Before we start with the myths (and some facts) about a gluten-free diet, we would need to stress out that such a diet is a must for celiac diagnosed people and people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

The first is a condition where gluten causes an adverse reaction damaging cells and can lead to a serious situation. The second is if your body cannot tolerate gluten but the end effect is not as severe as the celiac disease. In both cases though, a gluten-free diet is the solution.

Weight loss and a healthier lifestyle

Most modern health related magazines will urge you to be gluten-free as you will be losing weight and you will be in better physical shape. Those kind of statements are not proven to anyone who is not sensitive to gluten. If your current diet is revolving around pasta, bread and cookies and you switch to naturally gluten-free foods like vegetables, fruits, eggs and milk – of course you will get healthier and you will lose weight but the reason is not the gluten itself.

Less gluten equals better stomach

Another myth that has been blown out of proportion. According to some studies, if you remove gluten from your diet, your digestive system will improve significantly which will result in a healthier lifestyle. Well yes, but only if you are sensitive to gluten. If you are not, there is absolutely no evidence proving that you and your stomach will be in better shape if you cut down on gluten.

Gluten-free foods are healthier than the rest

The same magazines that are trying to insert the gluten-free fashion in our lives will be putting this information in our brains – gluten-free foods are healthier than their counterparts. Since manufacturers cannot use gluten-containing grains like wheat when producing some foods, they need to substitute them. A great way to make such a substitution is to add fats and sugars – more than they were before. It is a great way to market the products with a “gluten-free” label but that does not mean that all of us have to purchase that food.

No alcohol

If you are gluten sensitive, you would need to cut down on some of the beverages in your life. Beer is probably the biggest enemy of a gluten-free diet and you need to remove it. On the other hand, you can become a bigger wine person, as wine does not contain gluten.