Is eating gluten-free beneficial?

[AnnaParticipant]

A gluten-free diet seems to be gaining popularity with the fad diets. If you don’t have Celiac Disease or Gluten sensitivity, is there any benefit to consuming gluten-free foods?

[AshleyParticipant]

A gluten-free diet is not beneficial for those without Celiac Disease or Gluten sensitivity. When a person cuts out significant food groups from their diet, they run the risk of cutting out important nutrients and becoming deficient in those nutrients. A gluten-free diet is low in nutrients such as: B vitamins, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and fiber (1). A study conducted on children consuming a gluten-free diet showed a lower intake in dietary fiber, vitamin D, magnesium, and selenium compared to children on a normal diet (2). There is no point in cutting out gluten and eliminating these nutrients because they are hard to replace through other parts of the diet (1). There also is the fact that gluten-free foods are more expensive and harder to find. Gluten-free versions of wheat based foods were found to be 518% more expensive than the standard wheat products (3). A gluten free diet may be beneficial for someone experiencing symptoms of Celiac disease but if you really want to know if you have a gluten intolerance, go get tested (1).

References
1. Jaret P. The Truth About Gluten. WebMD. March 2, 2011. Available at http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/truth-about-gluten?page=2. Accessed March 3, 2014.
2. Ohlund K, Olsson C, Hernell O, Ohlund I. Dietary shortcomings in children on a gluten-free diet. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2010;23:294-300.
3. Singh J, Whelan K. Limited availability and higher cost of gluten-free foods. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2011;24:479-486.

[AnnaParticipant]

Thank you for your response! I like how you mentioned GF foods are often way more expensive then non-GF foods. I found a study that states the GF market is projected to reach a value of $6,206.2 million while growing at a compound interest rate of 10.2% by 2018 (1). This can mean that the GF market will be one of the most prosperous food and beverages markets in the future. So for someone who hasn’t been diagnosed with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance should really think hard about how much money they want to spend, especially if some of the essential nutrients will be missing. This study also states that a population-based screening only showed children with Celiac disease to be in the range of 0.3 to 3%. (1) So it seems to be more rare than I thought!

1. Miranda J, Lasa A, Bustamante A, Churruca I, Simon E. Nutritional Differences Between a Gluten-free Diet and a Diet Containing Equivalent Products with Gluten. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2014:DOI 10.1007/s11130-014-0410-4.

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