Low carbs and gluten free items?

Hey

I am a vegetarian and have been trying to do more low carb recipes 'cause since lack of meat, the carbs sort of bulk up a plate. However, instead of eating bad carbs, I've been trying to eat good carbs; brown rice, quinoa, wholemeal bread and the like. Less sugary carbs.

My mum has coeliac disease which means she can't eat gluten for medical reasons. If it is a medical reason you're cutting it out, it will help with weight loss, you won't be so bloated, less wind, more energy, less aches and pains, be able to sleep better, less gastric problems and the list goes on. But if you're just doing it for general reasons, I'm not sure what the benefits of cutting it out would be. The health benefits my mum experienced were because she had been suffering with an allergy/intolerance for so long and once she cut it all out her health was being restored.

The gluten free products are okay but they aren't that great compared to normal processed foods. I actually do a lot of her cooking now, because she's elderly, I mainly cook her a lot of vegetable based recipes, lentil and the like foods. (She still sneaks some gluten occasionally because she's baddd! )

I don't need to eat GF products I was just curious if it was "better" to. The going low carb part is slightly different question on if going low carb is a good lifestyle. Sorry wasn't 100% sure how to word this question.

GF items are only better if you have a Gluten intolerance or Celiac. I am Celiac and yes they taste different. They generally have more carbs. That being said, I do not subscribe to the low-carb diet.Your body needs a certain amount.

Going gluten free won't do anything for you unless your body doesn't tolerate gluten, like people who are allergic to peanuts don't eat peanut butter.

If you have celiac or even a wheat intolerance, then going gluten free will be very beneficial to your health. That doesn't mean that you will necessarily be eating healthy things - as you will likely be eating bread made from rice, corn, or potato rather than wheat; and cookies made with flours other than wheat flour in addition to adding in things like xanthum gum or guar gum to them to make the texture better - but you won't be actually making yourself sick by eating something to which your body is allergic.

If you want to eat lower carb or less processed food, go for it. Just know that gluten free is not designed to be a diet choice to eat 'healthier', it is a diet choice for people with medical conditions where the gluten makes them sick.

If by gluten free items you mean "gluten free version of typical gluten items" like GF pasta, bread etc. then you're not really cutting the processed foods. Doing it to go back to ancestor diet is total nonsense. Processed foods don't mean gluten. It means, well, processed. And GF pasta, bread etc. is just as much processed. If you need/want less gluten only, without consideration for processing, it's great. It's allowing gluten intolerant people to have a "normal" processed western diet. If you do it to get back to basics, it's ridiculously counterproductive. It will cost more for exactly the same: not basic at all.

If by gluten free items you mean items that don't contain gluten, then, for low carb, you have meat and eggs, olives, nuts, ... All those barely contain any carb (usually less than 1g per serving), they're proteins and/or fats.
Other fruits and veggies for non-processed carbs.

I'm gluten intolerant (with other food intolerances/triggers of my medical immune condition), and I don't eat GF version of gluten items. I fear contamination, it's too pricey for what it is (if I have to take out my wallet, I'd rather have a steak than a gluten free lemon cake) and can't have rice as well, and rice flour is a big part of industrial gluten free items. So I just cut it all. My diet is basically a version of paleo/primal. And I'm not looking back, I feel great, have a lot more energy and less digestive problems.