Does eating gluten-free really make you lose weight?

This may be an unpopular answer, but gluten-free is a fad, like carb-free or fat-free diets.

Very few people really have celiac disease. Very few. It has become the new go-to diagnosis, mostly unnecessarily.

Last weekend a coworker brought in some corn chips and salsa for a snack. The chips had a huge red banner touting “GLUTEN-FREE!” No shit. Corn chips have always been gluten free.

If you really do have a gluten intolerance (and I know exactly one person who does) and you don’t want to lose weight, supplement your diet with natural fats. Nuts, avacodoes… real food, basically.

As a celiac I can tell you it is far easier not to have to worry about such things.

But it is not a weight loss plan. The flours used for baked goods and substitutes are generally higher calories and less dense. I actually wouldn’t recommend many of them.

If your weight loss is a result of celaics disease then eating correctly should add weight.

Whole foods are my recommendation as well. @Blueroses corn chips can be glutened by either ingredients flavors or trace contaminates due to manufacturing processes. I wouldn’t recommend most corn chips gluten or non gluten unless they were gmo free. If you have gut problems.

If your intestinal villa is damaged a number of celaics from support groups have noticed stomach issues occurring when they eat food products containing corn as 85% of American corn is gmo.

If you do have celaics, and I hope you don’t, as it is far more complex and restrictive then people think. PM for resources and tips and things you should know right away.

If you have celiac disease eating gluten free is a must for you. There is a wide range of gluten-free products that will mean you don’t have to cut anything out of your diet. There are gluten-free breads, cereals, pancake mix, flour. Just check your local health food store or Whole Foods.

If you do not have celiac disease, there is no point to eating gluten-free.

It’s not that eating GF will lead to weight loss, it’s the not eating as many carbohydrates from grains.

@Blueroses I understand there is a rush to be gluten free, but I also know people who have found they have a gluten intolerance. And my opinion on why it is being found widespread is because so much wheat has been modified over the years that people can’t digest it the same way the population could 50 years ago.

My mother lost an unhealthy amount of weight because of celiac disease over ten years ago. Since she has eaten gluten-free and her digestive system is able to function properly, she has gained weight back.

@Blueroses I have relatives that have been diagnosed with celiac, and one of them was very underweight due to the disease. I have gluten sensitivity, and know many many people who are gluten intolerant.

Yes, the Gluten Free diet has become a bit of a fad.
But, Gluten is very hard for your body to digest. Most cultures do not dump added gluten into their foods. It’s quite ridiculous.
I can eat foods made out of (white) all-purpose flower, but I cannot eat whole grain flower. Home ground flower is terrible because all the gluten is still in it. Most store-bought things, I could eat if it weren’t for all the added gluten! They over-process the grains (which gets rid of some of the gluten!), and then dump way too much back into it. They’re poisoning America. :/
If you haven’t tried it already, I’d recommend avoiding oats, bran, and added gluten before completely cutting out gluten altogether. (Assuming you’re not actually celiac.)

In answer to your question –
As people before have already stated, it’s not excluding gluten that makes you lose weight, but rather the carbs that it cuts. If you have celiac you definitely won’t find yourself losing weight because of cutting out gluten. Rather, cutting out the gluten will help you to gain weight back again because you’ll be able to actually digest the food that you eat.

To clarify my original thought; I think there ARE valid reasons to avoid certain dietary items. Gluten may be one for some people. But, it seems to me that what we’re avoiding is processing, preservatives and empty carbs.

Get locally grown wheat made into healthy bread (freeze or refrigerate, it doesn’t last on the counter), and the gluten intolerance diminishes significantly at least, I’ve seen that to be true in my professional and personal acquaintances

Shop the perimeter of the store, make your own food and avoid “convenience ready-to-eat” stuff in the middle aisles.

In my own life, Real food doesn’t make me feel ill.