GUIDE TO GLUTEN
It’s a common misconception that cutting out gluten will help you lose weight
and be less bloated.
What actually is gluten? It’s two proteins (glutenin and gliadin) that are present in some natural grains such as rye, wheat and barley. Sometimes these grains are also added to other processed foods for example sausage meat, so gluten can actually be found in a whole range of foods.
Many people choose to cut gluten out of their diet to become ‘healthier’. However, unless you have been diagnosed with celiac disease, or have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, there is no need to cut out gluten; doing so will not make you any healthier.
People who suffer from celiac disease often gain weight when they cut out gluten. Someone who doesn’t have celiac disease who decides to cut out gluten may lose some weight initially as they will have essentially cut out some high calorie foods from their diet that happen to contain gluten e.g. bread, pasta, cake, biscuits, pizza. All of these foods contain calories so they are creating an energy deficit, which leads to weight loss. This has nothing to do with gluten it is down to them eating less overall.
“Gluten free’ has become a bit of a buzz word and a word used to market foods with extra health benefit sometimes even including foods which are naturally gluten free. There are now large gluten free sections in most supermarkets. Many of these foods are sold at a premium.
Here are 10 foods which are naturally gluten free:
Oats
Potatoes
Basmati rice
Buckwheat
Quinoa
Asparagus
Cauliflower/Cauliflower rice
Butternut squash/zoodles
Courgette/Courgetti
Broccoli
Other gluten free branded products include Nakd bars, Nairns gluten free oat cakes, Supermarket brand ‘free from’ pasta, Quaker Oats gluten free oats and B free tortilla wraps.
Coach Kate