Gluten-free diets help people with celiac disease live a pain-free, active life by avoiding the health consequences of gluten intolerance. The popularity of low-carbohydrate and Paleo weight-loss diets, which eliminate or greatly reduce grain-based carbohydrates, has created confusion about the differences among these diets. It is possible to lose weight on gluten-free diets, but gluten-free is not the same as low-calorie. To lose weight by going gluten-free, pay close attention to what you’re eating and how much.
Gluten-Free Diets
It’s a myth that gluten-free diets inevitably lead to weight loss, though they can. Gluten-free diets are intended to eliminate exposure to gluten, a protein present in wheat, barley, rye and triticale, a wheat hybrid. Spelt, closely related to wheat, also should be avoided. Gluten-free diets help people who have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that damages the villi in the intestines, affecting nutrient absorption. They also help people who are allergic or sensitive to gluten. A truly gluten-free diet is a major life change that requires reading every product label – gluten can be in everything from salad dressing and sauces to toothpaste – and interrogating waiters in restaurants about the smallest menu details.
Weight-Loss Diets
Many gluten-free food products are higher in carbohydrates, sugar and fat than the breads, bakery items and pastas they replace – very important to keep in mind if you’re hoping to lose weight. The underlying principle of all weight-loss diets holds true even if you’re going gluten free: You need to eat fewer calories than you use over time to lose unwanted fat pounds. As the American Academy of Family Physicians reminds us, to lose 1 pound of fat in a week, you need to take in 3,500 fewer calories total – 500 fewer calories a day – or use an extra 3,500 calories by exercising. Easiest for most people is doing both, trimming 250 calories a day from your diet and exercising enough every day to burn an extra 250 calories.
Gluten Grain Substitutes
Gluten proteins in wheat flours lend body, make dough elastic and help trap gas, or air, in baked goods for a light texture. Substituting various gluten-free starches, flours and baking aids can produce quality breads and other baked products. Gluten-free grain substitutes include amaranth, a “pseudo-cereal” originally from South America; bean flours; buckwheat; corn, both meal and flour; millet; montina, a grass native to Montana; nut flours; quinoa; potato; rice; sorghum or milo; teff; and tapioca.
Gluten-Free Weight Loss
People with celiac disease or a gluten allergy or sensitivity may lose weight quickly when they eliminate breads, pasta and other processed wheat products, from pretzels and crackers to pizza, from their diet. You probably will, too, if you eliminate these foods. Simply substituting gluten-free versions of these foods, often loaded with sugar and made with low-nutrient, rapidly digested white rice, potato and tapioca flours, will not support weight loss.
Instead build your gluten-free diet around lots of high-nutrient, high-fiber and low-carbohydrate vegetables, lean protein, low-fat dairy products, fruits and gluten-free whole grains and whole-grain baked goods. And count those calories and watch portion sizes.
References
- The Wall Street Journal; Health Journal -- Giving Up Gluten to Lose Weight? Not So Fast; Melinda Beck; August 2010
- American Academy of Family Physicians; What it Takes to Lose Weight; December 2010
- Health.com; Do Gluten-Free Diets Take Off Pounds?; Dee Sandquist; July 2009
- CNN Health; The Chart -- How Do I Lose Weight on a Gluten-Free Diet?; Melina Jampolis; June 2011
- Colorado State University Extension; Gluten-Free Baking; F. Watson, et al.; April 2009
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