Going Gluten-free?

[Intenceman]

If your going gluten - free, be able to answer a couple basic questions before you do/
**1. Is gluten a fat, a starch or a protein compound?... *
*2. *Was a gluten free diet designed for weight loss, Autism or Celiac disease?.

[phraust]

If your going gluten - free, be able to answer a couple basic questions before you do/
**1. Is gluten a fat, a starch or a protein compound?... *
*2. *Was a gluten free diet designed for weight loss, Autism or Celiac disease?.

Protein compound. Is for celiac disease. I've never been on a gluten free diet but I know where you're going, it's a diet that's too hyped up and for honestly no reason. It's stupid.

My friends on a gluten free diet actually look like they've gained weight.

[BioPulse]

NO point in staying away from gluten if you don't have an allergy to it.
If you body can handle gluten, eat that ****..

[phoenixr2]

NO point in staying away from gluten if you don't have an allergy to it.
If you body can handle gluten, eat that ****..

Pretty much this.
Gluten is a protein. Seems almost everything processes has gluten in it. If it has Malt, wheat, barley, kamut, rye, some types of modified starches/corn starches, spelt, etc.
Nothing special about the "diet"and honestly the "diet"is really only for people who are either gluten intolerant or full out celiacs.

[sharpieblet]

like said before, don't avoid it unless you have some medical condition making it beneficial to avoid it. there's no fat loss benefits in avoiding gluten.

[phoenixr2]

like said before, don't avoid it unless you have some medical condition making it beneficial to avoid it. there's no fat loss benefits in avoiding gluten.

These days there are not. they make everything "gluten free" from cookies, to pizzas, to cakes, to burritos, to etc etc. When gluten and celiac were first coming to light and being diagnosed, being put on a legit gluten free diet was basically a forced veggie only diet. What happens when you severely restrict calories or food choices? No other option but to lose weight really.

[BioPulse]

These days there are not. they make everything "gluten free" from cookies, to pizzas, to cakes, to burritos, to etc etc. When gluten and celiac were first coming to light and being diagnosed, being put on a legit gluten free diet was basically a forced veggie only diet. What happens when you severely restrict calories or food choices? No other option but to lose weight really.

I make cookies at home ad ad gluten to them specifically to help as a binder, which is exactly what gluten is.
The idea that gluten should be avoided for health or fat loss reasons is just as bad as promoting that salmon is dangerous for you since .01% of the population is allergic to it.
Horse ****.

ANT

[phoenixr2]

I mike cookies at home ad ad gluten to them specifically to help as a binder, which is exactly what gluten is.
The idea that gluten should be avoided for health or fat loss reasons is just as bad as promoting that salmon is dangerous for you since .01% of the population is allergic to it.
Horse ****.

ANT

OK? Are you inferring that I said it would be healthy to avoid gluten or that people should avoid gluten for weight loss?
I am in agreement of the first line of your first post in this thread.

[Amumford001]

as others have stated do not avoid gluten. People are going crazy over this gluten free bit. Its far more expensive, most of it tastes like crap, makes eating out a pain in the ass. You also would be very, very surprised in what all has gluten in it. My wife has a severe allergy/celiacs disease to gluten and gatta say... i dont envy her. Its definitely not designed for weight loss... though if you do it correctly it could work. Good nutrition choices are still inevitable. Doesn't matter what style of eating, if you dont make the right choice it aint ganna happen. Thing about being tested for celiacs is to have it done proper one must eat gluten for 6 weeks. Problem with that is this can be very damaging to the body if the person actually has celiacs.

If you think you may have an allergy or celiacs, get tested BEFORE you switch to gluten free.

[BioPulse]

OK? Are you inferring that I said it would be healthy to avoid gluten or that people should avoid gluten for weight loss?
I am in agreement of the first line of your first post in this thread.

Hmm.. I was actually not inferring anything about what you said. What I said, I said because I was thinking about how best to illustrate my view point.
I actually did not realized I hit the quote button. I meant to just hit the reply button.
But to clarify, here is my stance:

There is nothing wrong with Gluten. Gluten does not make one fat or unhealthy.
There is a problem surrounding gluten however, and it is 2 fold:
1. Allergy. Some people are allergic to gluten and respond unfavorably to it. Such as my mom that has a sever case of celiac disorder/disease
2. Hyperbole fueled marketing promoted by lazy and ignorant people as well as marketing companies that see room for profit in the selling of gluten free items. People see gluten free items in the store and assume that anything with gluten is bad and make your fat or unhealthy.

GLUTEN HAS ZERO EFFECT ONT HE MAJORITY OF SOCIETY. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ALLERGY TO IT, BENEFIT BY AVOIDING IT.

Anyone that buys gluten free products thinking it is going to help with weight loss is simply buying in to marketing hype via product packaging.

ANT

[CarlosInTampa]

it's become fashionable to claim a gluten allergy these days.

[DiaFF]

GLUTEN HAS ZERO EFFECT ONT HE MAJORITY OF SOCIETY. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ALLERGY TO IT, BENEFIT BY AVOIDING IT.

This.

Unless you have an allergy to it, it's completely pointless to avoid it.

Plus from my experience, gluten-free foods are more expensive and taste bland compared to normal foods.

[phoenixr2]

Hmm.. I was actually not inferring anything about what you said. What I said, I said because I was thinking about how best to illustrate my view point.
I actually did not realized I hit the quote button. I meant to just hit the reply button.
But to clarify, here is my stance:

There is nothing wrong with Gluten. Gluten does not make one fat or unhealthy.
There is a problem surrounding gluten however, and it is 2 fold:
1. Allergy. Some people are allergic to gluten and respond unfavorably to it. Such as my mom that has a sever case of celiac disorder/disease
2. Hyperbole fueled marketing promoted by lazy and ignorant people as well as marketing companies that see room for profit in the selling of gluten free items. People see gluten free items in the store and assume that anything with gluten is bad and make your fat or unhealthy.

GLUTEN HAS ZERO EFFECT ONT HE MAJORITY OF SOCIETY. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ALLERGY TO IT, BENEFIT BY AVOIDING IT.

Anyone that buys gluten free products thinking it is going to help with weight loss is simply buying in to marketing hype via product packaging.

ANT

fair enough. I was wondering if you accidentally quoted while replying. I agree with this. I have heard it so many times and I know you have too how people hear about diseases and disorders and then convince themselves they must have those diseases and that is why they arent healthy. LOL yes that is it. Its not the fact you eat out 10 times a week and eat enough for a whole family, or the fact you dont move unless its to and from work or the couch. must be a food allergy causing your body weight to increase !

Sorry rant off. I agree and you have both 1/2 points very right.

[Gemuadrken]

People who go gluten free that don't have problems with gluten rustle my jimmies.

And when they talk about it. It rustles my jimmies even further.

[aman88]

most recent studies show gluten isnt good for anyone. its hard on the digestive tract whether you have celiacs or not, its just even worse id you do.

[DiaFF]

most recent studies show gluten isnt good for anyone. its hard on the digestive tract whether you have celiacs or not, its just even worse id you do.

Post a link to these recent studies.

[RotaPride]

Gluten allergy/celiac is easy! I'm allergic to Soy! Try and avoid that one!

[kaleida]

ONLY THOSE WITH AN ALLERGY TO IT, BENEFIT BY AVOIDING IT.

There are a few problems with that theory though...

1. False negative test results are extremely common with celiac's disease. Tests aren't perfect.

2. Celiac's disease is only one kind of gluten sensitivity - they don't usually test for other kinds of gluten sensitivity which can be equally harmful.

3. Some symptoms of celiac's disease are very subtle - it's not always an obvious reaction to food. Depression or chronic fatigue, for example ... that might be the person's only symptom. The person with a gluten sensitivity might not even realize that it's a food sensitivity at all - the only way to tell for sure is to do a 100% gluten-free experiment for a few months and see if he feels any different.

4. Most people don't have the patience to stick with a gluten-free experiment for the amount of time it requires. Gluten destroys villi in the intestines in people who are sensitive to it, preventing nutrient absorption ... it takes months of gluten-free eating for the villi to heal and the intestines to start absorbing more nutrients. It's not a "flush it out of your system and then you're better" kind of thing...it's a long process.

5. Most people don't have the level of OCD required to avoid gluten - at least not while still keeping a normal social life. 99% avoidance isn't enough to make symptoms go away, it has to be 100%. It's easy to avoid obvious sources of gluten like bread and pasta - but it's a real PITA to avoid the less-obvious sources like "natural flavor" and "vegetable protein," soy sauce, etc ... unless you cook everything yourself, but that's often impractical with social events, the awkwardness of turning down other people's cooking, restaurants that may or may not know what gluten is, etc. Even a tiny amount of gluten every few days can mess up the experiment and make it seem like you're not improving when actually you're just still eating gluten.

I think people brush off gluten sensitivity because they avoided bread and pasta for a few days and didn't feel any different...but yeah that doesn't prove anything.

[spec24]

These days there are not. they make everything "gluten free" from cookies, to pizzas, to cakes, to burritos, to etc etc. When gluten and celiac were first coming to light and being diagnosed, being put on a legit gluten free diet was basically a forced veggie only diet. What happens when you severely restrict calories or food choices? No other option but to lose weight really.

Right, because meat is just packed with gluten.

[paleodietmagazi]

If your going gluten - free, be able to answer a couple basic questions before you do/
**1. Is gluten a fat, a starch or a protein compound?... *
*2. *Was a gluten free diet designed for weight loss, Autism or Celiac disease?.

gluten is a starch compound and a gluten free diet is designed for people with celiac disease

[paleodietmagazi]

Hmm.. I was actually not inferring anything about what you said. What I said, I said because I was thinking about how best to illustrate my view point.
I actually did not realized I hit the quote button. I meant to just hit the reply button.
But to clarify, here is my stance:

There is nothing wrong with Gluten. Gluten does not make one fat or unhealthy.
There is a problem surrounding gluten however, and it is 2 fold:
1. Allergy. Some people are allergic to gluten and respond unfavorably to it. Such as my mom that has a sever case of celiac disorder/disease
2. Hyperbole fueled marketing promoted by lazy and ignorant people as well as marketing companies that see room for profit in the selling of gluten free items. People see gluten free items in the store and assume that anything with gluten is bad and make your fat or unhealthy.

GLUTEN HAS ZERO EFFECT ONT HE MAJORITY OF SOCIETY. ONLY THOSE WITH AN ALLERGY TO IT, BENEFIT BY AVOIDING IT.

Anyone that buys gluten free products thinking it is going to help with weight loss is simply buying in to marketing hype via product packaging.

ANT

Hi BioPulse!

you are absolutely correct. Though gluten can be harmful to some people, it doesn't mean that it will help entirely with weight loss. it just limits the food that you can eat, meaning you have less choices, thus decreasing your calorie intake. Gluten free diet regimens are most effective with people who have celiac disease and non celiac disease gluten sensitivity. it decreases the occurrences of symptoms on people who have non celiac disease gluten sensitivity. it's a good thing that you cited that gluten is not a "bad" thing. thank you!

- Rosetta

[retro36]

most recent studies show gluten isnt good for anyone. its hard on the digestive tract whether you have celiacs or not, its just even worse id you do.

Rice is much easier to digest than wheat and it's the lectins in wheat that cause many of these problems. A lot of people who aren't descended from traditional wheat growing regions lack many of the genes to produce the enzymes necessary to properly brake down the toxins in wheat and it's a bit like lactose in milk.

Another problem with wheat based foods is that they tend to be very highly processed and wheat is in a lot of processed junk foods that lack fiber. However your not going to have digestive issues eating bran flakes and not all wheat based products are necessarily 'bad'.

[Liftforlife7]

I am sooo tired of hearing people spout out about going gluten free and not knowing exactly what it means and why. They read or heard the term and went ohhh..I wanna do that lol. Every time some new cleanse or diet hype comes out, people flock to it hoping for a miracle weight loss that doesn't require hard work and dedication, now you have parents restricting their kids from eating certain foods...WTF their kids!!! How do we get people to realize moderation and intelligence is key, not some new breakthrough in whats supposedly "bad for you". Sorry for ranting...just OMG

[retro36]

Every time some new cleanse or diet hype comes out, people flock to it hoping for a miracle weight loss that doesn't require hard work and dedication, now you have parents restricting their kids from eating certain foods...

This food allergies craze is a big money spinner and other that the fact that they're neurotic, fussy eaters. Theirs nothing medically wrong with most of these people.

Real food allergies are genetic and are quite rare. Such people immediately go into toxic shock if they eat the wrong foods and at least to my knowledge. Only people with serious GI problems or weird intestinal disorders (such as fungal infections) need to eat "special foods".

[Marll]

There are a few problems with that theory though...

1. False negative test results are extremely common with celiac's disease. Tests aren't perfect.

2. Celiac's disease is only one kind of gluten sensitivity - they don't usually test for other kinds of gluten sensitivity which can be equally harmful.

3. Some symptoms of celiac's disease are very subtle - it's not always an obvious reaction to food. Depression or chronic fatigue, for example ... that might be the person's only symptom. The person with a gluten sensitivity might not even realize that it's a food sensitivity at all - the only way to tell for sure is to do a 100% gluten-free experiment for a few months and see if he feels any different.

4. Most people don't have the patience to stick with a gluten-free experiment for the amount of time it requires. Gluten destroys villi in the intestines in people who are sensitive to it, preventing nutrient absorption ... it takes months of gluten-free eating for the villi to heal and the intestines to start absorbing more nutrients. It's not a "flush it out of your system and then you're better" kind of thing...it's a long process.

5. Most people don't have the level of OCD required to avoid gluten - at least not while still keeping a normal social life. 99% avoidance isn't enough to make symptoms go away, it has to be 100%. It's easy to avoid obvious sources of gluten like bread and pasta - but it's a real PITA to avoid the less-obvious sources like "natural flavor" and "vegetable protein," soy sauce, etc ... unless you cook everything yourself, but that's often impractical with social events, the awkwardness of turning down other people's cooking, restaurants that may or may not know what gluten is, etc. Even a tiny amount of gluten every few days can mess up the experiment and make it seem like you're not improving when actually you're just still eating gluten.

I think people brush off gluten sensitivity because they avoided bread and pasta for a few days and didn't feel any different...but yeah that doesn't prove anything.

This exactly. My wife is extremely allergic to gluten in even trace amounts and has a reaction within minutes of eating anything with wheat or any kind of gluten in it. Think those French fries are safe at the restaurant? NOPE! They've been fried in the same oil as the onion rings that are battered. She had many issues that one would never attribute to gluten, and didn't realize how chitty she felt until she was off of it for quite a while. I stay gluten free by choice, but the longer I've been off of it the more I notice things like nasal congestion and skin itching when I do eat it.

My 3 year old son also gets wicked bad eczema on his face and horrible ear infections frequently if he eats anything with gluten in it, and while the doctors told us that "It's normal in some kids" and recommended creams and to put tubes in his ears, we cut out wheat on a hunch and he hasn't had an issue in about a year. He's also leaner, taller, stronger and with more visible muscle than any 3 year old I've ever seen, which I attribute to a good whole foods diet. We eat very few processed things (because of wheat being in EVERYTHING in the US). It's not like he doesn't eat "junk" too, just in the form of gluten free junk and the usual candy that a 3 year old would be exposed to (again as long as it doesn't have wheat in it).

While there are plenty of people that are just going gluten free because it's hyped right now, doesn't mean that there isn't some benefit to it for everyone, and sometimes people find that they are at least intolerant to it, let alone allergic.

[u6c00]

Gluten allergy/celiac is easy! I'm allergic to Soy! Try and avoid that one!

I think my sister beats you in the "can't eat anything" pissing contest, having both coeliac disease and a violent allergy to citric acid (as in fruit juices cause her skin to visibly burn while you're watching - lemon juice in particular). She's deficient in a lot of vitamins because most fruit has citric acid, or is dipped in citric acid as a preservative. And guess what they use to flavour all the vitamin C supplements. You guessed it, citric acid.

I did once read about a woman who seemed to be allergic to everything except white rice though, so we should remember that there's almost always someone who has it worse.

For the OP's question, a gluten free diet might be effective for weight loss as long as you don't buy any specific gluten free products. They tend to fill gluten free products full of fat as a binding agent because of the absence of gluten, so gluten free food is often extremely unhealthy. A gluten free diet should therefore largely consist of meat, fruit, dairy, nuts, vegetables and rice or potatoes. In essence foods that contain one ingredient. If you eat that in reasonable portions you will lose weight, though it's not because you've cut out gluten, it's because you're following the essential weight loss rules - eat food, not too much, mostly plants, move your body.

[MisterMackinaw]

1.) Protein compound

2.) Celiac disease

[BioPulse]

There are a few problems with that theory though...

1. False negative test results are extremely common with celiac's disease. Tests aren't perfect.

2. Celiac's disease is only one kind of gluten sensitivity - they don't usually test for other kinds of gluten sensitivity which can be equally harmful.

3. Some symptoms of celiac's disease are very subtle - it's not always an obvious reaction to food. Depression or chronic fatigue, for example ... that might be the person's only symptom. The person with a gluten sensitivity might not even realize that it's a food sensitivity at all - the only way to tell for sure is to do a 100% gluten-free experiment for a few months and see if he feels any different.

4. Most people don't have the patience to stick with a gluten-free experiment for the amount of time it requires. Gluten destroys villi in the intestines in people who are sensitive to it, preventing nutrient absorption ... it takes months of gluten-free eating for the villi to heal and the intestines to start absorbing more nutrients. It's not a "flush it out of your system and then you're better" kind of thing...it's a long process.

5. Most people don't have the level of OCD required to avoid gluten - at least not while still keeping a normal social life. 99% avoidance isn't enough to make symptoms go away, it has to be 100%. It's easy to avoid obvious sources of gluten like bread and pasta - but it's a real PITA to avoid the less-obvious sources like "natural flavor" and "vegetable protein," soy sauce, etc ... unless you cook everything yourself, but that's often impractical with social events, the awkwardness of turning down other people's cooking, restaurants that may or may not know what gluten is, etc. Even a tiny amount of gluten every few days can mess up the experiment and make it seem like you're not improving when actually you're just still eating gluten.

I think people brush off gluten sensitivity because they avoided bread and pasta for a few days and didn't feel any different...but yeah that doesn't prove anything.

Great points but an irrelevant rebuttal.
I said that only those with an allergy to it, benefit by avoiding it.
I did not say that only those that test positive for celiac's desease benefit by avoiding it..

[missf3013]

If you have any stomach or Gi problems you should cut out gluten, and possibly all grains. This also goes for auto immune problems and conditions such as autism. Some people have a leaky gut, and need to remove all food allergies to allow the gut to heal. If you have health problem you should look into GAPS diet. The problem is that people remove gluten foods from their diet and fill the void with other junk. Real food doesn't cause obesity, process crap does. Also a lot of people who are gluten intolerant are malnourished and sometimes gain 10-15lbs while recovering after switching to an allergen free diet if they were underweight to begin with.

[BioPulse]

Real food doesn't cause obesity, process crap does.