The Misconception of Gluten

The transition into becoming gluten-free is known to be a rather difficult process. A common misconception about gluten is that it is found only in products containing wheat. Although gluten is indeed found in many wheat products, it also found in barley and rye which many people are unaware of. Wheat is found in products such as soups, pasta, cereals, and breads. It is also found in many different sauces and salad dressings, which becomes rather difficult when having to eliminate gluten. Barley is found in many products such as malt, food coloring, and beer and rye is found in many cereals. One major product that contains gluten is soy sauce, which many individuals are unaware of. When I was interviewing women who are gluten free, this product was constantly mentioned and was a frustration to most as they were originally unaware that this product contained gluten. It came as a surprise to them because many of them were originally under the impression that gluten was found only in wheat products. Because of this misconception, when beginning the transition to a gluten-free diet many people commonly still continue to consume it without even realizing. For many people, they continue to have those negative health effects and are unsure why due to their belief that they eliminated gluten. It is common for the health effects to last for a long time and thus frustration occurs. It is not until the individual realizes the many other products that contain gluten and they completely remove all of these items from their diet that they will be able to be completely relieved of their symptoms.

Because of the high level of difficulty in remembering and being aware of the many products containing gluten, a gluten-free lifestyle change without reasons for physical health effects is usually discouraged. Gluten is also a very important protein that most healthy bodies need. It also adds variety to an individual’s diet. The importance of variety in a diet is very high as the body is in need of many different nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. By removing gluten from the diet, many foods containing valuable nutrients are also thus removed. It becomes harder for the body to get the proper nutrients that it needs because the availability of options greatly decreases. This is why the recommendation of this diet for only weight-loss is not encouraged. A gluten-free diet can also commonly lead to weight gain if not managed and tightly kept track of. Many of the gluten-free options are very high in calorie as well as sugar and thus results in weight gain if too much is consumed. If an individual is becoming gluten-free, it is recommended that they talk about it with their physician and think of a diet plan in order to ensure the right nutrients, minerals, and vitamins are still in consumption. Making a diet plan also allows the individual to manage the amount of calories that they will consume from the gluten-free products.