Going Gluten Free?

I live a Paleo/Primal Blueprint lifestyle which is grain/soy/legume free. It is more expensive, but the health benefits are amazing. I have more strength, energy, and power than I ever had on a conventional diet. You eat tons of healthy fats (avocados, coconut, EVOO, etc), lots of meat, moderate veggies, and occasional fruit. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but I am saying it's the most delicious way to live.
Pay the farmer (spend a little more on healthy food) or pay the doctor (cuz of poor/cheaper food choices), you choose.

I wouldn't go gluten free for the hell of it. I eat more or less gluten free because my wife has celiac disease and gets sick if she eats anything with wheat in it. If you watch everything you eat, not eating things that contain wheat tends to help with weight loss simply due to avoiding a lot of foods with refined carbs/high calories. However, it is a major pain in the *kitten*. Very few restaurants (though it is increasing every year) offer gluten-free options, gluten-free foods like bread and pizza and whatever cost a lot more than the 'normal' alternatives, etc.

Saw your other post asking about a fast way to dump 90 pounds. There's no quick way. Setup your diary to get you going at a couple pounds a week loss, find exercises that you like to do (and do them a lot) and just dig in for the better part of the next year. You can do it. Don't buy in to anything that sounds like it's going to make it easier or faster. Just eat less and exercise.

Good luck.

I went gf in January of this year . it can be way more expensive if you are buying GF products like the GF pastas, breads and mixes.. not really expensive if you just eat naturally GF foods.. ie. meats , veggies, fruit nuts. etc.
as far as losing weight after going gf I packed on 25 lbs.. many of those GF products are not only expensive but very high in fat and calories and filled with processed gunk that is not good for you. it was not until I went grain and dairy free also that I began to loose.

I wanted to add that I have celiac's disease and have to be gluten, grain and dairy free for my health.. and as everyone states it is not an easy thing to do.. especially at first BUT I am doing the paleo plan which is close to the way I have to eat.. I feel 100% better eating this way. it is delicious food that is high in fat and protein , low carbs all natural real food not processed garbage.. many people have lost huge amounts of weight going paleo but not overnight.. it takes time no matter what plan you go on.. the is no instant fix for weight loss.

It is only more expensive if you try and replace all of the carbohydrates you currently eat for GF ones. i.e. the bread I like is $8.99 for a loaf. The reason many folks gain weight is that the GF products are made mainly from rice or corn and thus higher in calories. That same loaf of bread I'm talking about is about 190 calories for one TINY slice. If you do it you and want to keep losing weight I suggest picking those things you just can't live without and working them into a balanced diet.

Going GF is VERY HARD, and you have to read labels and know what ingredients are truly gluten. For example many things you wouldn't think have wheat in them do. All Campbell's soups are off the market for me as they use wheat as a thickener. A lot of things have Maltodextrin in them and that is made of either wheat or corn (if it doesn't say I don't buy it). Beyond food you have to thing about your medicine, vitamins, anythiing you put in or on your body. If you need to do this because of an intolerance or CD, it is doable. But if you're doing it for other reasons, I'd say try cutting out other easier stuff first, cut down on the gluten containing products and then make your decision. My Dr. wanted me to go GF 3 years ago just to get healthy and I told him he was nuts. I told him I'd cut down a lot and I did. This move made it SOOO much easier when I was diagnosed with CD to go GF. It's hard, but I want to live a long life and not get cancer or other autoimmune diseases other than the ones I already have.

After all that, if you still want more info, mail me and I'll be happy to send you a bunch of info.

@chorgi, Going gluten free is tough. Reading labels and having to suspect everything in restaurants is not fun. But there is a growing supply of tasty gluten free foods that replace almost all the food you can eat.

Here is a good article on foods containing gluten. It covers a lot of foods you would never expect to find gluten, like licorice. You will find that fillers in many low end foods contain gluten. Here it is: Foods Containing Gluten: http://glutenallergysymptomsx.com/foods-containing-gluten/

I am going to be doing a review on gluten free foods. It is going to be a big job, but the info will be good.