Gluten free fad

abbullar

What do you guys think about this gluten free diet going around? Some people believe a gluten free diet is healthier and promotes weight loss. Should I try it?

TribeHokie

If you have a medical reason to eat gluten free then obviously you should. If you just need that kind of structure then you could try it, but there are better plans out there that offer structure if you don't know where to start. Something to consider is the fact that the majority of gluten free substitutes are not necessarily made to be healthier. They can have just as many calories/fats/sugars/additives or more than their gluten-full originals. Gluten free food isn't made for weight loss, it is made for people with allergies or intolerance. So feel free to try it if you are curious but it is not necessary if you have no physiological reason to do it.

MoreBean13

It's super helpful for people with celiac's disease or other legitimate gluten intolerance and super expensive for everyone else.

snazzyjazzy21

Coming from a celiac its the dumbest thing ever. Gluten free food isn't any lower in calories than normal food, it's usually higher. And it tastes rubbish. And it's like 4x the price. And just don't. Enjoy gluten, it's beautiful.

abbullar

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

belle_of_the_bar

Coming from a celiac its the dumbest thing ever. Gluten free food isn't any lower in calories than normal food, it's usually higher. And it tastes rubbish. And it's like 4x the price. And just don't. Enjoy gluten, it's beautiful.

QFT

Also, you won't necessarily lose weight going gluten free. There are plenty of high fat, high sugar foods that are gluten free.
Signed,
Celiac with an ice cream addiction

conniemaxwell5

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

Wouldn't that essentially just be low carb?

To get results of any kind, you will have to change the way you think about and consume food. Whatever way you choose needs to be a permanent change; one you can live with the rest of your life or you will go back to old ways and lose whatever progress you've made. My advice is to choose something that you know you can do, like reducing portion sizes, eating more fruits and vegetables, monitoring (logging) your calorie intake and getting more exercise. These are all sustainable practices that allow you to eat sensibly but still include some or all of your favorite foods in moderation.

SrJoben

I don't know how much of the population has a medical reason to do it. I think that's still being worked out.

But yeh there is a fad element. I can't remember the source, but I saw a while ago a statement to the effect that there are two or three times more people currently attempting to avoid gluten as the highest estimates of the rate of gluten 'sensitivity' would suggest actually need to.

That means a lot of people are making their own life more complicated and being mildly annoying for no good reason. :laugh:

mullycathNZ

There are IMHO lots of healthy aspects to a gluten free diet; eg: eating plenty of fresh food, nothing processed and cutting down on carbs. However, there is no proof that, for those who don't need to, cutting out gluten has any health/weight loss benefits at all. I managed to stay fat and gluten free for a long time after being diagnosed with coeliac disease before I started making healthy food choices. Like others have said, a lot of gluten free foods (cereals, breads, snacks etc.) are often higher in sugar and fat content.

snazzyjazzy21

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

If you're serious about cutting out gluten, you'd have to cut out bread, pasta, chips, biscuits, crackers, most sweets, soy sauce, most muesli bars, cereals, beer, gravy, sauces, some soups, etc. Generally, weight loss in a gluten free diet comes when people replace a muffin with an apple. It's not removing the gluten but the food choices that cause them to lose weight.

TribeHokie

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

Wouldn't that essentially just be low carb?

To get results of any kind, you will have to change the way you think about and consume food. Whatever way you choose needs to be a permanent change; one you can live with the rest of your life or you will go back to old ways and lose whatever progress you've made. My advice is to choose something that you know you can do, like reducing portion sizes, eating more fruits and vegetables, monitoring (logging) your calorie intake and getting more exercise. These are all sustainable practices that allow you to eat sensibly but still include some or all of your favorite foods in moderation.

Agreed. Going by what I have seen from my cousins (who have gone GF in the past year), it seems like just cutting major gluten sources out is basically just going low carb. As arewethereyet pointed out, going completely GF is a lot more complicated. And I would absolutely recommend doing something you think you can sustain forever. If you won't miss sandwiches or pasta or pizza, go for it. I could definitely never do that though!

MrGonzo05

I remember when everyone was lactose intolerant.

essicagoddess

About 6 months ago I was on heavy pain meds, looking at a knee replacement in the next 6 months. I've had joint and arthritis pain for the last 10 years, and getting worse the last 3 years. So on a whim, I gave up wheat flour and 95% of refined sugar. That was the only change I made. And let me preface this with I am skeptical New Yorker and never buy into much of this stuff. I have never had a problem digesting gluten and who doesnt love a good piece of pizza. Anyway, 2 weeks into this change my joints stopped aching, I am off all pain meds and that knee that was gonna have to do a replacement on....doesn't bother me at all. I am now walking 5 miles a day @ a 4 mile an hour pace.....nuff said

SyntonicGarden

Coming from a celiac its the dumbest thing ever. Gluten free food isn't any lower in calories than normal food, it's usually higher. And it tastes rubbish. And it's like 4x the price. And just don't. Enjoy gluten, it's beautiful.

Yes, yes, oh my gosh yes a lot of it's rubbish, and yes, as the bats fly out of my empty wallet.

I can't tell you how much I've missed out on. I would've LOVED a breaded chicken sandwich on a bun, from Wendy's today at lunch but opted for a salad with grilled chicken instead. No. I wouldn't wish this wheat-free garbage on anyone.

If you don't have a sensitivity/allergy, I see no point. Most of the other stuff still has sugar and fat in it to make it tolerable and yeah, it's pricier. I think I paid $6 for 6 of the most pathetic looking carrot muffins. They were a third of the size of "normal" muffins.

~*~*~*~*~
GF bread is pricey and sometimes tastes like a mouth full of sawdust. A loaf of decent bread costs me $5.99 for what would be half of a "normal" loaf of bread for less than half the price. Sometimes I just want a sandwich though, so I have to shell out for the "meh" bread that I can eat. There are some decent products, but again, you're paying $1.25 PER HOT DOG BUN as opposed to 99 cents for 8.

If you want to cut out the white flour, cut the white flour for the sake of cutting back on carbs. Start reading labels too. it'll help open your eyes.

SyntonicGarden

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

If you're serious about cutting out gluten, you'd have to cut out bread, pasta, chips, biscuits, crackers, most sweets, soy sauce, most muesli bars, cereals, beer, gravy, sauces, some soups, etc. Generally, weight loss in a gluten free diet comes when people replace a muffin with an apple. It's not removing the gluten but the food choices that cause them to lose weight.

And Twizzlers, in America. Don't forget those bloody tempting pieces of licorice.

TribeHokie

That means a lot of people are making their own life more complicated and being mildly annoying for no good reason. :laugh:

haaaa I feel like this is all three of the people I know who are currently eating GF. To be fair, two of them are my cousins who sound a lot like arewethereyet. They are sisters and have always gotten migraines. They both tried cutting out gluten around the same time and after a couple months would feel miserable any time they ate so much as a chicken nugget. Literally. But both have gotten tested for gluten allergy and intolerance and celiac and pretty much any other medical reason to avoid gluten with every test turning up negative. That's not to say that they don't actually HAVE a medical reason to avoid it, but they are *quite* uppity about it. The third person I know who is doing it, well I have no idea why but she didn't have any sort of problems or test beforehand that indicated she should.

Ooh also, I remembered when snazzyjazzy mentioned how weight loss with GF people often comes with replacing a muffin with an apple: the younger of my GF cousins lost a good deal of weight when she started, but now that she has found food replacements (corn tortillas for flour, liquor for beer) she's started steadily gaining it back. Hence the sustainable lifestyle recommendation.

HeartbeccaCA

I went gluten free for medical reasons and promptly gained 10 pounds. That was 2 years ago and I have pretty much figured out how to live gluten free without much sacrifice. I will always miss some things though, but I get so sick, it will never be worth getting that sick. Anyway, there are benefits to being gluten free for regular folks, but I will tell you....it's tough to get really gluten free at first because gluten is hidden everywhere! If you decide to try it to feel better (because its almost a moot effort to lose weight) then drop me a note. I will give you a few web sites and places to learn about gluten free living.

Subzeromambo

I follow the FODMAP diet which includes gluten-free. Before the diet I was living on pain meds. Now I rarely ever need any pain meds. I make my whole family eat the same foods because I hate cooking more than one meal for so many people. My family loves the new foods! Going gluten-free takes a little extra work and creativity but it wasn't too difficult. I try to buy products that are naturally gluten-free rather than substitute gluten-free products. I agree with all of the other posters who advised reading labels and finding a sustainable life-time diet that works for you.

rachso

my dghtr has Celiac so is Gluten free and let me just say....it SOUNDS healthier (and in a way it is as she is forced not to even eat gravy's and certain chips as the gravy and seasonings contain gluten) however, the stuff they add to her foods are actually higher in calories. So in the end she eats more calories. I see how its healthier cause ur not eating processed, but thats it.

minijuggernaut

Yeah I can see how foods that normally have gluten and are made to not have it are probably not any better. But what if I cut out foods that normally have gluten? Bread, pasta, chips, etc.?

If you're looking to cut out food groups to be more fit, look into Paleo.

Going GF without a health purpose is unwise, it's not any healthier.

khannickwechanged

Whoa. I just had an epiphany.

I cut out gluten a while back to see if it would "make me feel better". I thought it did, but since cutting it out my binging has skyrocketed. And a lot of the times it was on gluten-containing foods. Just this past weekend I got tired of missing my whole wheat bread for sandwiches and my favorite cereal, so I decided to start incorporating it again. I'm on day three of being binge-free (might not sound like much, but for me it's a pretty huge deal), and I don't think it's a coincidence.