how do I track gluten free

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ladyswan26
ladyswan26 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
how do I track gluten on Fitness Pal I don't see it on the nutrition list. My doctor said I should go gluten free and it will help with my inflammation issues as well as weight loss

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  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    ladyswan26 wrote: »
    how do I track gluten on Fitness Pal I don't see it on the nutrition list. My doctor said I should go gluten free and it will help with my inflammation issues as well as weight loss
    Typical and without much yes.

  • maggymouse
    maggymouse Posts: 15 Member
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    I eat a GF diet for health reasons and I have found most of the GF foods I eat are on the food lists: just enter the brand and the food type (eg DS bread) and it should come up. If you can't find what you need then you can enter it manually. But beware: GF is becoming a bit of a fad and many people take it up as a lifestyle choice because they believe that it's healthier (it isn't, unless you have coeliac disease or gluten intolerance) or it'll help them to lose weight - it won't. In fact many GF foods are higher in calories and fats than their 'normal' counterparts. So cut down on white bread by all means, but don't go GF unless you have to. Be thankful that you can eat 'normal' food. I wish I could!
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Gluten is not a macro or micronutrient and is not listed on the nutrition facts panel. If you need to make sure something is 100% gluten free, you would need to check the ingredients list to make sure there is no wheat or wheat products in it (I forget all the ingredients GF people need to look out for, but there's at least 4-5 separate ingredients).
  • bkerr30
    bkerr30 Posts: 131 Member
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    maggymouse wrote: »
    I eat a GF diet for health reasons and I have found most of the GF foods I eat are on the food lists: just enter the brand and the food type (eg DS bread) and it should come up. If you can't find what you need then you can enter it manually. But beware: GF is becoming a bit of a fad and many people take it up as a lifestyle choice because they believe that it's healthier (it isn't, unless you have coeliac disease or gluten intolerance) or it'll help them to lose weight - it won't. In fact many GF foods are higher in calories and fats than their 'normal' counterparts. So cut down on white bread by all means, but don't go GF unless you have to. Be thankful that you can eat 'normal' food. I wish I could!

    This
  • bkerr30
    bkerr30 Posts: 131 Member
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    Most of my post didn't load so I will try again lol
    I am gluten intolerant and also have early stages of arthritis. I found going gluten free also helped with my joint pain. But: please explore all options before drastically cutting gluten from your diet. As another poster said it won't help with weight loss and is incredibly expensive especially if you are consuming pre packaged foods. If you don't already cook and bake I strongly suggest you start lol

    Things to look for on ingredient lists: flour, wheat, barley, rye and all derrivitives. Gluten is not a micro or macronutrient so you won't find it in the nutritional breakdown on labels. Before you go forward, I suggest reading A LOT about gluten.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
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    If you're allergic to gluten, you shouldn't eat it, period. This is not a question of moderation. So not only is not a track able macro, there is no point in tracking it. You can either eat gluten, or you can't. Someone who is allergic to gluten is wasting time reducing it.

    Beware that gluten free is a diet fad. Most people don't need to go gluten free. Have you had a blood test indicating celiac disease or other allergy?
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
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    maggymouse wrote: »
    I eat a GF diet for health reasons and I have found most of the GF foods I eat are on the food lists: just enter the brand and the food type (eg DS bread) and it should come up. If you can't find what you need then you can enter it manually. But beware: GF is becoming a bit of a fad and many people take it up as a lifestyle choice because they believe that it's healthier (it isn't, unless you have coeliac disease or gluten intolerance) or it'll help them to lose weight - it won't. In fact many GF foods are higher in calories and fats than their 'normal' counterparts. So cut down on white bread by all means, but don't go GF unless you have to. Be thankful that you can eat 'normal' food. I wish I could!

    This. And not only are most GF foods higher in fat and calories than their "normal" counterparts, they are also usually much higher in sugar and much lower in nutrients like folate and iron.

    GF bread, pasta, etc., are also much more expensive.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    What? You don't eat gluten is how. Pick foods without it.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/celiacdisease.html

    http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/digestive-diseases/celiac-disease/Pages/ez.aspx
    Has a chart listing lots of foods which are "safe" as well as lots which have gluten.

    http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/celiac-disease.html

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/truth-about-gluten

    http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/tc/gluten-free-diet-for-celiac-disease-topic-overview

    http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/gluten-free-recipes-directory

    As for how you log it, just enter the name of the food & how much you ate, like any other food.
    If it's not in the databank (rare), enter it.
  • SteampunkSongbird
    SteampunkSongbird Posts: 826 Member
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    You can't specifically track gluten, and even if you could, that would mean you were planning to include it in your diet; as others have said, if you need to go GF for a medical reason, like me (coeliac) then you have to exclude it completely from your diet. As for actually logging GF foods, you log them the same as any other food, by searching for the brand and product in the database and logging the amount you eat.
  • ladyswan26
    ladyswan26 Posts: 2 Member
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    I appreciate all the feedback sounds like I need to do some research. I have not had any blood test done. Just have heard that a low carb flash gluten free diet helps with inflammation issues
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    ladyswan26 wrote: »
    I appreciate all the feedback sounds like I need to do some research. I have not had any blood test done. Just have heard that a low carb flash gluten free diet helps with inflammation issues

    What inflammation issues are you having?
  • Original_Beauty
    Original_Beauty Posts: 180 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    ladyswan26 wrote: »
    I appreciate all the feedback sounds like I need to do some research. I have not had any blood test done. Just have heard that a low carb flash gluten free diet helps with inflammation issues


    What inflammation issues are you having?

    I wondered the same... some inflammation issues can be greatly helped by going GF.

    I'm GF from coeliacs

  • vkrivak
    vkrivak Posts: 2 Member
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    My doctor had me cut all wheat out of my diet completely for weight loss and it has worked better than I would have imagined. Ive lost over 40 pounds already and I feel better. I don't buy many of the gluten free products though. I don't like the price of it nor do I like how high most of the foods are in calories. I don't remember the last time I ate bread, lol.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    ladyswan26 wrote: »
    I appreciate all the feedback sounds like I need to do some research. I have not had any blood test done. Just have heard that a low carb flash gluten free diet helps with inflammation issues

    I'd suggest listening to your doctor over non-medical professionals on these forums, but research isn't a bad thing.

    As for tracking, gluten isn't an option in this app. It would be impossible to track anyway, since it's not required on package labelling. You'll need to read labels and ingredients list to avoid gluten.
  • KHaverstick
    KHaverstick Posts: 308 Member
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    I have been gluten free for four years. Prior to that, I was having such bad inflammation and joint pain (especially in my hips), that I couldn't function without ibuprofen. Eliminating gluten solved that. Within a few weeks, I was pain free. There's a huge learning curve in the beginning, but it gets easier over time. I don't have to invest huge amounts of energy into figuring out what I can & can't eat anymore--it's just second nature. I tend to stick to foods that are naturally gluten-free for the most part, rather than relying on gluten-free substitute products. However, I am thankful that there are so many options out there now for things like pizza, pasta & cookies, for those times when you just really want them. Personally, I don't spend more on food now because I'm eating gluten free. I also did not magically start losing weight when going gluten free. I still have to count calories and work at it, like everyone else. But do I feel better? Yes. One hundred percent, yes. Definitely do some research.

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