Are you kidding me?
Gluten-free has been touted as a great way to lose weight... but let's be clear, you can't eat gluten-free substitutes of "regular" baked goods and lose weight.
To make them tasty, gf goods are typically chock full of extra fat and sugar - which also helps to bind them together.
I'm seeing gluten free blogs created by trainers and triathletes. People going gluten-free in preparation for a marathon. Some people, who are only reading the headlines, may believe that a gluten-free diet is the wonder drug for losing pounds. I agree that it is good for you... and that many people likely feel better without gluten. I've been to the celiac conventions. There are some skinny folks there - but most of us? We struggle with our weight just like the rest of society.
If one more person tells me how "lucky" I am to be celiac because I'm not tempted by the pastries on the kitchen counter at work - I might just scream. I have to curb my enthusiasm for lots of great tasting goodies (and junk food!) just like everyone else.
This recent interest on the part of "regular" people going gluten free, appears to be an offshoot of two other famous diet trends: the Atkins diet (which spiked in popularity and then like most diets.. crashed) & the Paleo (or caveman) diet. In a nutshell: zero carbs. This is not just gluten-free... for the most part, this is carb-free.
While I'm all for cutting back on the carbohydrates and building meals around protein and lots of vegetables, I'm concerned that this is not always an educated niche market. People selling gluten-free goods are NOT always going to regard gluten-free as a zero tolerance situation.
If the baker at the market thinks - gf products are selling like hot cakes... I'll make a cake with rice flour (but dust my pans with pastry flour)... We are going to have a problem. If the waiter thinks you are watching your waist he may not take your questions about whether the risotto is prepared with pasta water very seriously either. (I don't mean to feed your paranoia. I'll save that topic for a future post.)
The more prevalent the gluten-free market becomes, the more I urge you to ask questions before taking the words gluten-free for granted. If you have celiac disease, I encourage you to let people know that for us, this diet is not a trend, but a prescription of living (ideally you can share this news without coming off as too much of a drama queen!).
The word "diet" is a bit of a misnomer. If we want to lose weight on the gluten-free diet... we are going to have to cut back on the Pamela's peanut butter cookies, as well as the chocolate bars, ice cream, french fries and wine, too. Bummer.
