Gluten Free Diets - Marketing Scam

 http://www.hercampus.com/school/berkeley/gluten-free-diets-marketing-scam-or-healthy-lifestyle-choice

Gluten-free: you may have noticed the label now frequently found on food packages, in restaurants, and in grocery stores.

So what is gluten anyways? Gluten is a protein found in the grains: wheat, barley, and rye. What’s the deal with cutting it out of our diet? Well for people with celiac disease, a chronic digestive disorder, gluten causes an immune reaction that can damage the small intestine, causing gastrointestinal problems and deficiencies in nutrients.

As people have become more aware of this disease in the past few years, testing for celiac has become more common, and suddenly a market for gluten-free foods has emerged. Restricting gluten intake has also become a new diet tool; the idea behind it being that if you limit the amount of foods you can eat, you won’t eat as much. However, as Shelly Case, R.D., points out, “Without gluten to bind food together, food manufacturers often use more fat and sugar to make the product more palatable."

Cutting gluten does not necessarily mean cutting calories or fat, so don’t expect to drop pounds by dropping gluten from your daily diet. In addition, some studies have suggested that people who ditch gluten also miss out on several important nutrients like iron, vitamin B, and fiber. This is certainly not always the case, as a diet focused on fruits, veggies, lean protein, and gluten free grains like quinoa can actually be a whole and nutritious way of eating. But many of the ‘gluten-free’ options out there today don’t offer holistic health benefits such as the foods just listed.
The bottom line: if you have an intolerance to gluten or if you have Celiac Disease, cutting out gluten from your diet is a must. But, gluten itself is not unhealthy. If you think you suffer from a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, you should probably see your doctor to get tested. In the mean time, here are some symptoms to watch out for:

• Chronic diarrhea or constipation?
• Abdominal pain and bloating?
• Unexplained weight loss
• Anemia
• Fatigue
• Infertility

- Mark Edward Talboom from facebook
Unless you have Celiac Disease, there is really no valid reason to eat a "Gluten Free" diet. Only between Between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the United States are sensitive to gluten due to Celiac disease, which is an abnormal immune reaction to partially digested protein called gliadin. There may be varying levels of gluten sensitivity, but to point a finger at a natural substance is ridiculous. Gluten in flours gives it it's elasticity and helps in the rising process.

inThis simply another way for the "health industry" and vitamin/nutrition manufacturers to make a buck. People who taken in by "gluten-free" products when they have not been diagnosed with a sensitivity or have celiac disease are foolishly wasting their money. I only wish I had thought of this scam first. A fool and his money.......

Is a Gluten-Free Diet Bad for You?

Only 15secs of air time is given for an actual Celiac Doc/Researcher, than 5mins were given to a bunch morons with no nutrition background supporting the diet, even having admitted there are no research to back benefit of cutting out gluten for people without Caliac... no wonder american's are stupid when it comes to nutrition and health.

It use to be saturated fat in the 60s, which gave rise to the vegan idiots, then sodium and trans fat was forbidden, then carbs and sugar got executed from the atkin's crowd, now the Paleo/crossfit became popular with their fear of milk and grain, and more specifically, now the gluten and fructose gets the blame... I got one question... what the hell am i suppose to eat!?

just for fun and totally unrelated...