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Choosing to be gluten free? Read this.

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on March 23, 2017

The March 22nd Health and Family Section of the Chicago Tribune discusses the disadvantages of going gluten.  Gluten-free diets are recommended for those individuals with celiac disease.  Less than 1 percent of Americans have been diagnosed with celiac disease, 25 percent of Americans are following a gluten-free diet in 2015, up from 2013.

It is a diet that most individuals diagnosed with celiac disease would prefer to not have to follow. Yet, many Americans have decided to go gluten free despite no diagnosis.  In a report published by the scientific journal Epidemiology, researchers found that those who followed a gluten-free diet may be exposed to increased levels of arsenic and mercury. These are toxic metals that can lead to cardiovascular disease, neurological problems and cancer, among other things. Test results of urine and blood samples found that arsenic levels were almost twice as high among gluten-free individuals compared to those on a conventional diet. Mercury levels were 70 percent higher in the gluten-free group.  Interestingly, rice flour which is often the substitution for wheat, has the ability to soak up metals from soil, fertilizer, and water- mercury and arsenic among them.
Bottom line is if you don’t have celiac disease and don’t need to follow a gluten-free diet you may want to rethink this approach. Maybe a peanut butter sandwich or some pasta isn’t such a bad thing after all.