Eating gluten-free used to be very hard if you didn’t have complete control over your meals.
Nobody understood what gluten was, but it was everywhere!
There are gluten-free lanes at the grocery store these days, and many restaurants provide distinct gluten-free menus. There are more alternatives than ever to support the lifestyle.
Despite its pervasiveness, there are some detractors. Going gluten-free may be a fad for some, but it offers very genuine benefits for those of us who are gluten-intolerant!
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein present in wheat, rye, barley, and other grains that can cause immune systems and gastrointestinal health problems.
One in every 133 persons is unable to digest gluten. Celiac disease occurs when gluten damages the microvilli in the small intestine and impairs absorption.
Then there’s gluten sensitivity that isn’t caused by celiac disease. The figures vary, but it is believed that between 10% and 40% of the population suffers from this intolerance. There are tests that assist in detecting celiac disease, however, the sensitivity is not so straightforward.
Gluten sensitivity symptoms can appear hours or even days after swallowing gluten and might include:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Joint pain or muscle cramping
- Bone pain or osteoporosis
- Brain fog
- Digestive issues (gas, bloating, diarrhea)
- Abdominal pain
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Migraines
The easiest approach to find out whether you gluten intolerant is to follow an elimination diet like The Virgin Diet. You’ll remove it for 21 days, noting whether the above or other symptoms go away, and then reintroduce it to see whether they reappear. If they return, you know gluten isn’t for you.
Benefits Of a Gluten-Free Diet
If you grew up eating bread and pasta without incident and are wondering why it’s such a problem now, keep in mind that today’s wheat is very different from what it used to be. Wheat, which our bodies evolved to absorb, has been bred into something that our bodies do not recognize (there are 14 chromosomes in ancient wheat, compared to 42 chromosomes today).
It is also less nutritious than it originally was. Modern farming techniques have deprived the soil in which our food grows of vital vitamins and minerals. Farmers emphasize crop size, growth pace, and pest resistance over nutritional content, resorting to the use of hazardous pesticides to safeguard the crop and enhance production. Their profits are made at the price of our food and health.
A gluten-free diet can benefit almost everyone. Take, for example, this short study on non-celiac participants’ immunological responses to gluten proteins, which found that “gluten evokes its detrimental impact on all people.”
A gluten-free diet has been shown to improve inflammation, insulin resistance, and chronic health-related symptoms. Many people (including my Virgin Diet participants) report improvements in their gut health, immunological health, weight, energy, chronic pain, hormone balance, and a variety of other areas.
5 Reasons to Avoid Gluten
There have been a lot of studies done on the negative effects of gluten on your health. The top five reasons to avoid typical bread, spaghetti, and other gluten-containing meals are as follows.
Reason 1: Gluten causes a leaky gut.
Gluten destroys the tight connections in your stomach that function as a barrier, enabling microscopic particles of undigested food, germs, and even poisons to enter your circulation.
Because your gut is the cornerstone of your entire health, any disruption in its function can result in a cascade of health issues.
Food allergies and sensitivities, worsening digestive difficulties like Crohn’s and colitis, skin illnesses like acne and dermatitis, chronic exhaustion, metabolic abnormalities, and immunological and autoimmune disorders can all result from a leaky gut.
It’s a vicious circle. Gluten irritation injures the digestive system, creating inflammation, leading to a leaky gut, and causing malabsorption. These disorders then add to new sensitivities, further irritating your stomach.
Your best bet is to eliminate the offenders, one of which is almost certainly gluten.
Reason 2: Gluten causes inflammation.
Inflammation is not always harmful. It is a component of our immune system and serves to protect us from damage and illness. However, acute inflammation, not chronic inflammation, benefits our health.
Chronic inflammation develops as a result of untreated acute inflammation (like the type from repeated gluten exposure). It’s like poking the bear — not it’s going to end well!
This form of persistent, low-grade irritation is a fire that has to be extinguished as soon as possible before it becomes an unmanageable conflagration. Every degenerative disease, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and obesity, is exacerbated by chronic inflammation.
Reason 3: Gluten-containing meals are frequently deficient in nutrients.
Whole grains are recommended by the USDA’s MyPlate recommendations, but the majority of people consume them in a nutrient-deficient form. Unprocessed whole grains may have a role in a healthy diet if you can handle them (another chance for an elimination diet like The Virgin Diet!).
The majority of individuals ingest gluten through ultra-processed foods such as white bread, spaghetti, crackers, pastries, and even hot dogs. Wheat is so inexpensive that it winds up in almost everything (even the gum you’re chewing).
These foods lose fiber and other nutrients as a result of being stripped of their fiber. Who are the survivors? If gluten is also destroying the villi in your intestines, you’re probably not absorbing them adequately. Indeed, a gluten-induced leaky gut prevents your body from absorbing nutrients and producing vitamin B12.
Anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense, whole, healing veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes, or gluten-free grains like quinoa are far superior.
Reason 4: Gluten can cause autoimmune diseases.
Because the majority of your immune system is located in your digestive tract, problems with your gut health might have an influence on your immunological health.
The term “autoimmune” refers to your immune system attacking itself. According to a study, gluten consumption can cause this reaction. It’s advisable to avoid it if you have Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune hepatitis, celiac hepatitis, autoimmune thyroiditis, or any autoimmune illness.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, there are 23.5 million of you out there, with women accounting for 80 percent of the population.
Reason 5: Gluten contributes to weight gain.
Gluten intake can cause weight gain in a variety of ways. The first is the inflammation it causes, which has been linked to insulin resistance.
Insulin is a hormone of storage. If your body can’t utilize it effectively, you’ll have excessive amounts of insulin and excess glucose in your blood. Blood sugar that is not appropriately stored will build as fat.
Gluten-containing foods also include lectins, which are antinutrients that can induce pre-diabetes and cause you to retain more calories as fat. To make matters worse, lectins can cause leptin resistance, which causes you to feel hungry even after eating a full meal.
Combine lectins with leaky gut, inflammation, and low nutritional levels that might impede metabolism, and you’ve got a recipe for weight gain!
Gluten’s hazards and discomfort create a compelling case for eliminating it from your diet. I understand that making dietary adjustments may be difficult, so I want to make it as simple as possible for you.