Gluten-Free: Health Issue Or Fad Diet
Last year a friend – who I’ve known since elementary school – came to British Columbia for a visit. Showing her around town included stopping in a restaurant for drinks and appetizers, generally an easy task for two friends and looking at the menu I easily found a few options to share. This is when she sheepishly looked at me and said ‘I can’t eat gluten.’
Being gluten free has become a health fad, a way for people to lose weight by not eating wheat, barley and rye. My friend was awkward about this because she has Celiac disease which causes gluten to become poison in her body, and did not want the waiter thinking she was just another whacko with weight loss concerns.
For those who have read (or seen) Scott Pilgrim vs the World, there is a scene where Scott learns the truth about his favourite food, garlic bread. Credit.
Yes, bread makes you fat but cutting wheat from your diet just to shed a couple extra pounds is not going to help you. There are a lot of nutrients in these foods, “including fibre, iron, folate, niacin, thiamine, calcium, vitamin B12, phosphorus and zinc,” said Katherine Tallmadge, dietician and author.