Is a gluten-free diet right or wrong for you?

Choosing gluten-free foods in the absence of a diagnosis of celiac disease ascertained by specialized doctors is not advisable: it can increase the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases, and more generally it can remove noble nutrients from the diet. On the occasion inworld celiac disease day, scheduled for May 16th, calls from experts are multiplying to put a stop to the trend, as senseless as it is rampant, of excluding gluten from the diet. These are calls increasingly supported by scientific studies, two of which have been made public in recent days.

Foods With Gluten

All food products made with wheat, barley, rye, and triticale flours include gluten.

Other lesser-known foods with gluten may include:

• Condiments
  • Soy sauce
  • Cream sauces
  • Ketchup
  • Malt vinegar
  • Barbecue sauce
• Beverages
  • Beer
  • Malted milkshakes
  • Coffee creamer
• Soups
• Food coloring
• Chips
• Granola bars
• Candy
• Veggie burgers
• Hot dogs
• Ice cream
• Fried foods
  • French fries
  • Fried chicken
  • Fried fish
  • Mozzarella sticks

What Is a Gluten-Free Diet?

A gluten-free diet is a diet that eliminates all foods with gluten. It includes only gluten-free foods such as:

• Gluten-free whole grains
  • Quinoa
  • Buckwheat
  • Sorghum
  • Rice
• Alternative flours
  • Almond flour
  • Chickpea flour
  • Coconut flour
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Legumes
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Eggs
• Fresh meat and fish
• Dairy products

In the first, presented by researchers from the Spanish Instituto de Investigations Sanitaria La Fe at the recent congress of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition held in Prague, foods for celiac have come under fire, failing in comparison with the homologous foods with gluten. The authors compared 654 different gluten free foods and 655 normal products, belonging to 14 categories such as: pasta, biscuits, bread, breakfast cereals and also ready meals. From the analysis of the two groups it emerged that, for example, bread has on average a double fat concentration compared to traditional bread and a protein content two to three times lower. For biscuits the situation is similar: more fat and less protein than normal ones, while as regards pasta, the one for celiac has less protein than the conventional one. All this can lead to dietary impoverishment and weight gain, risks that are acceptable if you have celiac disease, but unjustified in other cases.

People who still want to avoid gluten are advised to read nutritional labels very carefully, trying to choose foods with less fat. Among the

requests addressed to companies is the invitation to formulate new recipes also using alternative raw materials such as buckwheat, potato starch or amaranth. The risk of obesity must be considered especially for children, forced to follow a gluten-free diet for their entire lives, attracted by higher-calorie foods such as breakfast cereals and biscuits.

Moreover, it also proves that gluten-free foods can pose a health risk the other study, this time published on British Medical Journal by nutritionists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The researchers examined data from nearly 100,000 men and women who participated in two large studies with many elements covering a 26-year period. The authors saw that the consumption of gluten is in no way associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, while the consumption of gluten-free foods may be, even just due to the removal of fiber from the diet, effective cardiovascular prevention agents . Result: adopting a gluten-free diet is not recommended for anyone who does not have a real need for it. According to the latest estimates, celiac make up around one percent of the population, a percentage that has been stable for many decades, unlike the consumption of gluten-free foods, which is constantly growing.