In a world where people have become conscious not just about the way their body looks but also about their overall health, many trending diets have come up such as dairy- free, paleo diet, intermittent fasting, vegan diet, mediterranean diet, Atkins diet and so on. In this list of new healthy weight loss diets gluten free diet is another addition. A dirt type that has been gaining a lot of popularity amongst the people around the globe. With gluten being present in several grains and backed food that we all consume on a regular basis, it is important to know why restricting the amount of gluten consumption is necessary and the downsides of consuming too much gluten in your regular diet with Nutritionist Karishma, Functional Nutritionist.
What is gluten?
Where people around the globe have been running away from gluten and have been opting for a gluten free diet it is important to know about what this glute is and its downsides. To understand it in a simple manner, gluten is basically a protein that is found in various grains and baked goods.
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Also Read: Allergic To Gluten? Know These 3 Types of Conditions Affecting Gluten Sensitivity
Where this protein provides no essential nutrients, on a contrary it can lead to various issues and cause a gluten allergy known as the celiac disease that can lead to pain in stomach and abdominal region, rashes and bloating
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5 Reasons to avoid gluten
Where a gluten free diet is one of the most popular trends that people have been following, let us take a look at benefits of opting for a gluten free diet and downsides of consuming too much on a regular basis.
#1. Bloating
Where we try so many things from cutting down salt to chewing gums and groom from exercising to diet control in order to control bloating, little do we know that the main culprit that causes this bloating is the regular consumption of gluten.
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Consuming gluten on a daily basis can lead to bloating of the stomach and abdominal region and make you feel full while causing discomfort. This generally makes a person feel as if they have a buildup of gas in their stomach. Not just this but gluten sensitivity can also cause a person to have episodes of frequent abdominal pain.
#2. Inflammation
A little secret about gluten is that it makes a person resistant to weight loss and fat loss and hence a gluten free diet is something that people around the globe opt for in order to lose weight. Gluten causes inflammation in your body as well as in the fat cells. This inflammation not just causes weight but can lead to many other problems and numerous diseases as well. Gluten has the ability to trigger inflammation in any of the organs and tissues of your body in order to fight foreign invasion. This chronic inflammation caused due to consuming gluten on a daily basis can lead to diseases like cancer and diabetes. This also results in increasing the levels of stress hormones in the body, increasing fatigue and increasing fluid retention.
#3. Has Negative Impact on the gut
Where it is considered that a healthy gut leads to a healthy body and results in good mood, gluten is something that has been associated with not just one but various gut problems and has a potential to impact your gut lining negatively. Where leaky gut is a gastrointestinal condition that impacts the gut and has been gaining attention worldwide amongst he physicians. Gluten has been associated with leaky gut or intestinal permeability.
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Also Read: 5 Drinks To Keep Your Gut Healthy This Monsoon Season
This condition causes the cellular gaps between the small intestine known as tight junctions to loosen up. This loosening of these gaps causes the gut to become leaky which allows the substances to leak into the bloodstream. This leakage can be extremely dangerous when any toxic substance of bacteria gets leaked into the bloodstream as it can result in the widespread inflammation onto the entire body.
#4. Creates Difficulty in nutrient absorption
Where bloating, leaky gut, diabetes and inflammation are not the only downsides of regular gluten consumption, gluten has the ability to inhibit nutrient absorption. As the gluten triggered permeability inhibits from a person’s gut, it makes it difficult to absorb various essential nutrients for our body. Grains rich in gluten are also referred to as anti-nutrient as they bind together and make chromium unavailable. This chromium is an important nutrient which helps us in balancing the body’s blood sugar levels.
#5. Increases blood sugar level
Increased blood sugar levels is something that clearly we all do not want. Little do you know that consuming a diet that is rich in gluten on a regular basis can lead to an increase in blood sugar levels. Consuming gluten in large quantities has been associated with a risk of type 1 diabetes due to the presence of gluten along with some of the biomarkers present in our blood.
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As this condition has an inflammatory component, it causes the immune system to attack various organs and tissues of the body including the pancreas and the intestine. This happens as a result of high glycemic load that results in rising sugar levels of the body.
Apart from all this, a regular consumption of high amounts of gluten in your daily diet can lead to complications such as stomach pain, rashes, diarrhea and excessive gas.
This article is based upon Nutritionist Karishma Chawla’s post on her instagram account.