There are still a few people who have opinion that gluten free diet is weight loss diet! What is actually gluten free diet? And is it effective to lose weight? Are you confused?
Well, one thing you should know that this gluten free diet is not purposed to lose or burn more pounds of weight. As the name implies, it is a kind of diet that is designed for people with ‘celiac disease’ or ‘gluten allergy’ to avoid any foods that contain gluten. Another popular name of this diet is celiac disease diet!
Celiac disease
To understand more about gluten free diet, first let’s explore more what actually celiac disease is! It is a kind of immune problem in which an individual who cannot tolerate gluten. Read also symptoms of celiac disease!
And gluten is a kind of specific protein that most often to be found in barley, rye, and wheat. Therefore, people with celiac disease are not allowed to eat pasta, bread, or even pizza (foods that contain gluten). Moreover, there are also some foods that hide gluten, like beer, licorice, salad dressing, and so on! Read more about what are gluten foods!
Once again, people with celiac disease must avoid eating any foods that contain gluten otherwise their small intestine will become damaged & inflamed. This condition can lead to some serious health problems, particularly problems associated with malabsorption, malnutrition, and deficiencies of minerals and vitamins.
So, we now completely understand that gluten free diet is not weight loss diet!
Should you do a gluten free diet although you don’t have celiac disease?
Over the past decade, gluten free diet has been touted as option to lose weight, and boost energy & health! But today as mentioned before, it is more popular and really needed for people with celiac disease!
And Yes’ there is still a few people who believe that this diet is good choice to promote better health. But believe me -- it is not easy to follow. Even it can be categorized into the most difficult diet, because there are a lot of foods that contain gluten and you should avoid them if you choose this diet!
If you don’t have medical reason to do a gluten free diet, you should avoid it because it may pose nutritional drawbacks. There are still a lot of types of weight loss diet to choose from that can be more effective to lose your weight!
Causes of celiac disease and prevention steps!
Unfortunately, there is still no clue what is the clearly factors that can cause celiac disease. But some experts believe that there are certain genes that can increase the risk of celiac disease.
And in fact, celiac disease is relatively more common in western countries where ultra-clean environments are so familiar. But this disease is less common in countries where ultra-clean environments are not too familiar. Based on this fact, some experts believe that there may be a link between celiac disease and hygiene hypothesis. With ultra-clean environments, the immune systems in childhood cannot develop optimally because they are not exposed adequately to antigens.
The next big question; can ‘celiac disease’ be prevented? It cannot be prevented, but the damaged small intestine and symptoms can be reversed with the strict steps in gluten free diet! Don’t forget to talk with a doctor for more detailed information!
-- Image credit to ‘Getty Images’
