Eating gluten-free is the diet for people with celiac disease, but is it good for everyone else to avoid foods with this ingredient? We’ll tell you!
Lately, it’s become fashionable to eliminate all foods containing gluten. Eating gluten-free is no longer just a matter of necessity.
There are people called “anti-gluten” who decide to remove it from their diet due to beliefs such as: “Gluten makes you fat”, “Not consuming it is healthier” or “Not consuming it increases your energy”.
Eating gluten-free seems to have become more of a trend than a necessity, but is it beneficial for our bodies?
However, all these claims are not based on any medical evidence. To clarify some myths about this ingredient, we need to start with the basics.
Understanding Gluten: The Protein Behind Gluten-Free Diets
Gluten is a group of proteins naturally found in certain cereals: wheat, barley, rye, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), spelt, and some varieties of oats.
Oats are classified as cereals containing gluten because their proteins are structurally very similar to gluten, even though pure oats do not naturally contain gluten and are often altered in the market.
Furthermore, it often appears highly contaminated on the market, so we must always ensure its “gluten-free” certification to confirm that it is free of this protein.
It is becoming easier every day to follow a gluten-free diet thanks to the wide range of ‘gluten-free’ foods available on the market.
Let’s continue talking about gluten. Gluten proteins are relatively low in some essential amino acids compared with higher-quality protein sources.
In wheat, the main gluten proteins include glutenin and gliadin. Gliadin is the protein that presents the greatest problem with regard to gluten intolerance in general and celiac disease in particular.
What Is Celiac Disease and Who Needs a Gluten-Free Diet?
Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which gluten triggers an immune response that damages the small intestine.
People who suffer from it are unable to digest this protein completely because after ingestion, protein fragments are generated that activate the immune system by detecting these fragments as toxic, triggering adverse reactions.
Some of these include chronic diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, skin rashes, and, in the longer term, weight loss.
When these people ingest foods containing gluten, their immune system reacts by damaging the lining of the small intestine, producing inflammation and atrophy of its villi.
Celiac disease affects between 0.5 and 1% of the population and is the inability to digest gluten protein, causing several adverse reactions.
On the other hand, gluten also affects people with gluten sensitivity —Non-celiac gluten sensitivity affects some people, although its prevalence is still uncertain. This condition presents symptoms similar to those of celiac disease, such as muscle cramps and leg numbness, but it does not damage the small intestine as occurs in celiac disease.
Currently, a strict lifelong gluten-free diet is the only established treatment for celiac disease. This allows the intestine to regenerate its villi and function normally. In contrast, people with gluten sensitivity must stop consuming gluten to see if their symptoms disappear.
Knowing which cereals do not contain gluten – rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, teff, amaranth and corn, is essential for these people.
Which Foods Contain Gluten?
In addition to the cereals mentioned, gluten also appears in foods such as sausages or pâtés, processed cheeses, grated or sliced cheeses, canned meat and fish, coffee substitutes, chocolate, nuts, sweets and ice cream.
Starch can be separated from gluten through a process called “wet milling”, yielding wheat starch suitable for people with celiac disease. This process explains why we can find a wide variety of foods on the market that are labelled ‘gluten-free’. Thanks to these developments, eating gluten-free is becoming easier every day, with a wide range of gluten-free options available.
Is Eating Gluten-Free Healthy for Everyone?
We cannot say that gluten makes you fat or increases your energy. Nor can we say that it’s healthier or better for your heart.
As we’ve seen, gluten is found in foods with a high glycaemic index, such as pasta, bread, pizza, cookies, pastries, and sauces. This is the origin of the belief that gluten makes you fat. In fact, even if we don’t have celiac disease and don’t need to eat gluten-free, we should be especially careful with gluten if we want to maintain a balanced diet.
These foods, rich in carbohydrates, can lead to weight gain. But this weight gain is not due to gluten. It’s important to remember that a gluten-free food doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t contain sugars or fats.
For people without a medical reason to avoid gluten, avoiding gluten has not been shown to provide any heart health benefits. In fact, some studies suggest that whole grains may be linked to a lower risk of heart disease.
Eating gluten-free is more expensive and offers no benefit to people who are neither celiac nor gluten sensitive.
Avoiding this substance is not beneficial to our health. Moreover, if not done correctly, it can lead to nutritional deficiencies. In fact, some gluten-free products may contain less fiber and may not be fortified with certain vitamins compared with traditional grain-based products.
What is clear is that gluten-free foods are often more expensive than their regular alternatives without providing additional health benefits for people who do not need to avoid gluten.
Following a gluten-free diet unnecessarily may lead to nutritional disadvantages if not properly planned.
Some nutrition experts have raised concerns that unnecessary gluten avoidance may lead to poorer dietary choices.
In fact, they say that “a gluten-free diet is only necessary in cases of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, not as a fad or as something beneficial for everyone.”
Share this article on your social networks so that everyone around you knows the truth about following a gluten-free diet.
Also Read: Going On A Gluten-Free Diet?
