Eating gluten-free is something that, for many, is entirely necessary. Those affected with celiac disease have to eat gluten-free in order to make sure that their body doesn’t have a negative reaction, for which they would have to receive medical treatment.
For most people, eating gluten-free isn’t as necessary as drinking water or breathing air. But it can have a host of interesting perks and benefits that are as enticing as they are convenient.
In this article, we’re going to run you through the perks of eating gluten-free, and perhaps by the end of the article, we’ll have convinced you to try it out for a few days. While we would never say that a gluten-free diet is perfect for everyone, we do wholeheartedly believe that it’s something everyone should try out at least once.
Reduced inflammation from bloating
While digesting gluten as a celiac sufferer, you can notice an awful lot of excess gas and bloat. This is a natural byproduct of the way that your stomach digests gluten, but just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s entirely favorable. It can be painful, to say the least.
Stopping eating gluten can immediately halt digestive distress in your day-to-day life since you’ll be removing the offensive ingredient from your diet.
Even if you haven’t been formally diagnosed with true celiac disease, there are a number of people in the world who have noticed that gluten-heavy food sits heavily on their stomachs. This is because gluten can be energy-intensive for anyone to digest, and a lengthy digestion process can lead to bloating.
To this end, cutting some or all gluten out of your diet can reduce inflammation for anyone. This change in bloating is certainly worth attempting, as it could massively alter the way that you eat.
Unique flavor choices
This is typically not offered as the main benefit of a gluten-free lifestyle, but it’s something that we certainly believe should get a greater look-in!
The main grains that contain gluten are wheat, rye, and barley. There are some others, but for the most part, these are the offensive grains.
When you remove flours and other ingredients made with these base ingredients from your diet, you can get a little creative with the things that you use instead. A great example of this that we always consider is baking.
While bread and cake baking typically involves the use of gluten to hold the cake together in a chemical sense, gluten-free pastry baking is entirely possible and can lead to some interesting results. For example, macarons are made with ground almond flour, instead of wheat flour, since the lack of gluten makes the little treats quite a lot lighter.
When you take a step back and consider the flour options out there, from coconut to rice, and everything in between, you start to realize that there’s a host of different options that you could use to bring tasty twists to your cooking and baking.
Improves energy levels
People that are a little sensitive toward gluten in their diet can sometimes suffer from chronic fatigue, which is something endlessly frustrating that the sufferers are only too aware of.
When gluten sensitives eat gluten, some damage is sustained to their intestines, which can lead to the intestines themselves having a reduced capacity to absorb iron from food. In turn, this leads to a low level of anemia, which prevents the blood from carrying as much oxygen. In turn, this leads to a lack of energy.
By cutting gluten out of your diet, you can afford your intestines a little while to heal themselves. This will allow you to eat some high-iron options, such as spinach and red meat, safe in the knowledge that you’ll be on your way to battling the fatigue you’re feeling. While this, of course, isn’t a cure-all for every chronic fatigue sufferer, it’s a good first step if you believe you might be sensitive to gluten in your diet.
Gluten in the diet of anyone can lead to low-level inflammation in the intestines. This, and the knock-on effects it can have, can be frustrating and dangerous. If you think that you might be a little sensitive to gluten in your diet, consider taking a few days to a week with a gluten-free diet: you may be surprised at the change that you notice.
