5 ‘Weight Loss Tips’ That Experts Say Actually Suck
If you have celiac disease, yeah, avoiding gluten is a must. Otherwise, cutting out gluten is not only a waste of time—it can work against your efforts, Primack says. That’s because when food manufacturers take gluten (usually from wheat) out of foods, they typically substitute it with rice flour, which increases its sugar content. That can lead to a quick spike and drop in your blood sugar levels, leaving you hangry.
“When we compare the average body weight of patients diagnosed with celiac disease, who are forced to consume a gluten-free diet, they demonstrate a higher body weight than their gluten-consuming counterparts,” says Ethan Lazarus, M.D., director of the Clinical Nutrition Center in Denver. In fact, a 2017 Harvard University study of approximately 200,000 adults even shows that reducing or eliminating gluten is associated with a 13 percent greater risk of developing diabetes.