What the heck are we supposed to eat now? There have always been a million diets and weight loss plans around, probably back to the cave man days. Life may have been easier when the Rubenesque form was more the ideal look but today everybody wants to look like the latest cover model, male or female. Never mind that the photo on the cover has been altered and tuned to provide a look that really never occurs in life. So the question really becomes “Do any of these diets make sense and why?”
Gluten Free
Lets start with one that’s been popular for a while and is fast becoming a diet trend – Gluten free foods. You can order gluten free anything these days, bread, pizza, pasta — Even beer. Does it really make a difference?
For most Americans the answer is no. If you’re in the 1% of Americans with celiac disease, about 3 million people, gluten can be serious and even life threatening. You must avoid it. Celiac disease is a disorder of the auto-immune system, similar to Type 1 diabetes and lupus, that affects the stomach lining and the ability to process some foods, especially gluten containing foods such as wheat, rye, barley and oats (Oats are gluten free but often get cross-contaminated during processing). There is no cure and no treatment other than maintaining a gluten free diet.
Dermatitis herpetiformis is also a gluten-related disease and affects primarily people with celiac disease. It is a good indicator of celiac disease in that it produces a painful rash which is often diagnosed as common dermatitis. If you have a rash, it is important to get it tested with a biopsy to determine exactly what it is, especially if it doesn’t go away with standard topical treatments. Again, the cure is a gluten free diet.
Some people also have a gluten sensitivity, a wheat allergy or gluten ataxia, another autoimmune disorder that affects the nervous system. While gluten isn’t usually deadly to these people, staying away from gluten helps mitigate the symptoms. The easiest way to test for this is simply to go gluten free for a month or so and see if some of your issues go away.
So probably 2% to 3% of Americans can benefit from or need a gluten free diet. Why is it so popular?
The reason is that going gluten free seems to benefit people in other ways. It forces people to make healthy choices, more fruits and vegetables than breads and pastas. It can actually make you lose some weight, improve your energy and generally make you feel good. If you can stay on it. Plus, there are no studies on gluten free diets for people who are not gluten sensitive. In other words, those 97% or more of Americans who have no medical issues eating gluten.
Gluten free takes a fair amount of fiber, minerals and vitamins out of the diet. Iron, calcium, thiamin, niacin and riboflavin naturally occur in foods that contain gluten and other sources must be found for these essential needs. Also, many processed gluten free foods have a higher fat or sugar content to boost the flavor profile, which changes the diet significantly. The only solution here is to talk to your doctor or a nutritionist about your choices and see what healthy alternatives there might be.
Face it, most Americans, especially the 40% who qualify as obese (Body Mass Index over 30), could do with cutting some breads and pastas from their diet and introducing healthier fruits and vegetables. That’s just common sense. But gluten free is not medically warranted for most people and there is no reason for most people to pt for the more expensive gluten free pizza. Besides, in a typical pizza kitchen, cross contamination is likely. You won’t get as much gluten but, if you have celiac disease, it could still be dangerous.
The bottom line is that there is only one way to lose weight and the math is very simple. Expend more calories than you consume. You can’t beat this science and there are no foods that are “calorie free” or whose calories are not absorbed by the body. That’s just not how it works. You could get fatter by eating celery, it just takes a lot more celery than chocolate chip cookies to consume more calories than you expend.
It’s your choice, but here at HalCracker Ranch, we’re going to enjoy our pizza once in a while. 🙂
See Part II for the Keto diet and Part III for the Paleo diet.
Disclaimer
As always, the information presented here is informational, not a medical diagnosis or recommendation. Before you start on a gluten free diet, if you suspect you may have gluten issues, see your doctor. Get a blood test and, if needed, an intestinal biopsy for celiac disease. This needs to be done before you start a gluten free diet, going gluten free will change how some of these tests will come out. Gluten sensitivity has no test so explain your symptoms to your doctor to see if a gluten free diet makes sense.
As always, heed your doctor’s advice. A gluten free diet isn’t inherently good for you, you need to accommodate for the lack of gluten containing foods in your diet. And you won’t necessarily lose weight or feel more energy, these depend on balanced nutrition as well as routine exercise. Remember that fad diets are often fads for many people but, if you maintain a sensible diet that meets your needs, those same fads can work.