Changes To Expect After Quitting Gluten (They’re Not All Good)
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Research suggests that the gluten-free food market may grow by nearly three billion dollars by the year 2025. We’ve all seen the gluten-free train speeding up in recent years, with nearly every product from soy sauce to pasta to pizza dough now available in not one but dozens of gluten-free varieties, and major chain restaurants as well as mom-and-pop cafés and restaurants offering alternatives. Even packaging has changed on items that have always been gluten-free to now explicitly note that they are, like many kinds of cereal or yogurts. The statistics do show that one year, in particular, caused the boom, with the sales of gluten-free products rising by 81 percent between 2012 and 2013. And by 2013, surveys were finding that one-third of Americans claimed to be following a diet free of it.
It feels like nobody even knew what gluten was a decade ago, and now, you hear the word as often as you hear that same popular song on the radio. Keep in mind that many individuals who do not eat gluten don’t actually have celiac disease. So what are they after? Maybe the alleged health benefits of a gluten-free diet. Some juries are still out on whether or not going without the proteins is actually beneficial to those without sensitivities, but here are some changes in your body you might experience if you quit it.
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You may digest lactose better
If you were gluten intolerant but eating it for many years, that choice might have caused damage to your intestines. There are several diseases including celiac and giardia that damage something called the brush border of the intestines, which ultimately makes it harder to digest lactose. When you remove gluten from your diet entirely for a prolonged period of time, the intestines have a chance to finally heal, and as a result, you may find that you tolerate lactose better. Of course, you’ll want to speak to your doctor to identify the cause of your lactose intolerance, rather than just hitting the ice cream hard the moment you quit gluten.
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You may understand hunger signals better
One symptom of gluten intolerance is dyspepsia, which can include bloating, gassiness, upper abdominal pain, a burning sensation, and feeling full after eating very little. That last one is common in those with gluten intolerance who continue to eat the proteins. If you experience this when eating, it can be difficult to properly determine hunger levels. You may, as a result, train yourself to eat even after you feel full because you understand you need more calories. But that also trains your brain to ignore feelings of being satiated, which can throw off your ability to understand hunger and fullness signals.
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Weight fluctuation
You might think that a gluten-free diet will cause you to lose weight, but it’s all about what you eat instead. Research has found that many patients who follow a gluten-free diet unintentionally eat foods higher in fat, which can cause weight gain because many gluten-free products tend to contain high levels of oil such as palm or coconut. However, if you avoid these processed products and simply cut out the starchy gluten foods you used to eat entirely, with no alternatives, you may see a weight loss because of the cutback on carbs. But it is important to make sure you continue to consume healthy carbohydrates.
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You may become more or less constipated
This is another one of those side effects that, like weight changes, can go either way. For some, constipation is a common side effect of eating gluten, especially in individuals with gluten sensitivity. So cutting gluten out of their diets actually alleviates this symptom. On the other hand, it’s important to remember that you may have been obtaining the majority of your fiber from gluten before cutting it out. Think of things like bran muffins, rye bread, whole grain pasta, and whole-grain cereals. These are gluten-heavy foods, but they’re also fiber-heavy foods. If you used to get most of your fiber from a big bowl of bran cereal every morning and then switch to something completely different, you may find yourself becoming constipated.
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A change in your heart health
Getting enough whole grains on a gluten-free diet can be difficult. It doesn’t have to be since there really are so many wonderful gluten-free grains available. Unfortunately, though, many Americans are most familiar with the gluten kinds and struggle to replace them quick enough when quitting the proteins. As a result, one’s heart health can be at risk, since eating whole grains plays a large role in cardiovascular health. In fact, research has found that those on a gluten-free diet can be at a heightened risk of heart disease for that very reason. None of this is meant to deter someone from quitting gluten, but it’s important to be wary of what nutrients you’re losing, so you can replace them.
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You can feel down and tired
Another important thing you can miss out on when you cut gluten is B vitamins, which are often found in high-fiber foods. Many kinds of cereal offer a good deal of vitamin B, but if you’re avoiding those in order to avoid gluten, you could unknowingly cut out this important vitamin in the same way you accidentally remove fiber from your diet. Being low on B vitamins can lead to feelings of fatigue or depression, and can even increase risk of anemia. It can also cause intestinal disturbances, which is what you hope to fix when you seek out alternatives. Be sure to take a B vitamin supplement if you quit gluten, or find gluten-free foods like cereals that contain the vitamin.
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Better concentration
Many individuals (including myself) find that they feel much more mentally alert after quitting gluten. The change won’t happen overnight, but research does show that a sustained gluten-free diet can help reduce brain fog. When I went gluten free for several years, I noticed that my need for post-lunch naps went away. However, something else could be at play. If you are taking supplements for heart-health such as fish oils to combat the cardiovascular downside of quitting whole grains, keep in mind that omegas also combat brain fog, so this shift may not entirely have to do with what you gave up, but rather what you swapped in.
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Less joint pain
If you often suffer from joint pain and you do have a gluten sensitivity, you may find that you can cut back on the painkillers, ease up on the use of supportive braces, and get back into the activities you love once you quit gluten. It can cause inflammation in the body when consumed by those with a sensitivity. The immune system jumps into action when you eat something to which you’re intolerant, which can cause inflammation in your joints and soft tissue. This may be visible on a surface level, too, through symptoms like swelling or red skin. That being said, there is a treatment currently in development meant to fight inflammation in individuals with celiac disease when they consume gluten.
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You might be grumpy
Interestingly, some studies support the idea that a gluten-free diet can improve mood disorders for those who do, in fact, have a gluten sensitivity. While other research has shown that going gluten free has made depression worse in some cases. I can say from personal experience that when I went gluten free, I would have days I felt very grumpy because all of my comfort foods contain the proteins. I love pizza, pasta, and classic hero sandwiches. Yes, there are gluten-free varieties of these, but none have exactly the same consistency as the real stuff. In those moments when you really want a gluten item to lift your mood and have to settle for something that’s not quite right, you can feel, to put it bluntly, blue-balled.
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A risk of mercury poisoning
Like with any trend that the masses rush to, we don’t really know what the unintended side effects will be for quite some time. It can take months or even years for some of the effects of a shift in diet to appear. So while research is relatively new on this, studies have suggested that those on a gluten-free diet might have higher exposure to toxic metals and mercury. The research suggests some of it could be attributed to the fact that those who don’t eat gluten turn to eating a lot of rice to get their starch, and rice might be the culprit here. This doesn’t have to do with not eating gluten – consuming gluten doesn’t fight off mercury or metal poisoning – but rather about what we eat more of when we don’t eat it. If you do choose to do a gluten-free diet, consider keeping a food journal so that if unwanted side effects do occur, you can evaluate the foods you’re eating to see if they may be the cause.
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