The truth is, not all gluten free foods are healthy gluten free foods. You can't walk through the supermarket without seeing gluten free labels all over the shelves. Companies are creating more gluten free snacks, breads, pastas, and cereals to satisfy the demand. Options are important but it's even more important to look for products with healthy ingredients.

It's estimated that 3,000,000 people are living with Celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune that leads to damage in the small intestine as a result of eating foods that contain gluten (wheat, barley, and rye). It's also estimated that 9 million people eat a gluten free diet because of gastrointestinal symptoms and 7 million people choose a gluten free lifestyle to help with headaches and fogginess.

Why are People Choosing to Eat Gluten Free?

There many common symptoms people experience that lead them to try a gluten free diet. Continue Reading

While eating a gluten-free diet can be life changing for people who have certain conditions, it can be less meaningful for others. Gluten-free is an ever expanding movement in the natural health community. There are some good reasons for this and some bad reasons. Eating gluten-free can save a person's life, seriously. A person with Celiac Disease must follow this diet to save their own life and prevent serious diseases down the road. This is the reason why the gluten-free movement has evolved into what it is today. There seems to be some serious confusion on why people choose this diet. For a Celiac sufferer, it is not a choice.

Personally, I am not diagnosed with Celiac disease. Natural health and nutrition is my life (obviously!) so I am pretty in tune with my body. I've experimented with hundreds of different diets and put a lot of thought and energy into understanding how I feel when I eat a certain way. Out of all this experience I found that I react to gluten. Can this be reversed? Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that I am considered non-celiac gluten sensitive. Research is still being done on this condition, some studies have even shown that this is not a real thing but being a person of this group I beg to differ. I'll tell you a story…

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With Celiac Disease on the rise, and a growing intolerance to gluten, there are more and more people who are avoiding wheat. This expanding movement has created a whole new industry for gluten-free foods. Anyone who has gone to a grocery store in the last couple of years has seen the influx of new gluten-free products on a monthly basis. People with Celiac Disease often seek out gluten-free alternatives that are wheat-like in taste and texture and food companies have picked up on it.

So here's why this isn't always a good thing…

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Did you know that, according to the American Diabetes Association,  an estimated 10% of people with type 1 diabetes also have Celiac disease? Celiac disease is a digestive disorder caused by an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and a few other common grains. The fact that there is a good number of people with both of these conditions shows that there is a strong link between Type 1 diabetes and gluten intolerance. This number does not even include people with gluten intolerance or people who have not been diagnosed with Celiac Disease yet which means that an even larger percentage of type 1 diabetics are likely experiencing symptoms of gluten sensitivity.

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