Gluten Free?
jonny2704
Posts: 3 Member
Any pros and cons of gluten free food? Trying to lose weight and maintain lean muscle?
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Replies
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Gluten free is great if you are intolerant to gluten. Gluten free food has absolutely no bearing on losing weight and maintaining lean muscle. Quite often, it is higher calorie and less palatable than the regular version.9
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Alatariel75 wrote: »Gluten free is great if you are intolerant to gluten. Gluten free food has absolutely no bearing on losing weight and maintaining lean muscle. Quite often, it is higher calorie and less palatable than the regular version.
^^This
Not to mention, more expensive! Go check out some of the prices on gluten free products..yikes!
If you're trying to maintain muscle, you're best to focus more on just getting enough protein, as well as cutting calories for weight loss (and lifting heavy things, of course.
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I honestly don't understand those who go gluten free without any medical need to do so. Gluten is in flipping everything, it's a total nightmare to avoid and as above, using GF products is hideously expensive. If you're not intolerant there's really no need to do it.8
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I am gluten and grain free. If you don't need to then I wouldn't advise it. If you do decide on elimination gluten/wheat, then replace them with whole foods and grains like rice, oats and quinoa. The gf substitute treats are disappointing and expensive (except for rice pasta)1
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Not just that but many gluten-free convenience foods are *loaded* with various processed starches and gums and emulsifiers.2
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VintageFeline wrote: »I honestly don't understand those who go gluten free without any medical need to do so. Gluten is in flipping everything, it's a total nightmare to avoid and as above, using GF products is hideously expensive. If you're not intolerant there's really no need to do it.
A friend of mine is on an elimination diet for IBS, and has to restrict gluten because of it. She says the same thing..she would never choose that lifestyle on purpose and doesn't understand people who do. She hates it.0 -
Gluten free is also great if you are trying to lose weight because it is one of the ways a ketogenic diet is followed. My doctor put me on a ketogenic diet to reduce inflammation and lose weight. I love it because I'm not hungry on it. You can look in to "keto paleo" to learn more. I recommended professional help for starting keto.0
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Also to be truly gluten free you have to eliminate sources of contamination like fries cooked in the same vat as onion rings and corn tortillas warmed in the same press as flour. Just eating foods with no gluten doesn't make you gluten free it's way more complicated than that.4
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Pros: if you have gluten intolerance or celiac you will feel physically better
cons: you miss out on many delicious foods, and more food label work than it's worth. In many cases it does not cause spontaneous calorie reduction, so weight loss is not guaranteed.Gluten free is also great if you are trying to lose weight because it is one of the ways a ketogenic diet is followed. My doctor put me on a ketogenic diet to reduce inflammation and lose weight. I love it because I'm not hungry on it. You can look in to "keto paleo" to learn more. I recommended professional help for starting keto.
Just a quick note. When I tried keto in the past I used some recipes that had vital wheat gluten. That's as far from gluten free as you could get. A ketogenic diet controls carbs, not gluten.
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The gluten free diet is not for weight loss but rather a necessity for health in some people. About 1% of all people have celiac, and possibly up to 25% have a gluten sensitivity. If you are not have symptoms (anemia, anxiety, fatigue, stomach upset, arthralgias, hair loss) you most likely don't need to be GF. If you suspect a gluten sensitivity of some sort, get tested for celiac before going GF because if you want to test in the future you will need to resume eating gluten for -12 weeks.
All that being said, I think cutting grains (out or down) from the diet is a often a good tool for weight loss, especially if your diet is healthy already. Grains are often a used as a filler, and those losing weight need less filling up. Cutiing back on, or eliminating, pasta, toast, muffins, croutons, and pancakes makes more sense to me than cutting back on meats and veggies. KWIM?1 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »Gluten free is great if you are intolerant to gluten. Gluten free food has absolutely no bearing on losing weight and maintaining lean muscle. Quite often, it is higher calorie and less palatable than the regular version.
^All of this. There's no benefit to eliminating gluten or whole grains (as another poster suggested) for weight loss.
Weight loss is all about calories.
I have celiac disease, so I need to avoid gluten. If I were told that I had hours left to live, I'd go out and have some pizza with gluten again, and a really good French baguette!
Lean muscle is best maintained during weight loss through adequate protein intake (.65 - .85g per pound of body weight) combined with some form of resistance training. Carbohydrates are also muscle sparing and fuel workouts. Essential fat intake is usually at least .45g per pound of body weight, but can be more depending on preference.6 -
I switched to GF pasta for a while then realized it was total pasta calories I need to cut, not pasta made from flour. I did briefly get the benefit of feeling virtuous for eating something that didn't taste as good as what I actually wanted to eat. I'm prepping for a move and fixing to get rid of some brown rice spaghetti and quinoa spirals on freecycle.3
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All the above. Eat it if you can!1
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Also to be truly gluten free you have to eliminate sources of contamination like fries cooked in the same vat as onion rings and corn tortillas warmed in the same press as flour. Just eating foods with no gluten doesn't make you gluten free it's way more complicated than that.
Yep, this too. I have a friend who is celiac and eating out is an absolute nightmare because she has to check if they understand about cross contamination as well as just using gluten free produce. It is not something to do as a lifestyle choice at all.2 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Also to be truly gluten free you have to eliminate sources of contamination like fries cooked in the same vat as onion rings and corn tortillas warmed in the same press as flour. Just eating foods with no gluten doesn't make you gluten free it's way more complicated than that.
Yep, this too. I have a friend who is celiac and eating out is an absolute nightmare because she has to check if they understand about cross contamination as well as just using gluten free produce. It is not something to do as a lifestyle choice at all.
Exactly! If you lose weight on a gluten free diet it's probably because you're eating out less and not finding palatable versions of your favorite gluten foods.1 -
The 30lb I gained back were all after my allergies were diagnosed and I had gone gluten free.2
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Have you been diagnosed with celiacs disease? If not then there is no gain to a gluten free diet.1
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Agreed with most here. Going gluten free won't cause weight loss. Gluten is a protein. The reason why celiacs lose weight when they're first diagnosed and stop eating gluten is due to the inflammation going away.Gluten free is also great if you are trying to lose weight because it is one of the ways a ketogenic diet is followed. My doctor put me on a ketogenic diet to reduce inflammation and lose weight. I love it because I'm not hungry on it. You can look in to "keto paleo" to learn more. I recommended professional help for starting keto.
No. Vital wheat gluten is used in many keto recipes. You do know the gluten is a protein and not a carb, right @kshatriyo?
Oh, I see @amusedmonkey has already mentioned this.2 -
if you want to lose weight and maintain mass then you need to eat in a small deficit = about 250 calorie deficit..get on a structured lifting program, and keep protein high = .7 to 1 grams per pound of body weight.
gluten has nothing to do with it, unless you have a gluten intolerance, allergy.1 -
Agree with all the above. Diagnosed Celiac in the last 18 months - nope wouldn't want to do it without reason. Now cut back on it, because the more I read, the more I think its not that great for anyone, great, but don't do it as a "lose weight" plan.
FYI... I've somehow gained 10 pounds since being gluten free and I Don't eat a lot of cakes/cookies/etc with all the other ingredients to be GF......1
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