Going gluten-free has become a major diet change in North America. Men and women alike are removing bread, pasta, and cake from their diets. But they don’t ask themselves is this enough?
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Gluten is the protein found in grains that holds the product together. It can be found in items you would never imagine like soy sauce, beer, and food additives. It is commonly looked past on ingredient labels because it isn’t always listed as gluten. Gluten is found in malt, semolina, and wheat germ to name a few.
Those that have celiac disease, which is 1 in 133 Americans according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, know these nitty-gritty details and can usually attain a well balanced diet without the addition of gluten. However the rest of us that have jumped on this misinformed gluten-free bandwagon are at the risk of being undernourished. The grains found in gluten products contain essential vitamins like calcium, iron and fiber; without these your body cannot function to it’s maximum potential.
A common misconception without the proper research or medical consultation is to start eating products that are labeled “gluten-free”. However these products that can be found in almost every supermarket are actually loaded with extra sugars and fats to bind the ingredients together. While most people go gluten-free to attain a healthier lifestyle and lose weight, this misconception of eating gluten-free foods can actually cause you to gain weight. Dr. Oz, host of the acclaimed The Dr. Oz Show, did a segment on the top dieting mistakes. The first mistake was eating store bought gluten-free foods as seen in the following video clip (0:00-1:45).
In order to prevent this weight gain, anyone thinking of making a lifestyle choice as big as going gluten free should consult a medical professional or a nutritionist to ensure that they are making up for the lack of vitamins and minerals that are present in foods with gluten. It is not the idea of going gluten-free that can backfire but the way it is implemented.
By Jastej Sidhu
