Misconceptions and Gluten-Free Dieting

Maintaining a gluten-free diet is said to promote weight loss and increased energy. What does science say? For many years, people have developed a mentality that the health claim of going “Gluten-free” can be a solution to easy weight loss and energy promotion. Confusion has evolved and the idea of what gluten actually is has been misconstrued. Many people believe that gluten is completely bad and should be cut from the daily diet of the individual. With this misconceived mentality, the common dieter has a new belief that the “breakthrough” to easy dieting and simple weight-loss will arrive if they simply purge this one protein from their eating habits.2 Cleansing oneself of gluten, however, is not needed unless a gluten allergy is present or the specific individual has a disorder in the small intestine that lacks the ability to process gluten completely, also known as celiac disease. Gluten-free foods don’t come cheap, only driving up the bill at the grocery store and putting a bigger gash in the consumer’s pocket under the false pretense that these foods will act as a miracle-dieting supplement to shed some extra pounds.2 Excluding those with gluten allergies and celiac disorder, gluten free diets are not needed nor are they complete alternatives to traditional weight-loss and energy promotion methods because they do not sufficiently fulfill all of the needed nutritional values in a healthy diet. Over time, many myths about dieting have been developed. “Breakthrough methods” and “advance technology” have all discovered new ways to lose weight. While some of these methods may work to a certain extent, others have come to be known as myths having a false aura about their effectiveness.1 One of the myths about dieting is that switching to a gluten-free diet is best way to lose weight.2 Sharon Palmer reinforces this claim in her article, “Busting Nutrition Myths”. Palmer describes, how many people regard a gluten free diet as a fundamental way to lose weight. “The gluten-free food business is set to reap $7 billion this year, and more than half of these foods will be purchased by people with no clear medical reason to avoid gluten,” she writes.4 With such a contagious method of operating, a gluten-free diet has been confused with a replacement alternative to traditional dieting. Though not all dieting is bad, a gluten-free diet can actually cause more harm than good to those that have no reason to be gluten-free.4 In regards to an unnecessary gluten-free diet, Palmer states, “this fad diet can lead you to miss out on important nutrients found in whole grains, which have been linked to heart disease, obesity, and some types of cancer.”4 Overall, the modern dieter needs to exercise more caution with the methods they use to diet especially in regards to lack of gluten consumption. Dieting myths about gluten are not limited to the average household member; they extend much farther and have even fooled many highly fit athletes and their trainers.5 Until recently, some athletes have practiced a gluten-free lifestyle that unintentionally hindered their performance on and off the field. In her article, “Popular Diets and Athletes: Premises, Promises, Pros, and Pitfalls of Diets and What Athletes Should Know About Diets and Sports Performance,” Christine Rosenbloom breaks down the extent of consequences that athletes suffer from should they choose gluten-free dieting methods instead of traditional methods.5 Rosenbloom writes, “Athletes who choose gluten-free without having celiac disease or NCGS should be aware that they may not get adequate carbohydrate to fuel training and performance.”5 Not receiving proper carbohydrate or nutritional value from whole grain foods can cause an athlete and any individual to perform at a lower level than their possible peak leading to decreased athletic output, health, or daily functioning.5 To prevent depletion in alimentary values, more traditional dieting methods should be chosen that have a healthy balance of needed nutrients and other dieting supplements.5 The sad truth about gluten-free dieting is that rumors regarding its “incredible benefits” are being spread faster than ever.5 With celebrity backing, best-selling books, and unwarranted and spectacular media coverage, more and more people are starting to incorporate a gluten-free lifestyle to lose weight and increase energy. As science has shown, this is a false claim and many dieting methods are much more effective than a simple cure all gluten-free diet. As David Nash and Amy Slutzky address unnecessary media attention and the myths surrounding gluten in their article, “Gluten Sensitivity: New Epidemic or New Myth? Every Major Change in Our Diet Carries With It the Possibility of Unforeseen Risks”.3 They state, “Approximately 30% of all Americans are now either avoiding foods that contain gluten or eliminating gluten entirely from their diets, and these numbers continue to grow.”3 With numbers like this, it is easy to see how a chain reaction has caused many citizens to become another number resulting in misconception among the masses.3 Though gluten-free is important to those with gluten allergies or celiac disease, it is not essential, in a medical sense, to the majority of people.3 Informing people about gluten myths may help end gluten misconceptions and increase overall health of the public. With so many ideas and myths surrounding gluten and gluten-free dieting, it can be hard to decipher what actually is true. While some of the myths about gluten dieting are correct to an extent, they need to be taken with caution. Dieters need to research a diet before it is commenced to ensure that all recommended and proper nutritional values will be fulfilled. Should a diet lack certain aspects of a regular diet, then there is room for error and the possibility of more harm to be caused than good yielded. Gluten should not be feared. In fact, gluten actually is found in most whole grain foods and barley products that are essential to an everyday diet. If gluten-free foods are chosen over gluten-containing products, then people have the potential to lose nutritional value decrease immune system ability and overall health. Should these myths not be ended soon, dieters could awaken to the realization that their methods to lose weight haven’t been working at all, and they spent more money on gluten-free foods for no reason at all. Ending gluten myths is a necessity to the dieting and nutrition world. In conclusion, I have found that gluten-free dieting is not pertinent to a person that does not have a gluten allergy, gluten sensitivity, or celiac disease. Gluten-free dieting can lead to a lack of nutritional value in some areas of an individual’s diet. Proper dieting techniques should be chosen to allow for the encompassing of all areas of nutrients and the increasing of overall health in one’s life. Gluten-free diets are not complete alternatives to traditional methods because they lack a full array of nutrients, and myths surrounding this misconception should be ended whenever at all possible. My last statement to adolescents and adults looking to shed a few pounds and increase their energy is to cut out the sweets and eat real, non-processed foods.
References

1. Fletcher, R. F., and M. Y. Mccririck. "Gluten-free Diets." Bmj 2.5091 (1958): 299-301. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. 20 Mar. 2015
2. "Myth Buster - Does a Gluten-Free Diet Aid In Weight-Loss? - JillianMichaels.com." JillianMichaels.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
3. Nash, David T., and Amy R. Slutzky. "Gluten Sensitivity: New Epidemic or New Myth? Every Major Change in Our Diet Carries With It the Possibility of Unforeseen Risks." The American Journal of Cardiology 114.10 (2014): 1621-622. Science Direct. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
4. Palmer, Sharon. "Busting Nutrition Myths." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, May 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
5. Rosenbloom, Christine. "Popular Diets and Athletes." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, Sept. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.