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GLUTEN-FREE DIETS are all the rage.
But is eating gluten, the protein found in wheat that gives our bread dough that stretchy feeling, really making us any less healthy?
For a little less than the 1% of the population who have celiac disease, an underdiagnosed autoimmune disorder where eating gluten damages the small intestine, ditching gluten is necessary.
Another 0.63% to 6% of people may be sensitive to gluten without having celiac, meaning that when they eat gluten, they get many of the symptoms that people with celiac disease do. (This condition, called non-celiac gluten sensitivity, is a bit controversial, however, with several studies suggesting it’s either overblown or doesn’t exist.)
If you’re considering going gluten-free and not changing any other dietary habits because it seems like the best way to lose a few pounds, here’s why that really isn’t the best idea:
1. It’s in lots of the foods you eat
To be truly gluten-free requires a lot more than taking the buns off your burger.
Gluten is found in lots of things, from salad dressings and creamy soups (where it’s used as a thickening agent) to soy sauce. And, of course, beer has gluten because it’s made with wheat or barley.
2. Foods with gluten are also often rich in other nutrients
If you quit gluten without changing any other aspects of your diet, you may be at risk of not getting enough of two key ingredients: fiber and vitamin B.
The eight B vitamins assist our bodies in siphoning energy from our food we eat. They also help us make red blood cells, which deliver oxygen. One in particular, called folic acid, is important for pregnant women because it helps prevent birth defects. While vitamin B is plentiful in lots of other types of food, from fish, meat, eggs, and dairy products to leafy greens, peas, and beans, it’s also found in a lot of cereals and bread products. If your diet is already lacking in these areas and you go gluten-free, you could be at risk of a deficiency.
Fiber, another ingredient that’s prevalent in bread and grains, is important for helping us control blood sugar levels, keep us feeling full after a meal, and regulating our bowel movements.
3. The gluten-free craze could be making it harder for people who truly can’t eat it
Compared with people who have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, people who shun gluten for “health reasons” get to be a little more relaxed about what counts as going gluten free. For example, they don’t have to worry about cross-contamination (when gluten-full products touch gluten-free foods), and the occasional “cheat day” is permissible.
But many who actually can’t eat gluten say the craze has created an unwanted stigma around their very real health problem. ”Waiters, thinking I am just another ankle-boot wearing Gwyneth wannabe, no longer take me seriously,” writes Elissa Strauss, who has celiac disease, in Jezebel. “It is actually harder for me to eat out now than it was a few years ago because a little dusting of flour on a piece of flounder equals a few days in bed for me.”
4. Gluten likely isn’t the culprit of your tummy troubles
When you cut out gluten, you cut out a lot of junk food, which research suggests could be the real reason some people suddenly feel better when they go gluten-free.
Instead of cutting gluten, try just cutting junk food instead.
5. Going gluten-free before you consult your doctor can make things trickier
The only way to test for celiac is when you have gluten in your system. So, if you think you might have a sensitivity or even celiac, it’s best to go to the doctor before changing your eating habits. That way, they can run the tests and let you know for sure exactly what’s making you feel funky.
The moral of the story? We’ve been eating gluten for at least 10,000 years. For the vast majority of us, cutting it out now — unless medically necessary — isn’t our best bet for a healthy lifestyle.
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Meaningless debate between a bunch of No Hopers clogging up the field.
The Real Discussion is happening right now over on Twitter.
@Tommy Haze: You mean it’s not a bunch of lunatics shouting at each other like it is here?
@Tommy Haze: trump is home and hosed
Wrongly claim ‘climate change is a hoax’ according to the author! Only her opinion!!!
@Eugene Kelly: Well, her and ~97% of the global scientific community.
@Eugene Kelly: One’s entitlement to an opinion should be predicated on it being well-supported by evidence, logic and argument. In the author’s case, it is.
@Eugene Kelly: Here is the deal. Ramaswamy fully understands the reality of climate change. He chose words carefully, not calling climate change a hoax ,but calling the “climate agenda” a hoax.
Vaswamy is extremely smart, and his objective is to become president, so you should not expect anything he says to reflect his actual opinion. He is modelling himself on his perception of what the republican base wants, and giving soundbites that are provocation enough to stay in headlines, with just semantic ambiguity to be able to spin it back to a general voter if he becomes the nominee.
Look on the bright side. They are all at least 40 years younger than biden.biden needs an old folks home at this stage
@reg morrisey: “at this stage” – you weirdos have been saying that for years while he’s been demonstrating himself to be a lot sharper, smoother, and infinitely more competent, than you. :)
@Joe Philips: Thankfully Biden has been there to support Ukraine.
russia might well be at the borders of Poland and Romania by now, with another people condemned to russian oppression. Probably Moldova too.
And he has gone a long way to recover the US economy, and straighten out the corruption of the Trump “administration”.
Although I would have preferred another to Biden, he has done better that I expected. But his administration has been far too soft on US Republican corruption, in my opinion.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Biden (and I agree with you that he wouldn’t be my choice either – and definitely is too old for 2024) has managed to surprise people with the amount of legislation his administration have been able to negotiate passage through Congress. Meanwhile Trump was ranked 43rd worst president by the Siena College Research Institute. This means Trump has ‘broken through’ the Civil War era bottom 3 of Pierce, Johnson and Buchanan for the first time (previously C-Span ranked him 42nd). Bide was given a ranking of 19th by the Siena College Research Institute.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: I fully agree with you there. And I don’t think there’s anyone else that would’ve done as well as he has.
I should’ve said “but” rather than “and” there, and probably shouldn’t have said “fully”
@Numinous20111: Who would be your choice?
@Joe Philips: I think Biden was a good pragmatic choice in 2020, but he should always have been a one term president. I understand it is tricky having a serving president and a new candidate at the same time (who speaks for the party’s policy platform and general attitude?, does the president catch criticism for anything the candidate does or says & vice versa?)…….probably Warren, but there isn’t a Democratic candidate who is in a really strong position either. Buttigieg would appear to be the front-runner after Biden’s era.
@Numinous20111: Buttigieg or Jeffries, I reckon. I disagree about the one-term thing, though, and I think his shortcomings/mishaps are grossly, purposely, and often ridiculously exaggerated.
That lot make all of ours look good.
@Steve O’Hara Smith.: no they don’t.
@Lorne Malvo: They do Lorne, bot Democrats and Republicans make ours look “better”, I wouldn’t say “good”. But that’s like saying “oh yeah, I rather get the flu than breaking my leg”.
@J Ven: Nonsense.
In my opinion any man that thinks its OK to interfere in a womans reproduction, is a frightened little boy
@Robert Halvey: Its a complicated and nuanced topic.
Excellent report and analysis.
Viewership for the RNC debate on Fox was 23.9m. That was very good. Apparently it was a record for an RNC debate.
On ‘X’ Trump’s chat with Tucker had 74m views.
However, I’d imagine a lot of those could be foreign viewers.
I’d have a question for the author of this piece.
Apparently the 1st question put to the debaters was in relation to the song ‘Richmen north of Richmond’.
Why was that deemed not worthy of inclusion in this piece?
@Monetpenny: If you scroll on ‘X’ and go past that video and the video plays for tenth of a second it counts as a view… Imagine the push for this “interview” on ‘X’ feeds and how many people scrolled past it in their feed… Makey up numbers to suit an agenda.
OMB gonna break X tonight
@Oh Mammy: Its Trump v Biden and God help America.
Nikki haley probably spoke the best out of a bad bunch. Although the line about chatgpt was fairly funny. Bit of an excercise in pointlessnesss all the same as it looks like the cowardly auld lad afraid to speak is a shoe in for the nomination.
Its like I line up of pedophiles trying to prove who is the lesser pedo.
@: We speak proper English in Ireland. All this talk of ‘pedo…’ highlights the red white and blue in you. Personally, I’ve always found it weird and creepy when people throw those words around. It smacks of projection.
@Lorne Malvo: ‘I’ll air my opinion on that if and when that issue is raised anywhere.’ It was raised.. and so that discussion begins. it’s not rocket science. You initiated the discussion. Stop hiding behind ‘but it isn’t in the article’ malarkey.
You’re advocating a barter system involving childcare.. but you don’t want to talk about the children who are central to this barter system. it’s a tangent apparently.. Christ.
You don’t see any problems with childminding being included in a barter system? Like none.. zip.. nada..?
Also, I’ve addressed the student side of this twice now and you’ve conveniently ignored that one.
have your say