Hey. I hope you are having a great day. I wanted to take a few minutes today and discuss my feelings on Gluten and how much attention it is getting today. You might disagree with some of the things I have to say, which is fine. Just hear me out and feel free to comment to this post.
I'm assuming that you have heard of gluten before. It is the center of attention in the diet world right now so I felt it was worth posting my 2 cents about it. First, what is gluten? Gluten is just a protein found in many carbohydrates, especially wheat, barley, and rye based foods and food product. So most likely you are eating this protein everyday in things like bread, cereals, and pasta. Now there is a small percentage of the population that has an autoimmune disorder where they will not digest gluten. This is known as Celiac disease. This affects about 5-10% of the population. So for some people it is critical they they avoid gluten products as much as possible.
Many people claim they can't lose weight because of eating gluten. They feel like they can't digest it, it bloats them, it causes weight gain, it increases joint pain, or it wasn't meant to be eaten by humans. This may be the cause for those with gluten problems, but there is a test for that. If you think it is causing you problems just go to your doctor and find out. It is as simple as that.
So what if you do not have this disease, should you still stay away from gluten? I have a very simple approach to nutrition. There are very few things that you eat that are inherently bad for you. They can be harmful in large amounts though. So it annoys me when people say you have to avoid something at all costs. Remember fat use to be bad for you. Now saturated fat is often consider a health food, such as coconut oil. You NEED fat to survive so how can it be bad for you? Carbs were the next scapegoat to our obesity problems. It seems that every few years we are finding the "new" reason we are so overweight. With all this information about unhealthy foods we must be decreasing the obesity rate right? Unfortunately, it is getting worse.
Now I'm not saying you should eat as much gluten as possible either. We need to balance it just like everything else. My advice is don't blame weight loss problems on one thing. It rarely is the case. Most likely there are a number of issues that need to be addressed. But gluten just like most other foods should be limited when possible, but not necessarily avoided. I eat gluten probably everyday in some amount and don't seem to have any problems with it. I still have a six pack and feel great afterwards.
But if you really think gluten is the cause of your problems there are two things you need to do and just find out. First, go to you doctor and find out if you have Celiac disease. Then, just cut gluten out of your diet for an extended period time (at least a month). When you reintroduce it see how you feel. If you notice significant changes than maybe you really do have an issue with gluten you need eliminate it or reduce it significantly. If you are looking of ways to reduce though, here are some foods you can switch too:
The way our society is, we are always looking for something evil that causes all of our problems. I don't believe we have found anything yet though. Just limit carbohydrates everyday and consume most of them around your workout and you should be fine. Oh yeah, make sure you are working out most days a week with 2-3 of them being high intensity workouts. Easy right?
You Stay Healthy San Diego,
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
I'm assuming that you have heard of gluten before. It is the center of attention in the diet world right now so I felt it was worth posting my 2 cents about it. First, what is gluten? Gluten is just a protein found in many carbohydrates, especially wheat, barley, and rye based foods and food product. So most likely you are eating this protein everyday in things like bread, cereals, and pasta. Now there is a small percentage of the population that has an autoimmune disorder where they will not digest gluten. This is known as Celiac disease. This affects about 5-10% of the population. So for some people it is critical they they avoid gluten products as much as possible.
Many people claim they can't lose weight because of eating gluten. They feel like they can't digest it, it bloats them, it causes weight gain, it increases joint pain, or it wasn't meant to be eaten by humans. This may be the cause for those with gluten problems, but there is a test for that. If you think it is causing you problems just go to your doctor and find out. It is as simple as that.
So what if you do not have this disease, should you still stay away from gluten? I have a very simple approach to nutrition. There are very few things that you eat that are inherently bad for you. They can be harmful in large amounts though. So it annoys me when people say you have to avoid something at all costs. Remember fat use to be bad for you. Now saturated fat is often consider a health food, such as coconut oil. You NEED fat to survive so how can it be bad for you? Carbs were the next scapegoat to our obesity problems. It seems that every few years we are finding the "new" reason we are so overweight. With all this information about unhealthy foods we must be decreasing the obesity rate right? Unfortunately, it is getting worse.
Now I'm not saying you should eat as much gluten as possible either. We need to balance it just like everything else. My advice is don't blame weight loss problems on one thing. It rarely is the case. Most likely there are a number of issues that need to be addressed. But gluten just like most other foods should be limited when possible, but not necessarily avoided. I eat gluten probably everyday in some amount and don't seem to have any problems with it. I still have a six pack and feel great afterwards.
 |
| Maybe gluten helped me get a 6 pack? |
But if you really think gluten is the cause of your problems there are two things you need to do and just find out. First, go to you doctor and find out if you have Celiac disease. Then, just cut gluten out of your diet for an extended period time (at least a month). When you reintroduce it see how you feel. If you notice significant changes than maybe you really do have an issue with gluten you need eliminate it or reduce it significantly. If you are looking of ways to reduce though, here are some foods you can switch too:
- Buckwheat
- Amaranth
- Nut Flours
- Coconut Flour
- Quinoa
The way our society is, we are always looking for something evil that causes all of our problems. I don't believe we have found anything yet though. Just limit carbohydrates everyday and consume most of them around your workout and you should be fine. Oh yeah, make sure you are working out most days a week with 2-3 of them being high intensity workouts. Easy right?
You Stay Healthy San Diego,
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
