These days there are all kinds of ridiculous diets.  We are all constantly looking to be healthier and thinner but some people take it to the extreme.  Lately, supermarkets have stocked up much heavier on gluten-free products than ever before. A gluten free diet was made specifically for people suffering from Celiac Disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where the  take-in of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine.  According to a study done by the Mayo clinic, 1 in every 141 people in the United States have this disease.  However, now, more people are using gluten-free as a diet because they feel it will help their health. (Huffington Post, Gluten-free myths)

There are more people now more than ever that are ditching gluten all together even if they don’t require that diet, but do they even know the facts? Eliminating wheat may cause you to become deficient in the micronutrients, which are vitamins and minerals that are contained within wheat, that they need for survival. Gluten-free diets have been found to show a major decrease in A & D vitamins, as well as calcium, iron, and zinc. (Huffington Post, Gluten-free myths)

Additionally, people believe they will drop tons of weight by going gluten-free.  This is not the case, in fact, it could possibly be the opposite. You won’t necessarily lose weight, it really all depends on how you go gluten free.  Yes, if you stop eating foods with heavy carbs such as bagels and pasta you will lose weight, however, if you’re simply replacing these foods with the “gluten free pasta” you won’t. Replacing regular products with the gluten free identical product is a bad idea because usually gluten-free products have more sugar and fat which contain more calories.  Just because more gluten free products exist now does not mean you should switch your entire diet!

Of course, for people who really do have celiac disease, avoiding gluten is important and necessary because they could experience extreme abdominal pain. Even just small amounts of gluten may damage their small intestines.

sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/gluten-free-diet-myths_n_3280488.html

http://celiac.org/blog/2014/02/12/9-things-you-should-know-before-going-gluten-free/

http://celiac.org/celiac-disease/what-is-celiac-disease/