Should I follow a gluten-free diet?

[Northerner]

Gluten-free diets are soaring in popularity, especially in the US where USA Today reports that up to one in four people seek out gluten-free foods. Gluten is a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye and is present in some of our favourite foods, including bread and pasta.

An autoimmune response to gluten is the cause of coeliac disease ? a condition with a strong genetic component that causes chronic diarrhoea, weight loss, anaemia and osteoporosis. It is diagnosed by measuring antibodies and taking a tiny biopsy from the bowel. Earlier this year a group of coeliac specialists put together a consensus paper arguing that people could be sensitive to gluten without having the disease. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus are encouraging their followers to embrace gluten-free foods, and the popular book G-Free Diet claims that avoiding gluten is healthy and can help you lose weight. And who doesn't know someone who complains that bread gives them cramps, makes them bloated and tired? Is it better to cut it out?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/09/should-follow-gluten-free-diet

 

[trophywench]

Err me, except one girl at work who is coeliac. Otherwise I don't know ANYONE who says that.

 

[Catwoman76]

If I could change things I wouldn't have Coeliac disease ( recently diagnosed) and if I didn't have it, I don't think I would go gluten free lightly, maybe just avoid a small amount of gluten, wheat, Rye and Barley. GF foods are expensive, home baking is more expensive, a lot of the GF food also lacks taste. I was given a small free pack of crackers at the hospital and the my pharmacy are having problems trying to get them and these are actually tasty, so it looks like rice crackers, again, also the bread is awful and the carbs in a small brown ciabatta roll is 19.8 grams and a very small, 29 gr of sliced white bread is 13.9 carbs(this is a freebie, I dont normally buy white bread)a small sliced loaf costs between ?2.00 and ?3.00😱 Defintely not a choice I would make in a hurry
Do what YOU feel would be best for your health and lifestyle, not necessarily what the dr's or these 'guru's that appear to be pooping up at an alarming rate seem to say.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it😎