Is the gluten-free diet just a fad? Certainly it is not for celiac sufferers and must eat exclusively gluten-free to feel good.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousLa gluten-free diet is it just a fashion? Certainly it is not for celiac sufferers and must eat exclusively gluten-free to feel good. At the moment the 100% gluten-free diet is in fact considered the only useful therapy for celiacs.
However, even those who are not celiac may want to start reducing the intake of gluten in their diet, perhaps up to eliminating it. But is this a choice that is really good for health? The debate is open.
Il advantage of a gluten-free diet o reduced gluten content for those who are not celiac concerns above all the possibility of varying the type of dishes and cereal-based foods to be brought to the table. No longer just the usual bread and the classic pasta prepared with wheat, but the green light for rice, amaranth, quinoa, millet and other gluten-free flours and cereals.
8 CEREALS (OR PRESUMPED SUCH) THAT EVEN CELIACS CAN EAT
However, we must knowing how to balance the diet well so that it is truly balanced and for this reason we advise you, as always, to contact a food and nutrition expert to plan it.
Why does the gluten-free diet make a comeback as a problematic choice from time to time? The problem is related to the spread of gluten-free packaged foods. Let's think, for example, of the various snacks, biscuits, crackers, gluten-free breadsticks and so on. Some of these products, if on the one hand they are gluten-free, may however be rich in saturated fats or contain unwanted preservatives or additives. In short, once again, what matters is learning how to read the labels and maybe try to give preference to gluten-free foods but not too elaborate from an industrial point of view.
Some non-celiac people start buying packaged products that carry the word gluten-free because they think they are healthier than others, but according to experts this is not always the case. It all depends on the ingredients that have been chosen to produce them.
Dr Jason Wu of the George Institute for Global Health conducted a study in Australia that he considered 3200 food products and noted that gluten-free packaged foods are usually more expensive than others but do not have a better nutritional profile than common products (beyond the fact that they are suitable for celiacs).
Among the gluten-free foods examined, bread, pasta, biscuits and other baked goods contained a lower amount of protein but levels of salt and sugar identical to those of conventional products, as had already emerged previously.
CELIAC: GLUTEN-FREE FOODS ARE TOO RICH IN FATS, SUGARS AND ADDITIVES
The expert points out in particular that the gluten-free wording on labels is sometimes used as Marketing Strategy to make a product appear healthier than others even when it is not.
In conclusion, those who must or want to follow a gluten-free diet should always pay attention to what they buy to best protect their health in every sense, as we should all do even if we do not suffer from celiac disease.
Marta Albè
Read also:
CELIAC: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
ARE CELIACIA AND GLUTEN INTOLERANCE DIFFERENT DISEASES?
