Gluten-free Foods

gdiet Another celebrity diet book.

This time it’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View. She’s written a book called “The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide” that extols the virtues of going gluten-free. Perhaps you’ve seen her making the rounds on all the talk shows. If not yet, you will.

Elisabeth has celiac disease so a gluten-free diet is her treatment. It’s the only way to manage this autoimmune disease. So it’s great that she’s sharing her personal story, but I have real problems with her glorifying gluten-free and making it appear to be the best thing since, er, sliced bread. “Even people with no health issues have a great deal to gain by giving up gluten,” she writes. “The G-Free Diet can help with weight management, it can elevate your energy levels, improve your attention span and speed up your digestion. Whatever your motivation for going G-free, this book will help you achieve your goal.”

Not necessarily. In fact, many people say they’ve gained weight by going gluten-free — especially if they load up on all the gluten-free processed foods that have exploded onto the market. It can also be tough nutritionally — many people who eliminate all gluten-containing foods wind up deficient in several nutrients. If celiac is ruled out, there is little or no evidence to support a connection between gluten and other ailments. Read my earlier post Gluten-Free is Latest Diet Craze.

On the positive side, Elisabeth’s media blitz is bringing attention to celiac disease — one of the most under-diagnosed disorders in the country. The estimated incidence is 1 out of 1oo people , yet 95% of the people who have it don’t know it. So it’s critical that people who suspect a problem get a proper diagnosis.

The big problem I have with The G-Free Diet is that it makes giving up gluten appear trendy. Self-diagnosis is already rampant and this book will simply add fuel to the fire. Jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon without being tested for celiac may make a proper diagnosis even trickier. If you do have celiac, eliminating gluten will help the gut heal temporarily. So if you get tested after you’ve started a gluten-free diet, an accurate diagnosis could be missed. That’s what troubles registered dietitian Shelley Case, a leading expert on celiac and gluten, who I spoke to about the book. She’s concerned that without an official diagnosis of celiac disease, people might not be motivated to strictly adhere to the diet or receive follow-up medical care. For people who truly have celiac, gluten-free is far from a fad — it’s the only treatment and it must be adhered to for life.

Shelley pointed out several errors in the book, including the descriptions of which foods and ingredients contain gluten. Come on, that’s pretty bad if you can’t even get that right. Elisabeth also incorrectly refers to celiac as an allergy. Several online reviews have pointed out some of the book’s shortcomings, and many folks in the “celiac community” have become alarmed over the misinformation.

Elaine Monarch, founder and executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, just released a statement pointing out many of the inaccuracies in “The G-Free Diet.” Among her comments:

“Several items in the book are misleading and inaccurate and place further limitations on the GF diet. The gluten-free lifestyle is a lifelong commitment for the diagnosed celiac, not an option, not a fad diet — adhering to the GF lifestyle requires patience and persistance. This lifestyle cannot be trivialized.”
“Our mission is to assist in getting people accurately diagnosed and the message in this book could defeat this mission. It appears that this book is being marketed as a fitness diet — eat g-free and feel so much better.”
“While it is important to call attention to celiac disease, the information must be accurate — the inaccuracies in this book are potentially dangerous and detrimental to celiacs and to those yet to be diagnosed if people self diagnose and start eating GF.”

What disturbs me the most is that Elisabeth sets herself up as the expert. I hope in her media interviews she will point out the need to see registered dietitians like Shelley who specialize in celiac and gluten-free diets. Giving up gluten can be tough since this ingredient is so prevalent in our food supply, and the diet is fairly restrictive. Nutrition counseling with an RD will help people learn the complexities of a gluten-free diet and the nutritional challenges.

I also hope she’ll urge the public to NOT try the diet before seeing their doctor to be tested for celiac. That’s the best public service she could provide.

Tagged as: Elisabeth Hasselbeck, gluten-free as a fad, gluten-free foods, gluten-free survival guide, myths about gluten, The G-Free Diet

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Meet the dietary demon du jour: gluten. This protein in wheat, barley and rye has become the new carb — just when bread was starting to make a comeback after the Atkins era.

Certainly, people with celiac disease need to strictly avoid gluten. For these individuals (1 out of 100 Americans) a gluten-free diet is far from a fad — it’s the only treatment. But the majority of folks filling up grocery carts with the vast array of gluten-free breads, cereal, pasta and processed foods do not have celiac. The newly devoted simply believe going without gluten is a healthier way to eat — even if they don’t know why.

Gluten has become a popular target of alternative health practitioners who are quick to recommend a gluten-free diet for whatever ails you. Many vegans and raw food enthusiasts have added gluten to their list of ingredients to avoid.

no-gluten-symbol Giving up gluten has become a rallying cry on Web sites and blogs as a way to lose weight – especially for women over 40. But there is nothing inherent about a gluten-free diet that will enhance weight loss, unless it helps you get rid of the junk and eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains (such as brown rice and oatmeal) that are naturally gluten-free. You can easily gain weight on a gluten-free diet if you rely on a lot of highly refined gluten-free grain products. Many commercially prepared gluten-free baked items have twice the carbs and a lot of fat compared to their gluten-containing counterparts. That’s because when you take out the gluten you need the extra sugar or fat to get the right texture.

certified20gluten_free20logo Even though these products are basking in the better-for-you spotlight, don’t think you’re enhancing your health by stocking up on packages of gluten-free muffins, cakes and cookies. Just because it’s gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthier. Gluten-free foods offer no specific advantages, beyond the benefits for people who are diagnosed with celiac. In fact, gluten-free foods are often nutritionally inferior.

Many commercially prepared gluten-free baked goods are made with refined flours and starches (rice, potato, etc.) that are low in fiber and protein, and do not contain iron, folic acid and other B vitamins that are routinely added to wheat flour. Because most gluten-free grain products are not enriched, people with celiac often have a hard time getting enough of these key nutrients. Several studies have shown that people following a gluten-free diet, especially when relying on commercially prepared gluten-free foods, have diets low in iron, fiber, B vitamins, calcium and vitamin D.

Fortunately, some manufacturers are beginning to use higher-fiber more nutritious grains such as quinoa, amaranth, teff and sorghum, and are starting to enrich gluten-free baked products with essential nutrients.

A gluten-free diet also can be expensive. Commercially prepared gluten-free products are about two to three times as expensive as their gluten-containing products.. During a trip to the Whole Foods Market in Chicago I gfbakehouse found a package of gluten-free hamburger buns for $7.99 compared to $3.69 for a larger package of conventional hamburger buns (8 vs. 6 buns). For sandwich bread, you could buy a gluten-free white rice loaf for $4.39 or a larger loaf of gluten-containing multigrain bread for $3.69.

The glorification of gluten-free is a mixed blessing. On one hand it may encourage more people to get tested for celiac – which remains undiagnosed in about 97 percent of the people who have it in this country. A typical diagnosis takes an average of 11 years because the symptoms are either dismissed or mistaken for other conditions.

However, there’s a downside to the current fervor — it may make a proper diagnosis of celiac even trickier. Starting a gluten-free diet before being tested for celiac may cause the intestines to heal temporarily and an accurate diagnosis will be missed.

If celiac is ruled out, there is little to no evidence to indicate that gluten is a culprit. Even so, some people say they simply feel better by avoiding gluten.

It’s hard to argue with that, even without scientific support to explain why. The important thing to remember, though, if you choose to go gluten-free, you need to pay special attention to the nutritional adequacy of your diet. You can’t assume that you’re automatically eating better and improving your health by jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon.