Going “Gluten Free” is one of the trendiest things you proclaim these days. Popularized and “celebritized” by Hollywood celebrities who claim amazing weight loss or health transformations they found from going gluten free, it seems everyone is “gluten intolerant” these days. As Time Magazine put it: “Gluten is to this decade what carbohydrates were to the last one and fat was to the ’80s and ’90s: the bête noir, the bad boy, the cause of all that ails you—and the elimination of which can heal you”.
The truth is, for more than 93% of the world, gluten is just fine. (For the record, gluten is a protein in wheat, rye, and barley that is commonly found in bread, beer, pasta, and a wide range of processed foods containing these grains.). For about the rest of the 1-5% of the world’s population, eating gluten causes celiac disease, an immune reaction to gluten where your body cannot absorb nutrients from food and damages the small intestine. Left unattended, Celiac Disease can cause severe adverse effects to your body.
The reality is there is certainly a rise in celiac disease, according the recent studies, but this is more than likely due to the fact that there is more awareness and diagnosis, and also because consumption of gluten containing foods has increased. Most of the wheats in the US are artificially cultivated and have a higher gluten content than ancient grains (genetically modified foods, anyone???), than those cultivated in other countries (for example, our methods of cultivating and processing wheat into flour are illegal in most place in Europe because of the level of chemicals and processes we put it through, stripping it of all nutrients). As other Eastern countries have adopted the Western ways of cultivating grains, experts have seen a rise in the consumption of gluten and rise in the numbers of those with an intolerance.
Obviously, if you have Celiac Disease, it is essential that you stay away from all gluten; but if you don’t have an intolerance (which is most of the general population), going gluten free isn’t really going to do much to affect your health or your weight. In fact, going gluten free for no medical reason could mean that you are losing out on essential vitamins and minerals. Gluten-free diets are low in fibre, iron, B vitamins, typically high in sugar and fat, and are associated with elevated levels of heavy metals such as lead or mercury in the body. Instead of jumping on the Gluten Free Bandwagon, stick with eating whole grains (gains in their whole form like rice, barley, millet, oats), or whole grain sprouted bread (like Ezekiel Bread) which are high in nutrients, and are not made with conventional processing methods which strip our food of any nutritional value. Another way to ensure you aren’t eating grains devoid of nutrients is going with a fermented bread like sourdough, which is how bread was made historically before modern methods came to the scene (which take out every possible nutrient). Sourdough requires fermentation, which digests these proteins (gluten) in the flour that can be damaging to the intestinal track (should you have an intolerance), making it more easily digestible and more beneficial in terms of its probiotic effects and overall nutrition. The best nutrition advice is just to always eat as many whole foods as possible, so if you’re sticking to that golden rule you are already on the right track!