Even if you don't have Celiac disease, there are sometimes benefits to going gluten free.
I recently heard about a tavern in Ireland that is requiring people to bring a doctors note for a gluten free meal as going gluten free has become a new “fad” in their eyes. I recently had to pull gluten out of my diet as my breastfeeding son was not doing well with my gluten intake (about every day). We would see him in pain trying to have a bowel movement, but he has been doing better without the gluten in my diet. I have tested myself for gluten sensitivity in the past, and the results showed that I do not have any immune markers showing gluten is an issue for me. However, and anecdotally, I do feel better after pulling it out of my diet.
The bigger question is do I feel better because the gluten is gone or because I am eating less bread and cheese (dairy is another thing I have had to pull out)? I am probably doing better as a result of pulling the bread and cow cheese out of my diet because they were a staple. And while they can be perfectly fine for me to eat I feel that it was the quantity of gluten and dairy I was eating that was becoming the real issue.
There was a recent article stating that there has not been an increase in celiac diagnosis from 2009 to 2014, but that there has been a rise in the number of Americans who are eating gluten-free. I know I, personally, have a lot of patients that ask if they should go gluten free, and I always encourage them to figure out what foods they are specifically reacting to rather than just avoiding the big three foods: gluten, dairy, and eggs.
There can be health benefits from going gluten free; however, that does not mean that you just replace all packaged gluten foods with packaged gluten free products. Packaged food is still packaged food. Our diets should be rich in the colors of the rainbow, fresh foods, good proteins, and complex carbohydrates. When it comes to diet there is no one size fits all as you have to pay attention to how your body is responding to foods while tailoring your diet accordingly.
Please don’t fall for the fads, no. Instead, listen to your body as it will tell you how to help it. If you don’t know what your body is saying then seek professional help from your local Naturopathic Doctor.
Source: Reuters
Image Credit: Earth100 (Wikipedia) (CC AS Unported 3.0)