According to Prof Noakes and other nutritional experts, this is not necessary. Only those with an allergy to Gluten (Coeliac disease), and to a lesser degree, gluten intolerance, need to follow a strict GF diet.
How do I know if I have these conditions?
Unfortunately the testing for these conditions is still very limited, and people who have noticed a sensitivity to certain foods/ gluten, do not always test positive for the allergy (see next Blog on Coeliac disease for testing).
Speak to your doctor if you suspect you may be suffering from this condition. While waiting for your appointment, you can test by trial and error, by eliminating all Gluten from your diet and monitoring your wellness, especially abdominal symptoms like cramps bloating and diarrhea.
Does a GF diet result in weight loss?
Although GF diets are the latest weight loss craze, it’s the healthier eating, and decrease in carbs, that may cause some weight loss rather than the lack of gluten.
Is it harmful to eat GF if you don’t need to?
Not at all, as long as you keep following the basic rules and include all the different food groups. A GF diet can be costly and inconvenient, so it is not always practical. However, if one of the members of you family has a gluten allergy, it makes sense to eat mainly GF as a family,
Some practical tips to keep one family member’s food GF, when the rest don’t want to eat GF?
- To keep butter, jam, mayonnaise and any other foodstuffs uncontaminated by a knife with crumbs on it, buy 2 of each. Label one GF with a neon stick-on label
- Keep separate gluten and GF baking utensils, sieve, hand mixer, muffin pans. These can easily be contaminated with gluten.
- Have a separate pot for cooking pasta. First cook all the other GF dishes e.g. pasta sauce. Cover them and place them onto a separate counter as the pasta boils, to avoid contamination
- Wash hands and dry with clean towel every time after touching gluten containing food.
- Keep bread bin and toaster separate from the main kitchen
Hope this was useful.
Till next time
Angie