Have you noticed how Gluten-free seems to have become a fad in recent times? Everywhere you look, whether it's on social media, T.V commercials, newspapers, or magazines, you see influencers and celebrities endorsing Gluten-free food. They say this is because gluten-free food has numerous benefits, one of them being weight loss.
But how is going Gluten-free and weight loss related? No matter how many sources endorse Gluten-free food for weight loss, you must understand its basics before concluding.
To understand and affirm if Gluten-free and weight loss are related, let us begin by understanding the relationship between the two.
The Relationship Between Eating A Gluten-Free Diet And Weight Loss
The fact that gluten-free helps in weight loss has become widely popular over the world. Going Gluten-free is considered the best and most healthy way of losing all the extra weight on one's body. But have you wondered why it is so?
This consideration comes from the dietary inclusions and exclusions that a person on a gluten-free diet has to undergo.
A Gluten-free diet needs a person to forego any food items that may contain gluten in the slightest bit. And foods with gluten are those which one generally eats.
For example, bread, pasta, pizza, and many other food items are gluten-containing ones.
Any food containing wheat, rye, or barley as its ingredients are sure to have gluten in abundance.
These are generally junk foods that you need to eliminate in your diet.
Once you eliminate the junk foods initially, you will automatically start losing weight.
You no longer ingest the same carbohydrates, calories, and unhealthy fats, causing your body to lose weight and get into better shape.
Also, when you make a conscious choice to go on a Gluten-free and weight loss diet, you tend to get into good eating habits.
A good habit is to check the ingredient labels on all food items thoroughly.
It helps you to keep a tab on whatever you put into your body.
This way, you avoid any binge eating and ultimately filling your body with unhealthy food.
Going Gluten-free is more of a mandate than a choice for celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
Their bodies reject the gluten immediately and cause adverse reactions if they consume gluten by mistake.
Their villi lining gets irritated if even a small amount of gluten enters such persons' bodies and causes many allergic symptoms.
That is why celiac patients must avoid gluten entirely and stick to a gluten-free diet with extra precautions.
But how safe is it to switch to a Gluten-free and weight loss plan, especially if you do not have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity?
Gluten-Free And Weight Loss For A Non-Celiac Person
Doctors may not advise eating a Gluten-free diet when you are not suffering from celiac sickness or are not sensitive to gluten. Gluten is a protein that you can find in abundance in grains like wheat, rye, and barley.
The foods made with gluten are generally rich in essentials like vitamins, nutrients, and many healthy components.
If you choose to go Gluten-free and are not a celiac disease patient, you may miss some essential components.
All gluten-free food is not adept with the nutrients of the gluten-containing food. It is why you need to continually eat nutrient-rich food your body needs. Or make sure to use high-quality supplements to keep yourself healthy.
If you want to go gluten-free and believe that doing so will help you shed the extra weight, you should always consult your doctor first. Taking such dietary decisions that would completely change your lifestyle needs professional intervention and guidance.
Here are some strategies to apply to help you get started on your gluten-free and weight loss journey.
Gluten-Free And Weight-Loss Strategy
The many influencers and celebrities endorsing the Gluten-free diet may seem very attractive and appealing. We are quick to jump into experiments, especially when they involve weight loss. But all this is merely a facade.
Even on a gluten-free diet, weight loss takes a fair amount of hard work, some exercise, and reasonable control over your diet. One must always remember that no training and working out will ever compensate for a lousy diet.
If you have food devoid of wheat, rye, or barley, and you go gluten-free, avoid any food that can increase your weight.
We have some strategies that you can follow and use as a means to enhance your results. Going Gluten-free may or may not cause a weight loss in you, depending on many other factors influencing your lifestyle.
No Processed Gluten-Free Foods
As bad as regular Gluten-containing processed foods are, so is the case with gluten-free food too. You must avoid all kinds of processed gluten-free foods if you want to keep your weight in check. Processed foods or packaged foods contain an exuberate amount of ingredients such as sugars and unhealthy oils.
A delicious gluten-free cake mix may look incredibly tempting. But if you want your gluten-free diet to work, you must stay as far away from it as you do from the gluten-containing foods.
With the rocketing demand for gluten-free food, many manufacturers have made almost all food available in their gluten-free form.
Now one may think that such foods are healthier than their Gluten-containing counterparts.
For example, foods such as pizzas, bread, pasta, pastries, etc., may be viewed as beneficial as they are devoid of gluten. But the truth is that they may contain a higher number of calories than the gluten-containing ones.
To help you with this strategy, you must remember one thing. Consuming only gluten-free food does not mean you consume lesser calories than you would with gluten-containing food. It can mean the total opposite.
You are likely to consume a whole load of extra calories, thinking that they are part of gluten-free food; therefore, they must be healthy. This way, you are far from your goal of losing weight.
That is why you need to be extremely careful about what you are eating every day.
Keep Track Of Your Calorie Intake
If you have a good metabolism, adding a gluten-free diet is sure to work wonders for you. You will notice that you quickly drop weight in hardly any time.
It happens because you eat food devoid of gluten and train your taste buds and stomach not to crave it anymore.
Foods like pizzas, bread, confectionaries, and the likes are admittedly hard to forego. But once you start feeling better and notice the remarkable change in your body that it causes, you will be motivated to continue.
But if you hit a plateau and stop losing weight, it might be best if you kept a specific limit to your calorie intake.
You can use any calorie tracking app or a fitness app to help you. This way, your intake stays within the limit, and you do not have to worry about putting on weight again once you lose it.
Adhere To A Low Carbohydrate Diet
Carbohydrates can be an enemy when ingested in large and unhealthy amounts. Although there are healthy carbohydrates that help maintain a reasonable and proportionate component balance in the body.
But when you go gluten-free, it is best to stick to a low-carb diet. It helps you to lose weight drastically.
Suppose you have believed that only some carbohydrates, particularly those in wheat, cause you to put on weight? All carbohydrates and sources except the healthy carbs pose a threat to your health and multiply your risk of putting on weight.
If you have heard of the Paleo diet, and are thinking of adhering to it, be careful as it may mean you are losing out on several essentials like nutrients and proteins.
Therefore, you should include everything in your diet but keep the carbohydrate quantity low.
Work Out
All weight loss cannot be caused by simply following a diet. Though a good, gluten-free diet does play a significant role in weight loss, one cannot rule out the additional part of exercising.
When you go on a Gluten-free diet, being lazy and procrastinating workouts will do you no good.
If you want to see good results and experience a good change in your body and health, you must exercise regularly.
Exercising will help boost your metabolism and thus help you to lose weight faster. Aiding your gluten-free diet with workouts is a win-win for you.
Avoid The Smallest Amounts Of Gluten
When you are not someone who has celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, it is easy to get tempted into eating food with gluten again.
Since you do not have any allergic reactions or adverse symptoms after consuming gluten, it can be easy to slide back into a regular diet.
But if you want your gluten-free diet to be beneficial, you need to make sure that you are well disciplined and careful about not eating gluten at all.
Cravings and temptations for foods such as pizzas, sandwiches, desserts, and the likes can be real and demanding.
You need to make sure that you stay clear of all these lest your weight gain starts again, and your efforts at maintaining a gluten-free diet can go waste.
If you cannot control your cravings, you may keep a few healthy Gluten-free snacks handy. It will help you avoid having cheat meals or gluten-containing food to satisfy your cravings.
Also, be sure to thoroughly check labels of foods, cosmetics, and everything you use. You never really know where the gluten might creep into your body. Staying gluten-free will help you see the benefits to your health and help in your weight loss journey.
Final Words
Eating healthy is a conscious choice that you need to make every day. Going gluten-free is not scientifically proven to be useful for weight loss, but you can surely try it and other effective methods.
Although a gluten-free diet and weight loss may seem magical as relative terms, they are not. To get your perfect body in shape and good health, you need to stop depending on the food to do this alone.
Disciplining yourself and working out will help keep your weight loss journey on track. Diet and exercise go hand in hand, and you must never neglect one or the other.
Controlling your cravings and hunger is in your hands. When you master the art of self-control and make a conscious choice to eat healthily and live a good lifestyle, your health will be at its optimal level. Be kind to yourself if you have a bad day and slip at your diet.
Every “body” type is different and needs a different approach. One day you might see a sudden increase in weight while others seem to lose weight eating the same diet. You need to trust your body and adhere to what it needs without believing false narratives of advertisements of someone else's journey. Also, don't forget to stay positive through it all.
Consult your doctor before you make any significant dietary and lifestyle changes.
Live Extraordinarily!
She is passionate about helping others understand their body.
The key to figuring out why you feel the way you feel is to take a more significant look at what is going on inside you & even around you, and then ask questions!
She is excited to help & support you on your journey of optimal health and wellness!
3 thoughts on “Will Eating A Gluten-Free Diet Help With Weight Loss?”
Comments are closed.