Lactose-free, no added sugars or gluten free. These are some examples of informative phrases that appear in the packaging of more and more products that can be found in supermarkets. Necessary phrases for people who have an intolerance or a food allergy but also claim that the healthy population associated with food and healthier foods.
Gluten Foods: –
- Wheat.
- Barley.
- Graham flour.
- Wheat germ.
- Rye.
- Bulgur.
- Couscous.
- Farina.
But what happens when a person decides, without the recommendation of a specialist, to remove gluten from their diet? Is it justified if it is not celiac?
Gluten is a protein of plant origin that is found in cereal flours such as wheat, barley, rye or oats, among others. However, it has a particularity: once ingested it must be digested and metabolized. Celiac can not perform this process, so they have to remove it from their diet.
“If you have been diagnosed with celiac disease, its elimination is absolutely justified. Specialist at Digestive and Expert of the Spanish Society of Digestive System (SEPD), adds that in the case of patients diagnosed with gluten sensitivity non-celiac could also be if it gives them greater well-being. “Although a correct thing is to investigate exactly what they feel wrong, whether an intolerance to fructose, the presence of bacterial overgrowth, an alteration of the balance of their intestinal bacterial flora an intolerance to lactose, or to the oligosaccharides disaccharides monosaccharides polyols fermentable (Fodmap).
Experts point out that gluten has a low nutritional and biological value, so it is not essential for humans. That is, nothing will happen if you withdraw from the diet. Although Sara Martinez, a professor of Nutrition and Food Technology at the European University, indicates that while it is not essential for health, foods containing gluten are rich in other nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are necessary. “In addition, if we eliminate gluten permanently we can become intolerant to protein. Then the problems with the diet will start. ”
Collateral Consequences
Some effects derived from eliminating gluten without a medical diagnosis. To begin with, there is an increase in the consumption of fats and sugars. Gluten provides organoleptic properties that give products elasticity and a spongy consistency that is very pleasant to taste. When removing it, you have to look for other substitutes to try to imitate those properties.
The professor of the European University says that normally it is chosen to add fats and sugars. In addition, the result is usually processed products, so healthy people who choose to eliminate it “following a fashion or a trend that believes that everything without is good for health are found by eating substitute other products that can be harmful.”
This in addition throws to the ground the belief that when removing the gluten from the diet there is a greater loss of weight. Both experts indicate that there is no scientific evidence to back it up. “The initial loss that a person can observe is due to diet change. However, eliminating gluten increases the consumption of processed products, which have high caloric value and very low nutritional value. So, in the long run, it can have the opposite effect and favor weight gain.
To the celiac, even to the one who has not developed symptoms, to perform a gluten-free diet. Please do not hesitate. When intolerant to gluten, investigate along with your digestive tract or nutritionist, what exactly is behind it. To the healthy, enjoy the pleasures of life, including culinary, which are many, but do not overdo it. That he does sport every day and that he continues maintaining a physical and emotional balance as before “, he concludes.
