Gluten Sucks

I was sent this article by our athlete Sara O. (who also happens to be a biologist) which is a pretty good introductory article on why gluten should be avoided.

Dr. Ansel started to lose me around page 2, and really at the beginning of page 3, with the the successive claims that cutting gluten from your diet wouldn't necessarily lead to weight loss, and then citing a cautionary example of a replacement food which had more calories and more fat.

You can immediately see my issues... firstly, consuming fat is not bad, providing you're getting the right kinds. Secondly, the food cited (gluten free pretzels) is problematic because it's not a food I'd recommend anyone eating on the basis that it's going to be all carbohydrate. This, really, is why gluten-free eating will probably lead to weight loss (presuming you're overweight to begin with)... avoiding gluten (and eating whole foods) leads one away from grains and grain products, and processed foods. Even if you're not making any specific effort to do so, you will very likely reduce your carbohydrate intake just by trying to cut gluten.

Then, she makes the important point that the key to this, and this is really the point of everything I'll ever tell you about nutrition, is that you have to eat real food. 

Yes, if you just go and grab packaged and processed crap off the shelves at the market which bears the label "gluten-free" it is as much of a dietary Lotto play as grabbing the crap without that label in terms of your overall health (and has about the same odds as winning the lottery of bringing you to your best ever health, probably).

But, if in the process of cutting gluten out of your diet, you plan your meals and eat lean meats, a variety of veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds... well, then you're well on your way to health and wellness.

OK, so after my $0.02 worth, here's the article (originally published in Woman's Day magazine):
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-gluten-bad-for-you.html