Are gluten and dairy unhealthy?
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My primary care doctor, who also practices functional medicine, recommends that everyone reduce or eliminate gluten. She says there is much more gluten in the type of wheat grown in America than the type grown in Europe.
She says that whether you are sensitive to gluten or not, it is unhealthy because it coats the lining of your intestine and blocks nutrients from being absorbed. She focused especially on the importance of antioxidants, and how gluten can negate the benefits of superfoods in your diet.
When I stopped eating breads, crackers etc, I noticed my stomach shrank within days. I was not aware I was bloated, but the difference was remarkable. I rarely have gassy episodes now, where they used to be a daily annoyance.
I think your idea of a healthy diet of protein, complex carbs, fruit and veggies is good. Add some healthy fats to that and you're doing well. If you want to go the extra mile and make sure you're getting the best nutrition, maybe reducing gluten is a good idea.
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As others have said gluten or dairy are only to be avoided if you have a specific intolerance. (Early post by other contributor has useful links).
More importantly products free of something contain other products to compensate so can be higher in calories. So actually can be unhelpful to weight lose.
My approach to eating healthily is to have less processed food. I don't avoid anything but have lots of fresh fruit and veg and cook most meals from scratch.
(It can also save you £s /$s. )
My healthy diet does include alcohol , shop bread , butter - all in moderation.
Good Luck to you and your dad. You're starting off well by asking questions.1 -
I would add that eliminating these foods won't cause weight loss. I am very gluten sensitive (not Celiac, but gluten gives me the squats), and eliminated gluten from my diet 5 years ago. I weigh more now. It's all CICO.
Also, I ate gluten on purpose last week while in Italy to test for myself the "European wheat is more tolerable" theory. Complete fail. Thank goodness we were hiking and not on a long train ride!2 -
If you don't have a specific insensitivity to gluten or dairy there is no advantage whatsoever to cutting them arbitrarily out of your diet. Another point to consider is that many gluten-free products are higher in calories than their gluten-containing counterparts. This is because additional ingredients are added in order to mimic the stretchy texture of gluten, and these tend to be calorie-dense. So if you're trying to control your calorie intake (which I assume you are, given you are using a calorie-counting app), buying gluten-free products may make it harder to stick to your calorie goals. Only buy them if you know you need them - they're more expensive anyway!1
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CynthiasChoice wrote: »My primary care doctor, who also practices functional medicine, recommends that everyone reduce or eliminate gluten. She says there is much more gluten in the type of wheat grown in America than the type grown in Europe.
She says that whether you are sensitive to gluten or not, it is unhealthy because it coats the lining of your intestine and blocks nutrients from being absorbed. She focused especially on the importance of antioxidants, and how gluten can negate the benefits of superfoods in your diet.
If you have sources for any of this, I'd be interested, but I'm afraid it sounds like total woo. It would be nice to think actual doctors never peddle woo, but sadly we don't live in that world.
As a keen bread maker, I can absolutely debunk the idea that there's a blanket difference in gluten levels between USA and Europe. It's completely false.
Gluten level in flour (called flour "strength") cannot fly under the radar, it is very obvious in use, and dictates whether flour can be used for yeast bread (strong flour) or is only suitable for pastry, cakes or quick breads (weak flour).
Flour on both sides of the Atlantic comes in the full range of strengths (interesting factoid, the wide spectrum of flour strength between Northern and Southern USA is the historic reason why yeast bread was popular in the North, while the South favoured biscuits and quick breads).
The idea that flour in Europe (a continent that subsists massively on yeast bread) could somehow be secretly low in gluten and that not be noticed, not be any kind of problem, is daft.
You can't make pizza without strong flour. Or baguettes.
Your doctor is spouting nonsense.10 -
They're only unhealthy if you have an allergy....CynthiasChoice wrote: »My primary care doctor, who also practices functional medicine, recommends that everyone reduce or eliminate gluten. She says there is much more gluten in the type of wheat grown in America than the type grown in Europe.
She says that whether you are sensitive to gluten or not, it is unhealthy because it coats the lining of your intestine and blocks nutrients from being absorbed. She focused especially on the importance of antioxidants, and how gluten can negate the benefits of superfoods in your diet.
When I stopped eating breads, crackers etc, I noticed my stomach shrank within days. I was not aware I was bloated, but the difference was remarkable. I rarely have gassy episodes now, where they used to be a daily annoyance.
I think your idea of a healthy diet of protein, complex carbs, fruit and veggies is good. Add some healthy fats to that and you're doing well. If you want to go the extra mile and make sure you're getting the best nutrition, maybe reducing gluten is a good idea.
Your doctor is nonsense...3 -
And on the flip side, just because something is gluten free does not make it healthy. There are plenty of gluten free cookies and cakes. Most candy is gluten free. My husband has a gluten intolerance and when ever we go to Baskin Robins, he enjoys the Reese Sundae which clocks in at over 1,000 calories. He also enjoy's 32 ounce root beer floats, which I am sure are also well over 1,000 calories.1
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Here's the straight skinny from a reliable source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/gluten/
You may indeed be gluten-sensitive if removing gluten from your diet reduced a symptom. Your doctor, however, has bought into some strange, and not well documented, woo.
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When I was around 12, my doctor put it nicely that I needed to start watching what I eat because quite frankly I was overweight (170 pounds). The biggest thing she suggested was to cut out the "full fat" dairy, if not all together. Long story sort, I did. And guess what? The weight fell off. (Now 125 pounds)
As far as gluten goes, unless you have an allergy, eating it isn't 100% percent unhealthy. That being said, avoiding gluten would help cut out a lot of carbs, which if you're trying to lose weight, can help you to do so.0 -
CynthiasChoice wrote: »My primary care doctor, who also practices functional medicine, recommends that everyone reduce or eliminate gluten. She says there is much more gluten in the type of wheat grown in America than the type grown in Europe.
She says that whether you are sensitive to gluten or not, it is unhealthy because it coats the lining of your intestine and blocks nutrients from being absorbed. She focused especially on the importance of antioxidants, and how gluten can negate the benefits of superfoods in your diet.
When I stopped eating breads, crackers etc, I noticed my stomach shrank within days. I was not aware I was bloated, but the difference was remarkable. I rarely have gassy episodes now, where they used to be a daily annoyance.
I think your idea of a healthy diet of protein, complex carbs, fruit and veggies is good. Add some healthy fats to that and you're doing well. If you want to go the extra mile and make sure you're getting the best nutrition, maybe reducing gluten is a good idea.
How would your doctor explain the fact that I don't restrict gluten at all and all my blood markers show super low inflammation? I have no bloating or gassy episodes. Gluten Doesn't coat your stomach lining and block nutrient absorption either. That is all woo.
If my Doctor told me this kind of woo and myth, I'd find a new doctor.1 -
I was interested in this a few years ago and did some research on it and talked to my doctor about it. He said it can cause problems if a person doesn't have a sensitivity.
"If you’re determined to go gluten free, it’s important to know that it can set you up for some nutritional deficiencies. Fortified breads and cereals have become a major source of B vitamins in the United States. Although breads made with white rice, tapioca, and other gluten-free flours are becoming more common, they are generally not fortified with vitamins. This can be a problem for anyone, but it’s especially worrisome for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. They need vitamin B9, more commonly known as folate or folic acid, to prevent birth defects."
"Whole wheat is also a major source of dietary fiber, which the bowels need to work properly."
It’s time consuming, expensive, and restrictive. “It’s a gigantic burden for those who have to follow it,” says Dr. Leffler.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/going-gluten-free-just-because-heres-what-you-need-to-know-2013022059161 -
imanibelle wrote: »I do want to go to school to be a dietitian. When I read or hear stuff, though, I don't know what to believe. It would make things a bit harder if gluten was forbidden. My dad still eats it, but says he's going to change the way he eats in the near future, but that it will be a big transition. We're both overweight.
Choose your sources carefully - there is indeed a lot of contradictory and wrong information out there.1 -
LadyMcCracken wrote: »When I was around 12, my doctor put it nicely that I needed to start watching what I eat because quite frankly I was overweight (170 pounds). The biggest thing she suggested was to cut out the "full fat" dairy, if not all together. Long story sort, I did. And guess what? The weight fell off. (Now 125 pounds)
As far as gluten goes, unless you have an allergy, eating it isn't 100% percent unhealthy. That being said, avoiding gluten would help cut out a lot of carbs, which if you're trying to lose weight, can help you to do so.
When you cut full fat dairy, you cut calories...there's nothing magical about cutting the milk...it just cut calories. Same for restricting carbs...in and of itself cutting carbs is meaningless for weight loss unless it results in less calories. Plenty of people consume dairy and carbs and lose weight.4 -
I'm pretty sure I get about 25% of my daily calories from cheese (probably not, but I do eat cheese with pretty much every meal) and I've been slowly losing weight all year. What matters, absent an allergy, is calorie deficit, and maintaining deficit is about finding foods you like to eat and eating reasonable portions of them.1
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Your doctor has gone down the rabbit hole of pseudoscience and quackery, I would change doctors immediately.CynthiasChoice wrote: »My primary care doctor, who also practices functional medicine, recommends that everyone reduce or eliminate gluten. She says there is much more gluten in the type of wheat grown in America than the type grown in Europe.
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-the-ultimate-misnomer-in-the-world-of-integrative-medicine/
Your doctor is flat out wrong, seriously, change doctors.She says that whether you are sensitive to gluten or not, it is unhealthy because it coats the lining of your intestine and blocks nutrients from being absorbed. She focused especially on the importance of antioxidants, and how gluten can negate the benefits of superfoods in your diet
As for antioxidants, they are overrated:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/more-trouble-for-antioxidants/
The term "superfoods" is a marketing term.5
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