the glucose insulin response that causes an individual to gain weight. These “Gluten Free” starch products increase blood sugar levels MORE than wheat products.
Dr. William David, says “Don’t replace wheat calories with rapidly absorsbed carbs that trigger insulin and visceral fast deposition”. If you really want to improve your health it’s more than eating foods labeled “gluten-free”. A gluten free lifestyle is the elimination of foods containing gluten and replacing with nourishing whole foods that make a big difference, not just swtiching out products labeled “Gluten-Free”.
If you want to learn more about the health impacts of gluten, check out a previous blog which is a “cliff note” version of the book Wheat Belly.