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Fitness

Is gluten really the devil?

Is gluten really the devil?

Lets take a closer look at gluten

Recently gluten has become demonised by most fitness professional and with a wide variety of gluten-free products becoming available in most supermarkets does this mean that we all need to avoid this new evil food thing or is it just nonsense?

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein composite found in wheat and related grains. Unfortunately it is not one of the muscle building and health beneficial proteins found in meats, fish and other foods. This protein can have some nasty effects on the body. You may have heard about people with Celiacs disease having to eliminate it out of their diets. What you may not know is that a larger amount of people suffer from gluten intolerance. This intolerance has similar side effects to that of celiac sufferers in that it causes bloating of the gut and inflammation of the villi in the small intestines; inflammation of the joints and it prevents full absorption of nutrients.

Consuming gluten when intolerant can also impair your thyroid (hormones), onset osteoarthritis, inflame the brain, and negatively effect body composition.

Where is gluten found?  

Gluten is found in high carbohydrate foods that contain wheat. Eating gluten when intolerant to it can also dramatically increase the hormones Cortisol (stress hormone) and Insulin. Repeatedly raising these hormones over time can lead to fat depositing around the mid section.

This is nonsense, you might say? People have been eating bread since biblical times without reporting adverse effects. Yes, this is true, but as most things in the modern world, this once relatively harmless grain has been modified for ease of farming and for the texture of the final product, without any consideration to the health effects these changes may have. 100s of years ago we grew wheat that was over 6ft tall, that was higher in nutrients and also contained much smaller varieties of gluten proteins. New genetically modified ‘dwarf’ wheat has been developed in the past 40 years to help increase the ease of harvesting this grain.  

All this being said, not everyone should completely avoid gluten. I will explain more in the next post.

If you struggle to find balanced, healthy meals that fit in line with your goals, check out out FORMULA ebook – easy to follow delicious, recipes that are tailored to you as an individual.

 

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