low calorie food

There is a legitimate reason to eat gluten free. That reason is if you have Celiac disease, where eating gluten can be a life threatening endeavor. If you think you might be gluten intolerant in any way, it’s important to make an appointment with your doctor to find out. Your doctor can test you so you know for sure, and you can make the appropriate dietary changes needed. For those who truly do need to avoid gluten products, there are a number of ways to save money on them. For the other 99% of us, gluten free food is a marketing ploy to get you to spend extra money on something you think is healthier than it probably is. And we’re spending money on gluten free products to the tune of $4.2 billion a year as a nation.

There’s No Need

The vast majority of people don’t need to go gluten free. That’s not to say some people could benefit from reducing the amount of gluten in their diet (especially white flour). For the majority of us, however, having gluten in our diet is perfectly healthy, and shouldn’t be the cause of any concern.

“Gluten Free” Has Become a Marketing Ploy

Ten years ago it would have been difficult to tell which products were and weren’t gluten free without looking at the ingredient label. That’s no longer the case. “Gluten Free” is now plastered across products in big, bold letters so there’s no doubt. This is because it’s an effective marketing ploy. The vast majority of these products haven’t changed the way they’re made. The manufacturers simply know the gluten free trend will encourage people to buy their product if labeled as such, and in many cases, even pay more for it. Think of it as the “fat free” label of 5 years ago.

Gluten Free Doesn’t Mean Healthier

There seems to be a huge misconception about a gluten free diet being healthy. Eating less grains such as wheat, rye and barley (the grains which contain gluten) can be healthier if your diet consists of over-eating these, but that’s completely different than claiming gluten free equals “healthy”. All gluten free tells a consumer is there isn’t any gluten in the product (or an extremely small amount). In fact, a gluten free product can be just as unhealthy for you as those containing gluten. Pure sugar is gluten free, but that doesn’t mean you should only eat pure sugar. Below is a good video explaining what gluten is and why gluten free doesn’t necessarily mean healthy:

Many people do feel better when they quit eating wheat, but this is often not because they have gone gluten free, but because in doing so, they stopped eating products which contain a lot of white flour. Eating fewer products which contain white flour, while keeping gluten in your diet, will also make you feel better. In fact, everyone should try to eliminate as much white flour and processed food from their diet as possible since doing so will be good for you. Doing this, however, doesn’t mean you have to stop eating gluten.

Gluten Free Doesn’t Mean Less Calories

Another misconception is gluten free products are healthier because they contain less calories. This is often not the case. In fact, they’ll usually contain a similar amount of calories because gluten substitutes like sorghum, corn and rice flour contain a similar number of calories as wheat flour.

As with most food consumption issues, it’s not a matter of elimination, but a matter of balance. If you believe you have a gluten intolerance, visit your doctor to confirm this, as it can be a serious food condition. If you don’t, be sure to consume gluten in moderation, but do your wallet a favor and don’t buy into the marketing campaigns which lead you to believe you shouldn’t consume any.

(Photo courtesy of Missy Ward)