Should we eat gluten free?

In recent months we have only heard about “gluten free” (“gluten free” or “no gluten”), so much so that we are talking about a fad.

Adopting a gluten-free diet would lose weight, gain energy and improve digestion.

For those who are truly gluten intolerant (celiac patients), this trend is an aberration, even a lack of respect for “real gluten patients”.

For most physicians, only those intolerant or allergic to gluten could benefit from removing gluten from their diet.

According to some scientists who have carried out new research on this subject, eliminating gluten would be of great interest to all of us.

For the food industry, this trend is a real boon since many “gluten-free” products have been created and are sold at exorbitant prices.

Between advertising, information from scientific journals, information from fashion magazines, doctor’s explanations, various testimonials, etc … it is difficult to navigate.

First it is important to know what exactly we are talking about. Gluten is actually a generic term that refers to two types of proteins: glutenins and prolamins. These proteins are found in wheat in particular, as well as in other cereals (spelled, oats, rye, barley, kamut).

It is these proteins which give the bouncy and softness of bread, for example. In many preparations (cakes, cookies and ready meals) gluten is added to improve their texture.

Cereals began to be consumed by humans only since the birth of agriculture, around 10,000 years ago. As a result, some people have looked into the subject and concluded that our body would not have had time to adapt to this new diet, and we would not have enzymes capable of normally digesting the proteins of these cereals (this is the theory put forward by supporters of the paleo diet). Consequently, prolamins and glutenins would arrive in our intestine without having been broken down, which would cause inflammatory reactions. The intestine is an organ that acts as a filter for nutrients, it allows substances beneficial to the body to pass into the bloodstream and keeps the rest to be ejected. In fact, gluten would attack the intestinal walls, making it porous, and therefore no longer able to fulfill its role of filter, since anything and everything can enter the body, which is an open door to auto diseases. -immunes.

These have tended to increase in recent years. We also have the appearance of intestinal disorders (irritable bowel syndrome), sensitivity to gluten, but also certain forms of dementia, autism, etc…; it would be recognized by some studies that wheat would have its share of responsibility.

Genetic modifications made to wheat to increase their yield may have an impact on our body.

The question is: can we blame these ailments on gluten?

With the dramatic increase in gluten sensitivities (probably due to its ubiquity in supermarkets in every conceivable form), more and more scientists are looking into the subject. And have discovered that wheat proteins are not the only ones to be incriminated! Indeed, wheat has anti-nutrients, that is to say components that prevent the absorption of vitamins and minerals, such as phytic acid, a molecule contained in the husk of cereals, which is a insecticide produced naturally by the plant to protect the seeds. It is also referred to as a trypsin inhibitor. In fact, research leads us to the conclusion that gluten itself is not even to blame!

Despite this new knowledge brought by science, many people follow a “gluten-free” diet by fad, thinking it is a weight loss diet. While it is true that reducing or removing gluten from their diet can make many people lose pounds (to the extent that removing gluten is like removing white bread, pasta, cookies … it seems logical to have an effect on the weight be noticed), it is an aberration to follow a diet without knowing the facts, simply because we read in the last women’s magazine that such a star had lost weight thanks to this new diet. As always, I advise everyone to educate themselves before embarking on a particular diet, just like when taking medication, which some people rarely, if ever do.

This is the expected reverse effect! But faced with this gluten-free fashion, food industries have developed substitute foods such as gluten-free pasta, gluten-free flour or cookies, etc. The problem is that these foods are made from rice or corn flour. , whose glycemic index is very high. This would have the consequence of storing a lot more fat! Do not attempt to replace foods high in gluten with similar foods.

If you really want to cut gluten out for health concerns like intolerance, or because you have certain ailments and want to know if it can come from wheat, then don’t think of replacing grains because ‘they provide good nutrients: cereals are not necessary for health, because their contributions of vitamins and minerals are largely replaced by fruits, vegetables and oilseeds if they are consumed in sufficient quantity.

You can choose to opt for gluten-free cereals, such as corn or rice, and rediscover vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrates can be provided by carrots, sweet potatoes, and also fruits such as bananas.