Gluten Free

A groundbreaking new study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry confirms what we’ve thought for years: You can lose body fat by eliminating gluten from your diet. Going gluten-free is not just for people with celiac disease and wheat intolerance. It may benefit everyone!

Researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet to induce fat gain, but one group was gluten-free and the other ate 4.5% gluten. Results showed that the gluten-free animals had lower body fat, less belly fat, less inflammation, and better insulin sensitivity and blood sugar tolerance.

The study authors were struck that the gluten-eating mice didn’t gain fat due to eating more calories than the gluten-free mice. Rather, the fat gain was due to the gluten disrupting hormone function, leading to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Simply eating gluten set the mice up to develop diabetes. They also had a severe inflammatory state in the gut.

Researchers suggest that the data is applicable to humans and supports the thought gluten-free diets for fat loss and diabetes prevention have beneficial effects. The study also shows that, even if you don’t have celiac disease, gluten can mess with your gut.

Before we continue, let’s look at some definitions.

• Gluten is the mixture of proteins found in grains (especially wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats) that is not soluble in water and gives dough its elastic texture.
• Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition affecting numerous systems in the body. It causes lasting damage to the intestinal tract. In the long-term, people with celiac disease will die if they don’t avoid gluten.
• Gluten sensitivity is also an autoimmune condition, but it doesn’t cause lasting, irreversible damage to the digestive tract. There is a wide range of symptoms and degrees of sensitivity. The word sensitivity can be substituted for intolerance.

The Statistics
Gluten sensitivities can be acquired at any point in your life. Look at these statistics:

• Infants who are exposed to gluten from 0 to 3 months have a much greater risk of becoming gluten intolerant than those who are not.
• Infants who are breast-fed are much less likely to become gluten intolerant than those that are given formula, regardless of if they are exposed to gluten during that time.
• Celiac disease occurs in 1-2% of the American population. Estimates of diagnosable gluten sensitivity are around 35% of the Caucasian population, although this number may be much higher.
• Gluten sensitivity appears to be much higher in people of white European descent, especially those from the UK.
• Many reports show that gluten-related problems are on the rise. This has many possible reasons including the increased consumption of processed foods and an increase in the amount of gluten found in our wheat supply. According to a new study analysis published in BMC Medicine, the amount of gluten in the wheat of today has increased to 14% from 4% a century ago. This is due to the advent of genetically modified wheat containing more gluten, a trait desired by food manufacturers.

Clearly we can benefit from going gluten free! In our next post we’ll, discuss the best ways to do this.

Learn More!
If you want more information on how to improve your health through better nutritional and lifestyle choices, check out our upcoming FREE “Gluten-Free Cooking” class September 16 at 6:00pm at our downtown Roanoke chiropractic office. Email us to reserve your spot.

Also, our life-changing, three-week