{"id":78196,"date":"2012-09-04T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2012-09-04T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=78196"},"modified":"2012-08-31T16:34:29","modified_gmt":"2012-08-31T21:34:29","slug":"the-great-gluten-debate-should-you-give-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/the-great-gluten-debate-should-you-give-it-up\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Gluten Debate: Should You Give It Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., TheBestLife.com lead nutritionist<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m throwing a small dinner party for a friend this weekend. On the menu: pasta. That\u2019s a big deal, because pasta has been food non grata for more than a year. It\u2019s not an Atkins anti-carb<\/a><\/strong> thing\u2014this time, it\u2019s the anti-gluten movement.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems like everyone I know is foregoing wheat and other grains containing this protein. So why are so many people going gluten-free? None of them have celiac<\/a><\/strong>, a serious condition in which the immune system attacks the intestines after gluten is consumed (about one percent of Americans suffer from this condition). A few might have \u201cgluten sensitivity,\u201d a less harmful, but still uncomfortable condition that affects about five percent of the population. (For details on these conditions, check out What Everyone Needs to Know About Gluten<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

In fact, most people who tell me they\u2019ve cut out gluten have no obvious problem with it. Some are going along for the ride because their spouse or child is off gluten, others think it might help them lose weight\u2014simply cutting out bread can be quite effective for some people\u2014and still others are convinced it\u2019s simply healthier.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t need to avoid gluten, is there any harm in doing so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, you might drive yourself crazy trying to avoid the little bits of hidden gluten in soy sauce, possibly in oats (from being stored with gluten-containing grains), in the coating of vitamin tablets, and so on. As for grains\u2014the main source of gluten in our diet\u2014we didn\u2019t evolve to eat them. They weren\u2019t on the menus of our hunter-gatherer ancestors<\/a><\/strong>; grains came about during the agricultural revolution, 12,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

Of course, things have changed. We no longer have to hunt and gather our own food, and now grains\u2014whole grains, that is\u2014have become an important part of the diet: They give us fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, phytonutrients, and also contribute to satiety\u2014that feeling of fullness that lasts for hours after a meal.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve given up on gluten<\/a><\/strong>, you can still reap some of these benefits by opting for gluten-free grains, such as brown, black or other whole grain rice; corn or whole corn meal; quinoa; and wild rice. You can do just about anything with these grains. Case in point\u2014the mouthwatering quinoa salad and equally delicious crispy wild rice and bean patties featured here<\/a><\/strong>. (Note: The barley porridge recipe that\u2019s included in this blog does contain gluten.)<\/p>\n

And keep in mind, gluten-free grains have just as many calories as gluten-containing grains. To keep portions in check, check out this guide<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Are you\u2014or is anyone you know\u2014avoiding gluten? If so, why?<\/p>\n

Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to Eat a Gluten Free Dinner<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading ‘Wheat Belly’ Helped Make a Healthy Change<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Quinoa: A Healthy Food Worth Your Attention<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., TheBestLife.com lead nutritionist I\u2019m throwing a small dinner party for a friend this weekend. On the menu: pasta. That\u2019s a big deal, because pasta has been food non grata for more than a year. It\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695,3874],"tags":[5503,7287,3245,23,8440,1973],"class_list":["post-78196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","category-digestive","tag-best-life-diet","tag-celiac-disease","tag-gluten-free-diet","tag-guest-blog","tag-homepage","tag-paleo-diet"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78196"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78661,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78196\/revisions\/78661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}