On your journey to improve your health or to lose weight you will come across plenty of fad diets. Fad diets frequently have the internet ablaze with thousands of people buzzing about the diet.  A few months on, and that specific diet just seems to evaporate into thin air.  These diets disappear virtually overnight because they’re either too restrictive or the weight that you lost following it comes back on once you return to your normal way of eating, they just aren’t achievable long term. The gluten-free diet is nothing like a fad diet and in this article, we are going to explain exactly why.

Why are some calling the gluten-free diet a fad? 

A lot of people have commented that the gluten-free diet is just another fad diet.  In truth, the gluten-free diet can be a fad for some.  It is estimated that one-third of Americans and even Australians have started cutting gluten from their diets.  Plenty of these individuals are avoiding gluten in order to lose weight and not because of the health complications associated with gluten.  Yes, you can lose weight on a gluten-free diet but this type of diet isn’t designed for the purpose of weight loss. This diet is actually designed to help those with gluten protein allergies and not for a weight loss or fitness program.  Not all people on gluten-free diets are actually gluten intolerant.  The gluten-free diet could be called a fad to these people because it doesn’t actually benefit them since there is no real reason why they should avoid gluten in the first place.

Gluten free doesn’t mean healthy 

Gluten protein in foods is not unhealthy.  In fact, these proteins can greatly improve your immune system.  Plenty of people are misunderstanding the term ‘gluten-free’ with ‘healthier’.  Gluten-free doesn’t mean healthier at all.  It simply means ‘gluten-free’.  Avoiding gluten won’t make you healthier unless you do in fact have a gluten intolerance or coeliac disease.  Only people with these conditions will actually be healthier by cutting gluten from their meals.

What are gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease? 

Now you may wonder why there is so much faffing going on about gluten-free foods and what gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease are.  

Coeliac disease – This disease is a condition where those that consume gluten produce antibodies that attack the villi of the small intestine.   When the villi are damaged, your small intestines become inflamed and results in nutritional deficiencies as well as other symptoms such as diarrhea and more.

Gluten sensitivity – Those with gluten sensitivity also react negatively to gluten and symptoms can include bloating, fatigue, digestive issues, and this sensitivity can affect every part of your body including all organs, muscles and body tissue.

All the rage of a gluten-free diet is because these two conditions are very serious.  Those that have gluten intolerance or coeliac disease suffer on a daily basis and the only way to overcome these challenges is by switching over to gluten-free food.