Thread: What do you think of this new low gluten fad

from what I can tell its more for people who cant handle the gluten in the flour, wont really make you loose weight,

After 4 years of trying to get to the bottom of a right sided pain, test after test, probe after probe, I was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease.

And if you don't take on a new life style then it can end up killing you, so I had to start eating Gluten free foods.

Its amazing how much crap they put in normal food, I have found I can still buy alot of things gluten free still, but a little more expensive.

I have started to lose weight, but I no longer eat, bread, pies, fish, beer, chips ,Big Mac ets etc etc, so as these are full of carbs and wheat produce, that will help weight loss.

You can make some really nice meals, and the choice here in Australia for Gluten free food is more so than any other country.

Celiacs will lose more weight on non gluten products, than normal people would on the same diet.

Balance a good diet with lower carbs and regualy exercise and you will be fine. Its what you put in your mouth that puts the weight on.

Originally Posted by juddy

.......Its amazing how much crap they put in normal food, I have found I can still buy alot of things gluten free still, but a little more expensive. ......

My sister also suffers from Coeliac disease, and whenever she comes over we start looking at what we buy to vet the ingredients list for anything containing wheat products. The number of everyday products with wheat in them is astounding.

She is amazed whenever she comes over how large the range of gluten free products is here, even eating out there is generally a gluten free option. She loves coming over here (almost as much as we love loving here!) because she can eat normally.

The weather and lifestyle here suit a healthy diet well, just something simple like a few boiled potatoes flavoured with herbs, a bit of salad with a garlic and basil dressing, and a small, lean steak chucked on the barbie takes 25 minutes to prepare and cook, costs the thick end of bugger all, and is gentle on the waistline.
Never an excuse for chips with everything in my eyes.

Appropriate timing for me to read this. I'm having lunch - a gluten free sausage roll and quiche.

For me the short story is 2 years ago I starting feeling sick all the time and now I eat gluten free and feel amazing.

A few things I've learnt and come to believe in the last 2 years:

1. Eating GF has forced me to have a much healthier diet. I can no longer eat almost all "junk food". Maccas, Hungry Jacks etc, pizza, pastry, anything with batter or crumbed is out. Inevitably the alternatives that I eat are healthier. As a result I'm 100% certain I am a much healthier person than 2 years ago and probably will be for the rest of my life. So although it was a difficult adjustment at first, it could be considered a benefit now.

2. As much all food contains an excess of our minimum nutritional requirements and a lot of stuff we don't need, considering a large number of people easily live without gluten, we obviously don't "need" it. Gluten is VERY common in high concentrations in processed foods. Processed foods are more common than ever before and more people are being diagnosed with gluten related conditions. I struggle to think there is no correlation.

3. I used to think I ate relatively health, but that was a diet with a lot of bread, pasta and noodles. It seems I had a very high gluten diet and now I've become gluten intolerant. Coincidence? I can't help but think if I only ate these kind of products occasionally I would still be eating everything.

So to answer the question, I don't think it's a fad. I think in the coming years it's going to become necessary for so many people and if you want to reduce your chances of it happening to you, the answer is to eat less gluten. I don't believe you have to go completely gluten free, but you can easily minimise without affecting your life style too much.

To answer your second question, yes GF products generally cost more and are harder to find. Sometimes they are not available. Some GF products taste terrible - but you can find terrible food with gluten in it too. Don't let 1 or 2 bad products turn you off. There are good alternatives if you wish. The sausage roll I just had was excellent and IMO tastes better than most of the frozen ones you get at the supermarket. Bread is the hardest - you won't find a bread that is as good. Everything else, there are excellent alternatives.

Some examples of minimising:

Don't eat white bread - eat sour dough or rye bread.
Have rice noodles over other noodles.
Avoid take away and fast food.

Yeah it's right through my family. Strongly hereditary.

People can be divided into three groups. Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and some rolled oats.

1. Celiacs who are literally allergic to gluten. For these people any gluten their body can detect gives them an instant stomach ache. Continual eating of gluten literally strips the lining out of their bowel and makes it very difficult to get the nutrition from the food they eat.
2. People who aren't celiac but find themselves much healthier/happier on a diet which is low in gluten.
3. Normal people.

Group 1 numbers seem pretty static, it's just the awareness that grows. It's group 2 that is getting huge.
The exact reasons for group 2 growing can be complex and probably fad-dietish for many. But the celiacs love it because there is more gluten free food available everywhere and prices are better.

All meat, fruit and veges are gluten free. Steak, eggs, bacon and chips is all good as long as the chips weren't reconstituted with wheat or cooked in a contaminated frier and any sauces don't have wheat or barley in them.
It can be really hard to find good gluten free baked goods (bread, pies, biscuits etc). A lot of it resembles 3 day old toast. But the good stuff is truely excellent. It does suck paying $6-8 for a loaf of bread though.

Eating out is like russian roulette, but restaurants are generally better at it than well-meaning friends.

There are a small percentage of the population who truly do have celiac disease and they definitely need to have a gluten free diet.

However that percentage is tiny compared to the number of people who subscribe to gluten free diets.

I'm not entirely sure what this is all about however I am quite sceptical of much of it. Don't forget placebo is the most effective and best studied medical intervention in history.

try eating gluten free and being diabetic...

sheesh!

does make the weight fall off over time tho it has to be said...

I listen to a podcast from joe rogan, he talks a lot about changing to gluten free diet. He says it even assisted with some back pain he had been suffering with.
Some suggestion that wheat products these days is highly treated to preserve it, which in turn is affecting the foods it is used in, by going gluten free you avoid these preservatives.