Gluten-Free Alternatives: Harmless or Pointless?

We’re not going to lie, we first learnt what gluten was while watching The Great British Bake Off a few years ago, when the contestants were stretching out their bread dough to form gluten to strengthen their bread. Then, suddenly, a few years later, it seems that pretty much everyone on the planet is an expert on gluten and whether or not you should eat it. But it’s just bits in the middle of dough, right? So why is it such an issue?

Well, as you probably know – if you don’t just rely on GBBO for all your world news and facts – people with coeliac disease are intolerant to gluten and can’t eat anything with it in, which is why you can buy everything from gluten-free bread and pasta to gluten-free curry sauces and cakes in your local supermarket.

As more people have started to talk about the realities of coeliac disease and how their health improved after giving up gluten, other people, who don’t have the same digestive issues, have increasingly been cutting gluten out of their diets. With whole aisles of gluten-free stuff to choose from these days and plenty of coeliac-friendly options on restaurant menus, there isn’t really any stigma attached to it.

But is this a good thing? Well, according to new research from the University of Hertfordshire, people are giving up eating gluten thinking it’s better for them to cut it out, when it could in fact be damaging their health in the long run.

Only around one in every 100 people have coeliac disease, but a lot more people are giving up gluten at the minute, possibly to be trendy. But what’s so trendy about risking severe stomach cramps, vomiting or diarrhoea every time you eat bread? Why would you pretend to? It’s a more extreme version of those people who wear glasses with clear glass despite not needing specs at all…

Anyway, the University of Hertfordshire scientists found that gluten-free foods tend to contain a lot more saturated fat, sugar and salt than items with gluten in. What’s more, gluten-free stuff typically contains less fibre and protein than regular items, meaning it’s not as filling and we’re likely to consume more of it.

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Of course, if you suffer from coeliac disease, your body needs these substitutes, but if there’s no medical reason to be eating them, they could potentially increase your risk of heart disease over the long term.

And if you do have a genuine gluten intolerance, you shouldn’t solely be relying on gluten-free alternatives. Cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients to make something like a pasta sauce rather than buying a special substitute will save you money and mean you won’t be consuming too much salt and saturated fat.

If you’re trying to eat more gluten-free bread/pasta/rice simply because of something you’ve seen on Instagram or Twitter, there’s really no need to. You could be paying three times as much for the privilege, it’ll taste pretty much the same, and it’s probably not as good for you.

Meanwhile, if bloating or other digestive problems are an issue, don’t self-diagnose coeliac disease, talk to your doctor. Instagram might be full of helpful tips and advice, but it’s not a medical expert, so don’t just assume your tummy is gassy because of gluten.

And that’s the main advice we’re giving you here: celebrate your unique digestive noises, don’t go stealing everyone else’s. A lovely note to end on, don’t you think?