Article on GF diet

[urbangirl]

Just read this and wondered if others had seen it?

independent.co.uk/life-styl...

[SilverDreamMachine]

Hi urbangirl,

The article has a point, in that substitute foods are often just as bad (if not more so) than what they replaced and there is a higher cost factor. But for me and I'm guessing lots of others, the awareness of potential harmful proteins in carbs has shone a light on what we put in our mouths. My diet now is far healthy than before diagnosis and biscuits (which used to be my favourite go to snack) have now been substituted by a handful of nuts and dried fruit.

If non-coeliacs choose to stop eating gluten then, hopefully for their sakes, a high proportion will move onto a healthier diet.

Thanks for the link.

Peter

[urbangirl in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

I think there were some unanswered questions in the article about the research. It might be good to read more the circumstances of the people in the sample, for example what age the people were when they stopped eating gluten? And there may be other significant factors such as lifestyles to consider. Also I noticed there was a suggestion that GF substitutes, eg bread, was eaten which may also be of significance. So you are right about the key point being a healthy diet. I thought it was an unhelpful article that is giving a dodgy message.

[MTCee]

I've read articles like this before and they set off my scare tactic/propaganda radar alarm. If it sounds like hogwash, it probably is. Before you can decide how to view such a study, you need to know who commissioned it and my suspicion in this case is the wheat industry in some form. People who have to avoid gluten don't tend to rely much on the highly processed gluten free substitute foods that are readily available for a hefty price, they stick to foods that are just naturally gluten free. Such foods are usually much healthier than gluten based diets and help avoid the onset of diabetes type 2.

[urbangirl in reply to MTCee]

Yep you are right and probably is commissioned by those with a vested interest. It was a big study though. I bet there is much more to it than what is reported anyway. It's not helpful to people to read such stuff either.

[Penel in reply to MTCee]

The original study is about 30 years old and was originally designed to look at the health effects of eating low fat diets. It ran for a very long time. The people involved kept food diaries, and their health was monitored. This "new" study has analysed these food diaries and estimated gluten consumption.

How accurate any food diaries may be is open to question. The study didn't find evidence that a low fat diet was good for heart health, but the scientists were so convinced that low fat diets were going to improve health, that they decided the participants (nurses) hadn't recorded their food accurately!

It really isn't the kind of study that you should use to draw firm conclusions on anything.

[urbangirl in reply to Penel]

That's an interesting time lapse but begs the question why on earth is it news? Outdated research? Thank you for this and I quite agree this is a disappointing piece from this newspaper especially in view of your information.

[Penel in reply to urbangirl]

The original studies have given researchers a huge amount of data on what people eat, over a long time frame, so it's not surprising that the data is still being used. How you interpret this data is open to debate, I think there has been a lot of 'jumping to conclusions', as Peter has said, it makes a good headline.

This is a better summary of the findings.

consumer.healthday.com/vita...

[Hidden]

Thanks for sharing this Urbangirl and heres a similar article in last years Telegraph

telegraph.co.uk/science/201...

And this I found interesting, it contradicts what we are told about codex 20ppm being 'safe' which some of us react to, so now seems a good time to share it:

nutritionfacts.org/2016/02/...

My understanding is that gluten actually improves a non coeliac immune system and that by avoiding the toxic grains some people are not getting sufficient roughage. I know some coeliac eat codex wheat products but it is so processed it is of low nutritional value and has had the roughage removed

I agree with Peter that the real advantage for those needing a gf diet is by way of natural unprocessed foods rather than the free from aisle food which is high in fat, sugar, and additives and low in roughage and low in nutritional value.

So I wouldn't go worrying about this but realise the importance of a healthy balanced diet that is gluten free and keeps us healthy.

[urbangirl in reply to Hidden]

I quite agree! Will read the other articles. I've just re-posted the Twitter link as the headline says 'Stop avoiding gluten. Immediately.' I certainly didn't take any notice of this. However, some people might.

twitter.com/Independent/sta...

[SilverDreamMachine in reply to urbangirl]

The other aspect is the motivation behind media reporting this 'on trend stuff'. If I was an editor I'd welcome any study that was eye catching and countered current trends. As usual money/profit is the driver, not unbiased reflection.

[Hidden in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

Well said peter and here's an extract form the Times it is in a tongue and cheek article by Giles Coren:

''Item: gluten-free this, nut-free that, caffeine-free the other. Diagnosis: Credulous, attention-seeking hypochondriac. Action: Small reduction on colonic irrigation, slap in the chops when nobody’s looking.

Item: Tofu sausages, veggie lasagne, tiny bottle of vegan wine. Diagnosis: Teenage girl. Action: Incentivising reductions on all fairtrade products, alcopops and hypo-allergenic nose rings. Swap the labels on some Wall’s bangers to save her from anaemia.''

I just thought what a load of drivel but its what he gets paid for...

[Penel]

Definitely an unhelpful article, including some quite unpleasant emotive phrases, such as "the backlash against the anti-gluten brigade". I would have expected better from this newspaper.

The study used very old observational findings which merely show a link, but correlation is not causation. We know that many ready-made foods are over processed, high GI, lacking in fibre and so likely to spike our glucose/insulin response, which can contribute to metabolic syndrome. The presence or absence of gluten is not the most important thing.

Feeling really annoyed by this. Type 2 diabetes is becoming an increasing problem and this kind of article doesn't help.

[Ruthi]

Well, of course I have jumped to a different conclusion. What if a propensity to T2D is the same deep down as the propensity to react to gluten? Recent research is suggesting that T2D is gut biome related, and gluten sensitivity certainly seems linked to the biome.

I have been eating very low carbs for a few months. It's the diet recommended to reverse T2D, and pretty well by definition excludes all grains. I cannot tell you how much better my gut feels!

[MTCee in reply to Ruthi]

It's interesting that you have mentioned a possible link between a predisposition towards T2D and gluten sensitivity. I have often wondered the same. In my family of origin, my father, my brother and my sister all have T2D. I decided to go on a low carb diet to ensure I avoided the same fate and in doing so, found out that I couldn't return to eating any gluten containing grains. I then found to my delight that after a few years of avoiding gluten, by eating foods that were naturally free of gluten rather than "free-from" foods, that my asthma that had plagued me for 50years, disappeared as did all my aches and pains, especially a moderately painful hip joint, which I thought would need to be replaced. My sister has since followed my low carb diet and found that her asthma has also gone into remission. My father and brother are also asthmatic, but won't change their diets. There has to be a genetic link here and it can't just be wheat allergy, otherwise I and my sister would be able to eat non-wheat grains. It's interesting but very difficult to untangle cause and effect.

[Ruthi]

Low carbs does so much more than eliminate wheat, though. I've been eating a ketogenic diet for five months and all my digestive issues, my migraines, my anxiety, my brain fog have gone. Amazing!