A Celiac's Diet: Some Advice on "Gluten Free" Food

I found the gluten-loose weight loss program differently from most Americans. I didn?T read about it in a celeb tabloid, listen about its fantastic weight reduction outcomes from a friend or strive a gluten-free restaurant dish as it?S ?Today's.?

I learned about gluten when I weighed 83 lbs at 5’3” – as a freshman in college. After months of constant acid reflux, bloating and lack of appetite, my doctor diagnosed me with celiac disease (an autoimmune condition in which ingesting gluten damages the intestines.) The cure? A gluten-free diet – which, according toGallup, 1 in 5 Americans currently follows.

Considering that onlyone percent of Americans have celiac disease, people must believe gluten-free foods have a positive effect on their bodies. There is much to digest about gluten-free food,Entity Magazine (where this post of mine first appeared - check out the original article here!) is here to separate (foodie) fact from fiction.

1 EATING GLUTEN-FREE DOESN'T TRANSLATE TO "I'M TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT."

I?Ve acquired masses of memorable reactions while first telling people that I?M gluten-loose. One assertion that stands out in my mind, though, took place the primary week of my freshman year of university. Consider that, at that time, I wasn?T simply thin ? I changed into a skeleton. Yet, after I advised a splendid blonde that I had to eat gluten-free due to celiac sickness, she looked at me and said, ?I wish I had celiac so I may be thin such as you.?

According to the onlineMerriam-Webster Dictionary, the word “diet” has multiple meanings. For instance, it can mean “a food and drink regularly provided or consumed” or a “regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight.” In other words, gluten-free can be thewaythat you eat, but not necessarily the way you lose weight. Don’t assume that someone following a “diet” wants to or succeeded at losing weight – as in my case, they may just want to stay alive.

2 EATING GLUTEN-FREE ISN'T ABOUT CUTTING THE CARBS.

People also often think that eating gluten-free just means “taking the bread off” your sandwich. Carbs aren’t the problem for celiacs, however. Instead, asMayo Clinic explains, celiacs can’t consume theprotein gluten found in grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. If I like, I can eat a big, carb-filled sandwich on gluten-free bread for lunch. If you like, you can go on a no-carb or low-carb without “gluten” ever crossing your mind.

3 DITCH PROCESSED FOOD AND OPT FOR NATURALLY GLUTEN-FREE MEALS.

The fact is that most of the “astonishing” benefits the gluten-free diet supposedly provides occurs in people eating naturally gluten-free foods (e.g. rice, fruits and vegetables), rather than processed substitutes. You’ve probably heard the advice to shop the outer aisles of the grocery store to eat the healthiest. Websites likeWeb MD keep repeating this tip because outer aisles usually contain vegetables, fruits, dairy and meats. These are all whole foods ... which also happen to be gluten-free.

Gluten-loose ingredients don?T best encompass the pricy ?Special? Pizzas at your local grocery store; in addition they function the identical baked potatoes you?Ve been ingesting considering that formative years.

4 GLUTEN ALSO HIDES IN SOME SNEAKY PLACES...

Don?T agree with that every one gluten-unfastened meals are easily identifiable. So a ways, the most unearthly food-related object that I learned contained gluten is a set of ?Environmentally friendly? Paper plates at my grocery store ... Made with wheat rather than trees.

Gluten may be simply as difficult hiding in meals. A few of the rather gluten-filled meals? Most soy sauces, alcohol, oats, salad dressings, deli meats or even communion wafers (?Oh my God? Is proper!). Generally, going gluten-unfastened isn?T low maintenance, nor is it low-carb.

Five "GLUTEN-FREE" ISN'T EVEN THE SAME THING AS "CELIAC SAFE."

Here?S a a laugh truth approximately celiac disorder: if I ingest even a crumb of gluten, I get unwell. If someone uses a slicing board, dishes or utensils that touched gluten to make my gluten-unfastened meal, I get unwell. Since celiacs like me are touchy to go-contamination, a few products that claim to be ?Gluten-loose? Aren?T honestly safe for us to devour. Certain pizza eating places, for example, would possibly provide gluten-free crusts ? But in the event that they cook it inside the equal oven and put together it in a kitchen with wheat flour flying within the air, my stomach will feel like it is been sliced with a pizza cutter.

6 BOTTOM LINE: GLUTEN-FREE DOESN'T MEAN "HEALTHY."

Imagine you’re a chef baking your mom’s favorite bread recipe, but you want to nix the gluten. The problem? You need to put something in its place – usually extra sugar, fat, and calories, according toConsumer Reports. Not only that, but gluten-free products often lack key nutrients, such as folic acid and iron, compared to their fortified whole wheat counterparts. Personally, I thrive on a gluten-free diet, but only because my body can’t biologically process gluten.

My (totally non-medically qualified) advice to you? Find which diet (preferably in the first meaning of the word)your body thrives on and know that, while eating gluten-free saves celiacs’ lives, gluten-free foods aren’t the best foods for everyone.

Now that?S a weight loss program tale worth sharing.

**Though I wrote, "A Celiac's Date: Some Advice on 'Gluten Free Food'", it first appeared on Entity Magazine**

*This post also appeared at Let's Get Real Friday, Share Fest, RunningwithSpoons and Flaunt it Friday*