Gluten Free is not healthy? Blasphemy –you must think someone has hijacked my blog, but it’s true. Just because a food is gluten free does not mean it is healthy.
Sadly, the recent popularity of “gluten free” has many thinking that if they eliminate gluten, they are on a healthy diet. As Michael Pollan wrote last year in the New York Times Magazine, “Gluten has become the bad nutrient of the moment.”
I think it’s time for those of us in the gluten free blogoshpere to admit that villainizing one ingredient is not enough when it comes to eating well.
With all of the hype surrounding gluten free, no one mentions the dirty little secret of the Standard Gluten Free Diet. Few realize that when it comes to gluten free baked goods such as bread, snacks, and desserts, gluten free food is not as nutritious as “regular” food. That’s because gluten free goods are generally made with ingredients such as rice, corn, potatoes, sorghum, tapioca and millet, which are higher in carbohydrates and lower in protein and other nutrients than wheat flour. Sad, but true. The typical gluten free ingredients that are used in place of wheat are less nutritious than wheat itself.
The Gluten Free diet is a very specific requirement for very specific people –those with celiac, gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity. People with these conditions have to eliminate gluten from their diets to make sure their body doesn’t deteriorate. Let’s remember though, that doing so doesn’t actually speak to eating the diet and consuming the foods that allow your body to thrive. Those are two separate things. Therefore, the millions of Americans jumping on the gluten free bandwagon, who believe that eliminating one ingredient is a quick fix are short changing themselves.
If you have any of the above conditions (and it’s a good idea to go to a doctor and get tested if you think you might) remove gluten from your diet. For that matter, if something makes you feel sick, get it out of your diet! However, if you think eliminating one food gives you a free pass to eat processed gluten free goods made from rice, corn, etc., and that this will make you healthy, guess again.
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The best path to wellness is a well rounded diet which includes many foods –it is far more work than simply bastardizing one ingredient, such as gluten.
What does eating healthy entail? Consuming a diverse array of nutrient dense foods every day; day after day. When I was a little girl, my Dad told me to eat the rainbow. So I’m staying away from fad diets and sticking with Dad’s advice. I have to agree with him, eating close to the earth is, and always has been, the way to go.
jennifer hirshhorn says
I am allergic to coconut and cannot figure out where on this site to ask my question, so I am doing it here. What can I use as a subsitute in Elana’s recipes that call for coconut oil and coconut flour? Any information would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Jane says
This is an interesting post, because I think a lot of emphasis with the marketing of newly-available “gluten free” foods is on “replacing all those gluten-y foods you miss with non-gluten junk food.” When I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance several years ago, I felt a lot of anger and irritation at the restrictions this created and tried to revel in what “tasty foods” I could still enjoy (rice pasta in thai dishes, polenta or risotto on the Italian front, etc.). However, it turns out I have some blood sugar sensitivities and metabolic issues, and carbs in general are increasingly off the plate… I no longer miss gluten, and if I have rice or the like it’s a very small serving with a protein-filled meal or at dinner on a special occasion. I think the products in your photo — sugar cereals made with non-gluten grains — are pitched to people in that initial stage of “acceptance” that they have a restriction, but in the end these foods try to perpetuate a fantasy of “healthy choices” for gluten-free folks. If you’re gluten-free and constantly looking for that perfect pancake mix etc., maybe it would be better to look at a whole foods alternative to that pancake — like making a sweet potato hash at breakfast, or GF baked oatmeal.
Unfortunately, the “gluten free replacement products” offered by many manufacturers aren’t very nutritious, even from manufacturers committed to their gluten-free audience or from, say, the awesome pasta maker at my farmer’s market who makes gluten-free noodles. At the end of the day, all gluten-free packaged carbs are a “treat.” The typical rice bread, for instance, has no fiber and not much nutrition vs. say your typical multi-grain wheat bread — however, if you’re gluten-free and jonesing for a grilled cheese, or want to make home-made croutons, etc. that rice bread is an OK option to keep in the freezer. Or if I really want some bad-for-me comfort food, I get an Amy’s Rice Mac n Cheese — one portion per package. Again: This should be seen as a treat! Not daily food.
The nutritionist I work with agrees generally that a paleo-style diet (no wheat or dairy or junk) modified with addition of some low-glycemic carbs (legumes, sweet potatoes, brown rice) only at breakfast and lunch is smart for an adult with my mix of challenges. Of course, everyone has different challenges. And I think many of these sugary gluten-free products may also be pitched to parents of GF kids who want to be able to give the little folks the same treats other kids get. But if you’re an adult, you do not need GF carb substitutes any more than you needed the gluten!
Violet Bradtke says
I am a diabetic that has started to use Elana’s recipes and I am feeling lots better. I never realized that I also may have had a gluten intolerance. Trying these recipes makes me feel so much better. I don’t have the foggy brain like I used to and I am keeping my glucose numbers a lot lower than before!
Vincent says
I have read this blog, and am glad that you have posted this. My mother was diagnosed with celiac a few years ago and has eliminated glutten from her diet, however tends to think that simply because glutten has been eleminated it is a healthier way of eating. I have been disputing with her about this and to finally find a legitimit article such as yours about the difference between eating glutten free and healthy eating is reasuring.
I simply wanted to leave you with a thank you.
Lyn says
I think your title is just too broad. Gluten free doesnt mean you can eat any processed gluten free items and be instantly healthy. It is, however, a god send to people like me who before gluten free were afraid to stray too far from a toilet and suffered horrible abdominal pain.
BJ Hall says
All I can say is if I eat gluten even if it is a gram I am so ill! Yes, they use dairy and sugar to add taste to gluten free products. So, instead of make what I need using a gluten free flour. If I kept eating gluten I would have never have had a life. So, I think we have to be careful how we say things for everyone has their own experiences.
myooks says
THANK YOU! Finally someone says it.
S. says
I wonder how the non-wheat eaters, who don’t have a major gluten intolerance would feel eating foods like pearl barley, or wheat germ.
I’ve had digestive problems for a long time, the gluten-free fad came about at the same time my issues started unfortunately and so it made it seem to everyone around me I was following a fad instead of taking an actual concern in my health.
Wheat is a nutritious food, it’s a source of a number of minerals that are really good for your skin health and going gluten free for me meant an itchy scalp and itchy little blisters on my feet (a type of eczema from lack of nutrients)
On the flip side removing some starchiness/stodginess (breads and rices) from your diet does make you feel better because these foods are simply hard to digest, if your body doesn’t have to put the effort into digesting these things anymore it’ll put the energy into digesting the other things you eat and you could just be getting more nutrients (energy) that way.
Lisa H says
Dear “S”, have you had the blood test for Celiac? Those little blisters on your scalp and feet are a sure sign. Get it checked out if you haven’t already. Take care
Lise says
I’m sorry but wheat is NOT good for you, it hasn’t been for a hundred or so years. Check out the book called “wheat belly” by a Dr….i forget his name, but that should tell you why.
Darla Demery says
Your right. His name is Dr. WILLIAM Davis. He’s done a lot of research. He does say to stay away from GF substitutes. We really have to go back to using pure grain free ingredients and making our own meals from scratch. The convenience foods of today are killing the gluten sensitive.
Ester Perez says
Thank you for bringing out the point that there is a lot of gluten free junk food out there. For those that do eat grains…it best to eat gluten free grains in their whole form that have been properly soaked overnight with a little apple cider vinegar or whey to make them more digestible and to remove phytic acid. Then rinse well and cook with lots of vegetables. Its all about having balance.
I sometimes use sprouted brown rice flour or sprouted buckwheat flour for baking. Lately I have been baking with organic blanched almond flour because it is low glycemic, high in protien and makes the most amazing bread!!!!
Thanks again for the great post and I love what your Dad said about eating the rainbow. I will share that with my kids. They will love it!!!!
Blessings,
Ester
Teresa says
Yes! Many gluten free products are made with very high GI starchy processed flours that are not healthy!! My biggest concern right now is eating low GI foods, whole grains and minimal wheat, but if I do eat wheat it is stone ground whole grain wheat. I cant seem to make heads or tails of soaking in vinegar, why would I want to break down my food before it reaches my stomach? yes I get the anti nutrient issue but really?? I eat a very balanced and broad range of food that I’m getting what I need. Why break down a grain befor digestion – wouldn’t that make it high GI?
Nichole H says
I could not agree more with your post. I’ve been gluten free for two years and truly believe it saved my life. However, it was only the first step. I wish going gluten free was the cure all, but I have learned that it is not. I’m SO thankful that if I want to have some junk once in awhile that there are options, but as you said “junk is still junk”. I recently began eating the Paleo way and am feeling so much better. Gluten is a monster, but it’s not the only one.