Paleo, Gluten and Miley Cyrus...OH MY!

Gluten is certainly all the rage.

From the ever so popular Paleo Diets, to Miley Cyrus who recently tweeted how going gluten free was her secret to weight loss success.

The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck has also touted the benefits (through a couple books) of eliminating gluten from her diet.

The list can go on … from fitness pros to celebrities, diet docs to soccer moms.  In fact, it’s so popular we saw a "Gluten Free" stand when we went to the KY Derby the other day!  Yes, amidst the horses, bourbon, mint juleps and a sea full of hats … a gluten free stand inside Churchill Downs.

So what is gluten anyhow? Why does it get such a bad wrap? And is it deserved or hyped up "diet secret" of the stars?

As an aside, I’m knawing on a free sample bag of a gluten free cereal that came in the mail (a perk of doing what we do — lots of free samples).  Unfortunately, this one tastes like stale cardboard.

I digress.

Gluten is a protein found in many carbohydrates, such as wheat, barley, and rye, among others.  Basically, most cereals, pastas, breads, and the like contain gluten.  Of course there are some gluten free alternatives to these products as well.

Let’s take a step back for a minute.  There is a specific autoimmune disorder where people don’t digest gluten — this is called Celiac disease — and it affects 5-10% of the population.

I used to work at a diabetes summer camp for kids and it was somewhat common there; celiac disease and diabetes often go hand in hand.

But outside of those with Celiac, gluten still gets a bad wrap.  Here are some of the reasons people have told me or cite for eliminating gluten:

1. It’s not digested properly
2. It bloats them
3. It causes weight gain
4. It hurts recovery from training
5. It causes joint pain
6. Our ancestors didn’t eat grains, so why should they?

Outside of the last one, 1-5 are all symptoms of a person who may have  celiac.  So the first thing a person should do is to get tested to see if they truly have gluten sensitivity. Even if the test does come back negative, however, there is still a possibility of non celiac gluten sensitivity.

Having worked with people who have celiac in the past, when I worked at the diabetes camp, I know how challenging a true gluten insensitivity can be.  There are cases where you have you use different cooking utensils as the tiny bit of cross contamination from one pot to another or toaster to another, for example, could cause a reaction.

But those who try to eliminate gluten — without a true diagnosis or sensitivity — surely wouldn’t have that same concern.

What I often tell people when it comes to gluten is that foods with gluten are not inherently "bad."  On the flip side, the foods that often do contain gluten may not be the best.

Eating loads of refined carbohydrates — bread, cereal, pasta, muffins, pastries, etc — certainly isn’t great.  Please do drastically reduce these in the diet. It’s not a knock on gluten itself, but the sugar, food colorings, and other junky ingredients that are added to these (Froot Loops anyone?).

Also, what people often don’t think about, is just how many foods may actually have some form of gluten in them … from soy sauce to hot dogs, ketchup, beer and deli meats.  I can remember walking the aisles of a grocery store with one kid with Celiac looking or a particular brand of hot dogs that was gluten free for our cookout at summer camp.  We found them, but it was a challenge.

And beer … who wants to give up beer?  Interestingly, I’ve had many beers with many people who say they are not eating gluten, yet beer often has gluten (because of the barley/malt).

At the end of the day, here’s our take:

1. Gluten itself is not bad (or you don’t need to give it up) — unless you have a true gluten sensitivity (like celiac).
2. Many of the common foods that have gluten are junky — processed, overly sugared garbage — so toss those
3. Gluten free doesn’t necessarily mean healthy.  I’ve seen and eaten gluten free cookies, hot dogs and many other similar foods.
4. If you think you are sensitive, focus on naturally occurring gluten free grains.  These are high in fiber and loaded with great nutrients.  Here’s a short list of some solid choices:
   • Amaranth
   • Buckwheat
   • Nut flours (like almond flour)
   • Coconut flour
   • Chickpea flour
   • Quinoa

Don’t necessarily throw gluten under the bus.  It’s currently "trendy" to do so, but simply make smarter choices, focus on high fiber grains vs. refined junky carbs, and you’ll be doing a great job in terms of making strides to reach your physical goals.

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