Gluten-Free Diets: Myths and Truths

I have come across many healthy individuals with no medical issues who believe that consuming GF (gluten-free) diet is a healthier option. I was skeptical about this self diagnosed diet and decided to research to clear my doubts and found no evidences that GF consumption makes a healthy person healthier. These findings about the myths and truths about GF dietary are credited to FutureLearn Online.

- There are no health advantages of GF products for healthy people. It does not create toxins that some people have claimed.

- GF products often contain greater density of fat and sugar so would contribute to excess calories compared to a non GF diet.

- GF products are usually more expensive.

- Eating only processed GF food may lead to deficiencies in several nutrients (for eg iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium) and dietary fiber. Wheat products often contains enriched nutrients as opposed to GF products which do not have enriched components which means less vitamins.

- GF diet is NOT a super diet. It is a treatment recommended for some people due to medical reasons.

I have always been an advocate of balanced consumption of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and obtaining nutrition from meals prepared with raw ingredients instead of processed supplements and diet elimination like GF, dairy free and wheat free. The latter is often more costly resulting only in affluent groups who can afford to purchase them. I believe that everyone in this world has the right to access to nutritional food at a fair price. Unfortunately, many health and food producers take advantage of the interest of many who are more health conscious these days by marketing "healthy" products with exorbitant price tags where profits being the priority in their businesses.