Does A Gluten-free Diet Work For Weight Loss?

Are you thinking about switching to gluten-free foods for weight loss? You might have come across many celebrities or influencers on social media who talk about gluten-free diets and their benefits. But whether the gluten-free diet is healthy or reduces weight is still an enigma to many of us. Let’s dive in to know more about a gluten-free diet and its effect on weight.

Gluten-free foods are becoming a rage these days thanks to all the attention it is getting from food industries experimenting with wheat substitutes and health gurus sharing some of their testimonies on social media.

Gluten-free foods are primarily indicated for people having celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. There is a certain percentage of people around the world who have an allergy to gluten, a protein found in all wheat products and some varieties of oats.

These people, after consuming wheat products, develop intestinal inflammation and allergic symptoms like bloating, watery diarrhea, weakness, and loss of weight. Gluten works like poison for them, and they should try to avoid it as much as possible. However, other people who don’t have this condition can safely consume wheat products.

There has been a lot of research on whether gluten-free foods help in losing weight, and the answer is no. Many studies have shown that gluten-free grains don’t cause weight loss per se in otherwise healthy individuals.

How does a gluten-free diet help in shedding extra kilos?

Gluten is ubiquitous in most edible products these days. From pizzas to kinds of pasta to bread, everything is made of refined flour or whole wheat flour, both of which contain gluten. Gluten has a sticky nature, and for that reason, it is used in making a wide variety of food products.

Now coming back to our crucial question, when a person goes on a gluten-free diet, he has to get away from food items like pizzas, kinds of pasta, and other wheat-based products and change their diet to more nutrient-dense food options like oats, millets, etc.

People claim that after resorting to a gluten-free diet, they feel light on their stomachs, are more active, and reduce kilos. So, the weight loss they feel is the outcome of a lack of consumption of refined flour food items instead of gluten.

After switching to a gluten-free diet, the people with celiac disease feel light as their gut inflammation slowly goes away. The abdominal bloating also vanishes, which makes you feel like you have lost weight.

Please note that research shows no extra benefit of a gluten-free diet except in people with gluten sensitivity.

Reverse Effect of a Gluten-free Diet

There has been an observation that after switching to a gluten-free diet after the celiac diagnosis, the body gains weight. This happens because now your body starts to heal from chronic inflammation caused by gluten and starts absorbing nutrients. The body goes into a building phase, causing weight gain.

Another peril of this diet is that gluten-free grains are sometimes heavily processed and are filled with high calories, salt, saturated fats, etc., to make them more palatable. And since it is touted as a “healthy diet”, if people tend to consume it more than required, it can thereby lead to weight gain.

The bottom line is that gluten is only problematic for people who have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Otherwise, gluten doesn’t cause harm to normal people. In every diet plan, moderation is key. Always keep a check on your consumption based on your body requirements and physical activity.