Q: Avoiding gluten

Hey there

I've been wondering, lately, if everyone could benefit from avoiding gluten, or if it's really just those with proven intolerance (like from an allergy test). I've been avoiding gluten for about a year's time, though with several exposures. I don't have any food intolerances that I know of, and generally don't have allergies, but I don't know about gluten.

The thing is, there are several things to it.

- For one, my family is annoyed with me not eating the same as they are at family get-togethers etc.

- Second, I'm going to Japan in March for 4-5 months, and anyone who knows about Japan and their food etc., will know it's hard to avoid gluten. Soy sauce, noodles, sauces etc. all contain gluten/wheat. I have a very limited budget as I will stay in Tokyo, and although buckwheat is available, it is expensive. Also, I don't even know if I'll be able to cook for myself. Going out would also become an issue.

Anyways, bottom line is, personally, I'd like to avoid gluten, and I don't *really* mind avoiding it (I mean, it restricts me a little in some social situations) but is it ridiculous avoiding food due to simply a mindset/holistic idea without proof that it's actually bad for me?

Ta!

It's only theoretically beneficial to avoid gluten - it's an insult to the body - but so is air and water pollution,

sugar, alcohol, and exercise. But the body has ways of coping. I personally don't believe it is a big deal

unless you don't have those coping mechansims. If you can tolerate it you can tolerate it.

If you can't, you can't.

By the way, soba noodles should be common in Japan which are buckwheat. And rice is gluten free. And certain forms of gluten are less damaging, theoretically such as oat gluten.

I have been tested and had a diet high in gluten and I noticed no problems what so ever I just recently stopped with gluten products completely cut from my diet and when I did that well I felt better. I just felt lighter had more energy slept better. I had only removed 2 things from my diet at the point and that was gluten and milk products I added some milk products back and had no change so I am thinking it was the gluten removal that made the difference. This is just my personal experience I honestly didn't expect anything when removing gluten because I was skeptical about removing something that had no affect on me but in the end I feel good about it. You could pay extra attention to how you feel and how you function introduce gluten for a while then remove it again and see if you notice anything different.

The thing is that part of the "benefit" of avoiding gluten typically comes from an automatic change in your eating habits in which you're introducing lower volumes of high GI carbohydrates. So it's hard to say if the benefit is due to lower gluten or a lower glycemic response, without having your diet controlled for glycymic load.

either way you are feeling better though =D I added a lot more starchy vegetables for carbs after cutting gluten but I just dont enjoy those veggies so much. I dont think I am reaching my required amount of carbs atm not sure what else to get it from that is gluten free other than root veggies. maybe some corn chips ? =P ( I have some fruit but I am under the impression I should limit it)

I'm glad you're feeling better! It doesn't matter why, although it's unfortunate that gluten gets the bad rap sometimes.

I'm sure you could have up 5 servings of fruit without a problem if you're active. That's around 70g of carbs.

First thing in the morning, in between meals and after workout is the best time.

And then there are pseudo grains like buckwheat and quinoa.

Rice of course is gluten free. Eaten with some protein lowers the speed of absorption and conversion to glucose.

Thanks for inputs!

Yeah, soba noddles are highly available, but they are most often 50/50 buckwheat/regular wheat.

White and brown rice I can get plenty of, too, so I'll have that as often as possible.

When it comes to Japan, they have a hard time understanding certain concepts. Gluten-freeism and vegetarianism are both things they have a hard time getting the idea of/don't know of.

Why would you avoid gluten? Is there any scientific research that supports it being "bad" for you?

regardless of research I go by how my body feels and having cut out gluten I feel much better I have tried to re-introduce it a few times but it always makes me feel worse off It doesn't cause any major issues but I prefer to feel great rather than good or okay. research in nutrition is constantly coming up with new finds or flipping back and forth between something being good then bad then good again so I just got by how I feel. I think once you become more "in tune" with your body and how it responds to food and exercise the better off you are.