Lifelab Testing | Is Your Gluten-Free Diet Making You Fat?

What They Don’t Tell You About The Gluten-Free Diet

Last Updated: 12th January 2023 · Written by Kate Young

With estimates of 1 in 100 people worldwide living with celiac disease and many more suffering some form of gluten intolerance, the gluten-free diet is becoming increasingly popular as a health optimisation tool. However, it is also gaining traction as a weight loss diet.

Here we look at how getting this diet wrong can actually lead to weight gain.

Gluten Intolerance

A lot is still unknown about gluten intolerance or sensitivity, but anecdotal reports have shown many people experiencing an improvement in negative symptoms. Symptoms associated with gluten intolerance include:

  • Bloating
  • Diarrhoea
  • Abdominal Pain
  • Fatigue

In the quest for relief of these life-altering symptoms, many have turned to gluten as a potential causing factor. You can assess your tolerance for gluten with one of our tests and, if you discover you do have sensitivities, we offer full support in undertaking an elimination diet.

Going Gluten-Free

Given that gluten intolerance restricts your access to foods traditionally considered unhealthy; breads, processed foods and starchy carbohydrates, you’d expect that a welcome side effect of your condition would be weight loss.

But this isn’t necessarily always the case. The rapid growth of the gluten-free market has led manufacturers to replace all of your favourite foods with gluten-free alternatives. In their quest to achieve foods that taste just as good as the originals, some have turned to sugars and fats in excessive quantities.

Gluten-free Pizza -a cheesy, stringy godsend

There are also considerations to be made about the gluten-free ingredients that are used in baking and cooking. White rice flour, whilst gluten-free, can induce a dramatic rise in blood sugar and contain very little nutritional value.

So, gluten-free foods aren’t as they seem right? Well, no.

Doing Gluten-Free Right

Going gluten-free should be seen as an opportunity to move to a whole foods led diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables are all gluten-free and contain a lot of the vitamins and minerals required to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to note, however, that processed fruits are not necessarily gluten intolerance friendly.

Fresh meats are also suitable for those living with a gluten intolerance. A fantastic source of protein, the building blocks of muscle, they’re also incredibly satiating and help you to avoid the temptation of the foods that aggravate your gluten intolerance. Be careful of processed meats, however, as they are likely NOT gluten-free.

Whole fruit and vegetables – gluten-free so fill your boots.

Going gluten-free can lead to a total lifestyle revolution. It affords you the opportunity to explore a wealth of foods and also learn or develop cooking skills and even create your own recipes.

To discover whether you have gluten intolerance and would benefit from a shift to a gluten-free lifestyle, take one of our tests. Following your results, we offer full support in completing an elimination diet to optimise your health moving forward.

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