Gluten has become the celebrity of food insensitivities lately. Everywhere you go, even in JFK airport, there’s a wide selection of gluten-free products. Marketers have wasted no time jumping on the band wagon to make sure products are slapped with “gluten-free" labels. With so much buzz, a lot of questions are arising about gluten as well. Should everyone be gluten-free? And what the heck is gluten?
To address the first question, gluten-free is not necessary for everyone. It’s good to try and make half of your carbs gluten-free because they are typically more natural foods, such as brown rice and sweet potatoes which are gluten-free vs. pasta and bread which are full of gluten. But to try and say everyone should be gluten-free is completely too radical, in my opinion. Unless you have celiac disease, gluten won’t kill you. Those with gluten sensitivities would benefit greatly from eliminating gluten in their diet. People may even be diagnosed with IBS and really just have a gluten (or another food) sensitivity. To address our second question, gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. This means any food containing any type of wheat, whole-wheat or white, barley or rye has gluten in it. There's a lot of controversy around oats because they are often processed with gluten-foods and contaminated, so it’s best to stick to gluten-free oats.
Often times it is assumed that gluten intolerance is a food allergy, but it is not. It is actually an autoimmune process and affects a surprisingly large amount of people. A person with gluten intolerance cannot digest the protein portion completely, which makes the body treat it as a foreign substance and attack it. Through a series of events, toxins are released from the immune system to “fight” the gluten and will cause inflammation in the digestive system and damage the lining tissue. Hence, symptoms may include unexplained digestive symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, constipation, gas, cramping or even fatigue. This is what is known as Celiac Disease. If people that fall into this category do not stop eating gluten it can literally destroy their digestive system and prevent the individual from absorbing nutrients properly. Symptoms will alleviate shortly after gluten is taken out of the diet.
This differs from gluten sensitivity, which can be akin to being lactose intolerant. There have been many reports and studies emerging, however, that gluten-free diets can help a myriad of diseases from thyroid disorders to neurological disorders. You will no doubt, being hearing a lot more about gluten sensitivities and their link to diseases. In the meantime, however, a person can still suffer from symptoms such as bloating, fatigue, diarrhea or headaches. The list of symptoms is quite long (about 250!) and differs greatly from person to person, so it’s tough to narrow it down based on symptoms alone.
The best way to see if you have an allergy is to get tested by an experienced professional through stool or blood testing. A holistic doctor or nutritionist will typically be more familiar with the disorder and thus be able to test you better for it. An alternative to testing is to try to go COMPLETELY (doesn’t count if you only eliminate 80% of it) gluten-free for a couple of months and see if some of your symptoms go away. So for example, if you were diagnosed with IBA, as mentioned earlier and suddenly your symptoms go away after being gluten-free for a month, then gluten is more than likely the culprit.
Gluten-free means avoiding all foods containing gluten, including wheat, rye, spelt, bulgar, semolina, couscous, kamut and oats not listed as gluten-free. However, keep in mind that gluten can be hidden in many processed foods such as sauces and soups so be careful. Bob’s Red Mill is a great brand with a variety of gluten-free alternatives, and one I use frequently, but there’s many emerging. As a fair warning, this will be very challenging at first! But eating gluten free, if you are sensitive, will make a significant difference in your health and overall mood. You will undoubtedly feel “lighter”, be more regular and have less gas and bloating.
Now that we have an idea of what being gluten-free is, an important topic needs to be touched on consuming gluten-free processed foods. Do not be tricked into thinking gluten-free cookies are healthier than regular cookies. It’s simply NOT true. A cookie is a cookie no matter how you slice it. In fact, it’s more challenging to find healthy gluten-free foods that are packaged because they are typically lacking in fiber and certain nutrients naturally found in wheat.
The best way to go gluten-free is to follow the advice given to non-gluten-free people. You should eat whole, natural foods at least 80% of the time and you can allow yourself to eat “not-so-healthy” 20% of the time. This includes your tortilla chips or cookies. If you go to the store and come home with bags of everything labeled gluten-free you will find yourself in a very easy position to gain a lot of weight very quickly and be nutrient-deficient.
So just to be clear, you are gluten-free because your body is sensitive to gluten-NOT to lose weight. You may naturally lose some weight when you go gluten-free because any inflammation will be quelled, thus they’ll be a reduction in bloating and water weight. But not if you counteract this with gluten-free junk food. This is espeically important to keep in mind when you are putting children on a gluten-free diet. You can absolutely bake goodies at home that are gluten-free, but be really careful about buying a ton of packaged gluten-free foods.
Below is a list of foods to focus on when going gluten-free:
- Potatoes, especially sweet potatoes
- Brown Rice
- Pasta alternatives, typically a combo of rice and quinoa flour
- Quinoa
- Vegetables for adequate fiber and vitamins
- Fruits
- Protein powders/GF protein bars
Flour Alternatives
- Amaranth flour
- Arrowroot starch
- Buckwheat
- Chick pea or garbanzo flour
- Coconut flour
- Corn (anything corn-based)
- Millet flour
- Nut meals and flours, (almond gives a really buttery texture to baked goods)
- Potato flour & starch
- Quinoa flour
- Rice flour
- Sorghum flour
- Soy flour
- Tapioca starch
- Teff flour
- Xantham gum (serves as a binder in absence of gluten)
Protein groups are naturally gluten-free so you don’t need to worry about them. Hummus and guacamole are great all-natural gluten-free foods that can help satisfy snack cravings. Be experimental, and have some fun with recipes.
As a side note, I have recently gone gluten-free to try and holistically treat a hypothyroid diagnosis. So I understand how challenging it can be-but the reward is worth it!
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