How a trendy gluten-free diet could make you FAT: Specialist food is packed with extra sugar and calories, expert warns 

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More people than ever are buying into the gluten-free trend.

Not necessarily because they are suffering from coeliac disease, but because it is has achieved a bit of a ‘health halo’ status. 

Just the mention of ‘gluten-free’ on a packet seems to endow some mystical health benefit to it.

There has been an explosion in gluten-free products, fuelled in small part by a genuine growth in coeliac disease which has increased fourfold over the past 20 years. 

However, much of the drive behind the increase is due to many other things.

The publicity around a lower carbohydrate diet, celebrity influence and manufacturers’ knowledge that they can charge a premium for gluten-free products - more than twice as much in many cases - has all garnered interest.

As more people buy into the gluten-free trend, Dr Sally Norton, a weight loss expert, said the diet is only beneficial to those who are formally diagnosed with coeliac disease

In fact, manufacturers are looking forward to the 250 million pound market share that gluten-free products are predicted to attract by 2017.

While only a small proportion (around one in 100) of us actually have coeliac disease, many more are concerned that they have an intolerance to gluten which is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

These people may experience similar symptoms to coeliac disease - such as bloating, wind and diarrhoea - without actually having the intestinal damage found in coeliac disease. 

Gluten intolerance, in people who do not have coeliac disease, is really a type of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that seems to improve if gluten-containing products are avoided.

It is unclear why this should be, and even whether it is the gluten itself that causes these symptoms. 

One possible scenario is that people avoiding gluten tend to reduce a lot of heavily processed foods and eat a more healthy and varied diet, which reduces many symptoms in itself.

Gluten-free products have been created as a replacement for foods that typically contain gluten which can hide in all sorts of food as well as bread – such as pasta, cereal, processed foods, sauces, cakes, sausages and even drinks.

Eating gluten-free used to be limiting. 

But now supermarkets and health food shops are stocking a wider range of gluten-free foods making it easy for people who want to avoid the substance.

For those with coeliac disease, these products are indeed healthier, as they don’t cause the same damaging effects that ingesting gluten does. 

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition where the body's immune system attacks itself when it comes into contact with gluten. It causes damage to the small intestines and can result in serious complications

However, many pre-packaged gluten-free products make up for their lack of gluten by including more sugar or fat to make the product more appetising, but may actually make the gluten-free products less healthy than the standard versions. 

They may also contain a much lower level of fibre and minerals, which can be stripped during the production process. 

The health-halo effect also means that when we think we are eating something healthy (even if it isn’t) we tend to eat more of it – which may not help our waistline!

So… ‘is gluten-free’ better for me?

YES... it's essential for coeliacs

If you have a diagnosis of coeliac disease then ‘gluten-free’ is more than better for you; it is essential for your health. 

Using specific gluten-free products in this situation may provide you with a greater range of options in your diet – just make sure you choose good-quality products as you would with other foods.

Dr Sally Norton said if gluten causes you no symptoms it is better to avoid gluten-free foods, which are often packed with sugar and fat

CHECK... get tested 

If you think you have gluten-intolerance don’t just exclude gluten from your diet. Get a proper test for coeliac disease first as it can’t be diagnosed properly if you have already cut out gluten. 

Once coeliac disease has been properly excluded then having gluten will do you no harm but you may prefer to avoid or reduce gluten if it genuinely causes symptoms. 

The best way to do this is simply to reduce the processed bread, cakes and biscuits that add little, if anything, to a nutritious diet anyway. 

Paying over the odds for gluten-free products is your choice – but if they help, then they will do you no harm as long as they are otherwise good products and not full of processed fats, sugar or other nasties.

NO... there's no proven benefit

If gluten causes you no symptoms then you can eat what you like (within reason) and going gluten-free is of no proven benefit. 

However, by reducing gluten-containing products, you will help yourself reduce many of the processed carbohydrates that we eat in excess and may well be contributing to our obesity epidemic. 

Don’t just replace them with a less healthy, gluten-free version.

Eating a meal that is free of gluten, but full of tasty, hearty vegetables and proteins instead is certainly going to be much healthier for us.

WHAT IS COELIAC DISEASE AND HOW CAN SUFFERERS AVOID GLUTEN?

With a rise in coeliac disease sufferers there has been an explosion in gluten-free foods in supermarkets and health food stores

Coeliac disease is a common digestive condition where a person has an adverse reaction to gluten. 

Gluten is found primarily in wheat, but also in rye, barley, and to a lesser extent, oats.

It makes up the protein part of these grains, nourishing the plant embryos during germination.

It affects the elasticity of dough, so is used to make baked wheat products more or less chewy.

It is an autoimmune condition, where the immune system - the body's defence against infection - mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.

For sufferers, eating food containing gluten can trigger a range of painful symptoms including:

• diarrhoea
• bloating and flatulence
• abdominal pain
• weight loss
• feeling tired all the time, resulting from malnutrition
• children not growing at expected rates 

Coeliac disease is not an allergy, nor an intolerance.

The immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body, and attacks them.

This damages the surface of the small bowel, disrupting the body's ability to absorb nutrients in food.

Scientists still do not know exactly what it is that causes the body to act in this way, but a person's genetic make up and the environment appear to play a part.

There is no cure for coeliac disease, but following a gluten-free diet can help control symptoms and prevent the long-term consequences of the disease.

Even for sufferers whose symptoms are mild, or non-existant, a gluten-free diet is advised, because continuing to eat gluten can cause serious long-term problems.

Complications include osteoporosis, and iron deficiency anaemia.

Less common and even more serious complications include some cancers, include bowel cancer.

Gluten is found in beer, breads, pasta, cakes and pies. It is also found in cereals, chips, croutons, cookies and processed meats. It can be found in salad dressings, sauces such as soy sauce and soup or soup bases. 

Source: NHS Choices