If I read one more article or watch one more newscast that says that food sensitivity tests are bogus and going gluten free is simply a trendy thing to do, I’m going to scream! Now, I’m not saying that the latest hype of the blood test for food sensitivities is the greatest thing, I’m saying don’t knock it til you try it.
My gluten-free lifestyle came out of a biomeridian test that my Naturopathic Doctor did. Since then, I’ve avoided gluten and have adopted the GF lifestyle and I feel fabulous. But I’m getting pretty annoyed at the media who are dissing the diet and various testing for sensitivities. It makes me think there is some kind of a huge money machine that is telling these folks to promote the Canada Food Guide which says we have to have so much grain! So the more these folks promote the guide the more cash they get. It’s all about money in the end. Just like all the “heart healthy” studies are paid for by the makers of becel and other margarine… wow, read the conclusions of those studies… wow, they say that becel and margarine is good for you! Who’d a thunk it?!
So, I love that media always attach the GF diet and say it is “not very nutritious” and can be detrimental to you. Really? So does that mean all celiacs and all gluten-intolerant people are malnourished? C’mon, give your head a shake. My experience has been that people who are gluten-intolerant or who have celiac disease have a way better sense of nutrition than those eating gluten. Why is that? Easy, we have to read labels. We have to watch for hidden sources of gluten in thins like yeast extract, caramel colour, soy sauce and other additives. As a result, we know what is in our food and can make the choices necessary to obtain proper nutrition. It makes me quite angry when media casts a shadow over gluten-free foods saying they are higher in sodium and void of any essentail vitamins and minerals. It makes me want to ask if the quinoa salad I just made with organic quinoa, cooked in my own chicken stock, with nuts, fruits, vegetables and tuna is a bad choice. Come on people!! That being said, some packaged gluten-free items are terrible for you but to make a sweeping generalization that all gluten-free food is bad for you is misleading, dangerous and just plain wrong.
In a recent article from the Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/ask-a-health-expert/ask-a-dietitian/is-a-gluten-free-diet-a-good-idea/article2375119/ this dietitian cautions about the GF diet, saying it is a bad idea to adopt if you don’t have to do it. My answer is: sorry, you’re wrong. Read the comments after the article. People who have kicked wheat out of their diets are feeling better, moving better, noticed their asthma getting better, their arthritic knees become less inflamed, that’s enough proof for me! Plus, I have been gluten-free for a few years and have noticed a tremendous impact on my achilles tendinitis. No pain! Don, sold. Where’s that “easy” button?!
If you agree with the dietitian that’s fine but ask yourself this. Would you rather enjoy a slice of my multi seed bread made with organic quinoa flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot, egg whites, flax, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and caraway seeds and ZERO preservatives or would you rather eat something from a colourful plastic bag that says “enriched” or “fortified” on it? I love those words.. they mean “we’ve taken a whole bunch of the goodness out through genetic modification and some high tech processing, and now, we’re going to add it in again.” Makes me laugh every time! I’ll stick to my bread because I know how it’s made and I know what is in it.
Whether you are celiac or not, a gluten-free diet is indeed a healthy one. Instead of reaching for processed, high in chemicals and preservatives food, you can enjoy real, raw, and whole food. I don’t need to have an “enriched” or “fortified” processed cereal to get my vitamins and minerals. I can enjoy them from my kale salad, my own bread, my homemade mushroom soup, my all vegetable lasagna, my fruit and yogurt smoothie, my marinated bean salad, my own homemade granola and the plethora of fruits and veggies available to me that are natural and don’t have to be “fortified or enriched”.
So to the media who publish these articles and the dietitians who write them, I ask you to do your homework just a bit longer and present both sides of the story, not just the one-sided versions.
And to end this rant with a fabulous piece of irony… go ahead and click on the article above, scroll to the bottom of it and read the ‘related articles’…. especially the one that is called “Celiac disease 4 times as common as 50 years ago” and with that I say long live the gluten-free lifestyle!
Cheers,
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To the Media: Stop Attacking the Gluten-Free Diet
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