That gluten has become the new enemy of our diet is a known fact, so that many people, even if they do not suffer from celiac disease or a “gluten sensitivity” (which must be demonstrated with a series of tests, by exclusion), find themselves “On the confidence” to make a gluten-free diet. And voila. After a week or two, they feel more deflated, more energetic, more active. The same “improvements” that would experience at the beginning of an elimination diet: in fact, after one or two months, the problems reappear. This is because eliminating gluten is often not the answer.

It is no coincidence that the Espresso a few days ago emphasized how three out of ten Italians are convinced that the gluten-free diet leads to weight loss . Wrongly.  A similar percentage was also found in a recent study: over 60% of the participants said they were convinced that a gluten-free diet was necessarily healthier.

Some people on a gluten-free diet get fat. A journalist not too long ago explained that he gained weight by giving up gluten. The reason is simple and Dr. Sally Norton explains it in an article: many gluten-free foods are also less protein and therefore less nutritious. Therefore often reconsider their nutrition witha gluten-free diet automatically leads to eating more carbohydrates than before .
Without a doubt, the danger can be circumvented when you eat more legumes, more potatoes, more false cereals such as quinoa (enough protein) and buckwheat or amaranth. But for many, the shopping cart is filled with gluten-free industrial foods: from biscuits to snacks to taralli, these products are rich in high glycemic index rice or corn flour, sugar, salt and fat used to add flavor and the texture that a lack of gluten often causes. This is why if gluten intolerance or the so-called gluten sensitivity has not been ascertained, eating a gluten-free diet can worsen our health and our figure. 

Dr  Peter HR Green, director of Columbia University’s Center for Celiac Disease , points out in a British newspaper that people with celiac disease usually need to supplement their diet with iron and B vitamins as a result of a gluten-free diet. And of course, be careful to eat enough protein. Fiber is also often deficient on a gluten-free diet. Green, who wrote a book, “Gluten Exposed,” explains how most modern diseases cannot be attributed to gluten. In short, the popularity of these choices becomes a fact of marketing.
This is not to say that too much gluten is not bad for you. But a varied diet, which does not include pasta every day and a too casual use of supermarket products, is already enough to solve the problem.