Why keeping gluten in your diet is the best choice.

As with every fresh start of the school year, each one of us walks into the grocery store and makes the unattainable vow to only pick up healthy foods. However, before reaching for every all-natural, cage-free, grass-fed product, make sure to know the facts.

It seems as if a gluten-free choice is becoming more common in grocery stores and restaurant menus. For those who suffer celiac disease, an abnormal immune response to gluten, a gluten-free diet is essential to avoid a variety of painful symptoms. Yet, most people who are purchasing these products don’t have celiac disease or the slightest allergy to wheat.

So, before spending extra time and money searching for gluten-free products, please consider the following:   

•   A gluten-free diet can lack vitamins, minerals, and fiber if not followed correctly. Many whole grains that contain gluten offer essential B vitamins, calcium, zinc, and iron.  

•    Recent studies have demonstrated that whole grain food containing gluten lower the risks of heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer.    

•   As a college student, most don’t have the time or money to follow the strict guidelines of a gluten-free diet. Point of interest: it’s especially tough to find gluten-free beer. Also, it's expensive.

•   If you make the decision to go gluten-free, it must be all or nothing. Even trace amounts of gluten can defeat the purpose.     

•    Carbohydrates should make up 55 to 60 percent of a healthy diet, and that’s where gluten is found.   

•   Gluten-free cereals, pastas, and cracker often contain more sugar to make up for the loss of flavor provided by gluten.     

•   Most importantly, do not go gluten-free to try to lose weight. As with most fad diets, cutting out an entire food group will shed the extra pounds. However, it is nearly impossible to keep the weight off, because complete food restrictions are difficult to follow.              

   So, before you head to the store to stock up on quinoa and gluten-free bagels, make sure you are well informed of the pros and cons of a gluten-free diet.