Health Hotline Magazine | October 2019

A GLUTEN-FREE DIET DONE For many people a gluten-free diet was born out of medical necessity; those who have celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity must avoid gluten or suffer some pretty hefty health consequences, including severe damage to the gut. But these days, a lot of people are choosing a gluten-free lifestyle not out of necessity, but because they think it is a healthier way to eat. In fact, the majority of people who chose to go gluten free do so because they consider it to be a healthier, more natural way of eating. Their reasons for avoiding gluten range from reducing inflammation to losing weight. 1 If you follow a gluten-free diet in a healthy way, it is an excellent way to reduce inflammation and lose weight, if that is your goal; however, “gluten free” doesn’t always equal healthy. Take this headline from one “medical” website: “Eating a gluten-free diet does not mean a person has to give up fast food,” which is followed by a comprehensive list of fast food chains and their gluten-free options. And a recent survey of American and Canadian consumers found that the top gluten-free products they were buying included crackers, pasta, bread, cereal, cookies, and pizza. 2 Who doesn’t love a good pizza, but just because something is gluten free doesn’t mean that it’s a health food, nor is it a free pass to eat as much of it as you want. So how do you do gluten free to really optimize your health? Read on to find out. RIGHT By Lindsay Wilson

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