The great gluten-free scam

[Locutus]

In a corner of my local, shabby Tesco, whole new ranges of biscuits, breads, cereal bars and even fish fingers have suddenly arrived, all stocked under the label “gluten-free”.

Starbucks around the corner is suddenly offering gluten-free sandwiches, Carluccio’s has gluten-free pasta. A local church, I hear, has sourced gluten-free communion wafers made from potato. In the United States, friends tell me, there are even gluten-free dating sites, uniting enemies of all that’s dough-based.

Gluten-free food, not so long ago a niche product for hippies and those with coeliac disease, is the sustenance of the moment. Socialite Nicole Richie rapped about “chillin’ in my crib makin’ gluten-free spaghetti”. Gwyneth Paltrow has put her children on a no-gluten diet.

more sunscreen

The great gluten-free scam - Telegraph

 

[spaminator]

gluteny.

 

[SLM]

Gluten-free is the new organic.

 

[#juan]

Gluten-free is the new organic.

While I know people who can't tolerate gluten, gluten free pasta and gluten free bread, are bloody awful. The cure is almost as bad as the affliction. :roll:

 

[karrie]

My sister is on a gluten free diet due to her increasingly problematic arthritis. She's found great improvement on it, but, I definitely don't think it's for everyone. One of the things that makes her laugh though, is that part of what makes the gluten free diet so successful for treating inflammation, is the drastic cut back in sugars that occurs when you eliminate gluten foods. But, for many people, the solution to eliminating gluten, is to find the exact same sugary dessert recipes, with gluten free replacements, and eat essentially the same as they did before, and sometimes even MORE calorie rich (almond flour instead of wheat flour for example... yikes), while expecting to magically lose weight due to gluten's absence.

 

[taxslave]

While I know people who can't tolerate gluten, gluten free pasta and gluten free bread, are bloody awful. The cure is almost as bad as the affliction. :roll:

Then you are buying the wrong stuff. My wife makes everything with gluten free flours. Yeast free as well as I have more problem with yeast than gluten.
She has even published a cookbook for gluten and yeast free foods.

 

[Kreskin]

The fat-free diets are a bigger scam. Food tastes like crap without fat so they pile in sugar and additives for flavor.

And fat isn't that bad for health. It's actually essential.

 

[Tonington]

I don't know about some of those figures cited in the article. If one in five are buying gluten free products, I would expect the value of gluten free foods to be far higher. The figure cited for gluten free foods-US$2.6 billion in 2012-is not even 1% of the processed food manufacturing value (over US$500 billion in 2006).

If a significant portion are buying gluten free for diet reasons, I can't reconcile how those two figures can be reconciled with 1 in 5 buying gluten free. I'm sure some are buying it without needing too, but as I said above, the value is less than 1%, which coincidentally is the prevalence of people with gluten sensitivity.

Doesn't seem like a very good scam.

 

[damngrumpy]

Face it there is gluten free and then there is gluten free. I agree and know a
few people who require a gluten free diet that comes from a consultation with
the Doctor.
The other gluten free is the food industry out to make a crisis out of a problem
not because you need gluten free but because they have a product you don't
need and it has a profit margin os forty percent or more than ordinary product
you might want. Yes its part of the new organic religion. Same nonsense in a
different package.
I marvel sometimes at how gullible some people really are they want so bad to
believe in something.

 

[Zipperfish]

It's big out here in LotusLand. You can't swing a salmon without hitting a gluten-free product.

I saw gluten-free macaroons today. WTF? Macaroons are sugar and coconut--where the hell is the gluten in them anyway? What's next--gluten-free coffee? Sheesh.

 

[gopher]

I lost 40 lbs on the gluten free diet which is a huge amount of weight for a small guy like me. It's been a year now since I adopted this diet and have not re-gained so much as one ounce. My stomach and knees feel much better than they have in years. But the cost for some of these tasteless foods is god awful.

 

[Kreskin]

The food industry markets anything they can, whether good for you or not. Every second granola bar now is '6g protein!' (or whatever the amount). Like big friggin deal. Yes, 140 calories of garbage you don't need just to get allegedly 6 grams of protein.

 

[DaSleeper]

The food industry markets anything they can, whether good for you or not. Every second granola bar now is '6g protein!' (or whatever the amount). Like big friggin deal. Yes, 140 calories of garbage you don't need just to get allegedly 6 grams of protein.

Peanut butter....good for you...one spoonful= 3g of protein and 90 calories...but but ain't that less protein to calorie ratio???

 

[Kreskin]

Peanut butter....good for you...one spoonful= 3g of protein and 90 calories...but but ain't that less protein to calorie ratio???

A little less protein but, generally, peanut butter has less calories from sugar. If you want more protein there are better sources than market-hyped granola bars.

 

[Dixie Cup]

Gluten-free food is for people who suffer from colitis or a similar disease (gastro-intestinal). A gluten-free diet is not a diet for healthy individuals. I watched a program that had doctors and personal trainers who said that it could be a very dangerous diet in healthy individuals. I would be very worried if I knew someone who was otherwise health on it.


JMO

the last part should read "who was otherwise healthy" sorry - new keyboard....