Eating Gluten Free Is NOT a Weight Loss Diet. Today’s mini post for Celiac Awareness Month is about another misnomer related to gluten-free eating. Why is it so many people want to believe they will lose weight if they eliminate gluten? Or that those of us eating a medically-necessary gluten-free diet are doing so to lose weight?
Last night on the Billboard Music Awards, Diddy made a comment about drinking Ciroc vodka being how he stays so slim, because it’s gluten-free. First, nearly all vodka is gluten-free. Second, eating gluten free is not a weight loss diet.
In fact, the opposite is true. Many find that switching to a gluten-free diet causes weight gain. This could be because they needed to gain weight. Some who have celiac disease or other gluten-related concerns struggle to keep weight on, as well as the opposite with some struggling to lose weight. It can also be because they are now including a lot of packaged gluten-free products in their diet which can be higher in calories than gluten-full counterparts. Or because of another concern I’m sharing about later this month: a scarcity mindset related to food for those who have to avoid gluten. This can lead to over-eating, anxiety, an unhealthy fixation on food. It certainly doesn’t lead to weight loss.
So there it is, eating gluten free is not a weight loss diet. It’s Myth #476 about celiac disease and medically necessary elimination of gluten. (I haven’t really counted up all of the myths, but at this point, 476 doesn’t seem an unlikely number.)
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