Gluten Free Diet Continues to Gain in Popularity

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Written by Kyle Eslick / Published in Featured

Has anyone else noticed that gluten free diets have really started to gain popularity? Maybe it is the next diet fad (ie Atkins diet of a few years ago)? Although our first instinct is probably to assume that the diagnosis of Celiac Disease has increased (which it has), but according to a recent post over at USA Today, it looks like this isn’t the reason for the increase in gluten free food sales.

Here is a part of their post that caught my attention:

Marketers estimate that 15% to 25% of consumers want gluten-free foods — though doctors estimate just 1% have celiac disease, the best-defined and most severe form of gluten intolerance, says Cynthia Kupper, executive director of the non-profit Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (gluten.net).

Up to 25% want gluten free foods, but only 1% have Celiac Disease? I find this incredible. Apparently even Oprah was temporarily on a gluten free diet!

Here is another excerpt:

Gluten-free diets are catching on at colleges, says Dee Sandquist, a registered dietitian in Vancouver, Wash., and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

“There is a fad aspect,” says Kupper, who also is a registered dietitian. (Both Kupper and Sandquist have celiac disease.)

What can possibly be behind a fad that has college kids giving up pizza and bagels?

One answer is that true gluten intolerance, once thought rare, is getting overdue attention. In 2003, just 40,000 Americans had been diagnosed with celiac disease; today, it’s 110,000 — and, if everyone with the disease were diagnosed, it would be 3 million, says Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research in Baltimore.

Fasano and other researchers also believe that some people who don’t have celiac disease — an immune disorder detected through a blood test and intestinal biopsy — do, nonetheless, have some gluten intolerance or sensitivity, causing symptoms ranging from bloating to rashes. (Note: Fasano is testing a pill that could allow affected people to eat gluten without symptoms; others also are testing medications.)

There is some other good information as well, so I recommend you check out this post.

So what do you think? There is certainly a much needed awareness of the gluten free diet, but have you noticed an increase in people without a gluten intolerance following the diet as well? I personally haven’t, but I’m wondering if this may only be happening in the major cities.

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Kristi says:

August 19, 2008 at 12:54 pm

I find when I go to the Health Food Store to pick up the occassional bag of flour or GF convenience food that there is a great confusion about the gluten free diet. The woman in front of me in line the other day was telling people how much healthier, etc., that it was. Now, I’m no dietician, but I’m pretty sure it’s no healthier than eating gluten. I’d even go so far as to say that without extreme caution, it can be far *less* nutritious (with the use of GF convienence foods), since most of these sorts of products carry a huge calorie load and aren’t artificially fortified like things made of wheat based flours.

Things that are good for everyone about being GF: You are forced to spend more time thinking about what you’re eating; you have to make a great deal from scratch due to cost prohibition; you eat less bread and may consume fewer calories due to the vicious nastiness of much of what’s availible.

But, in general, I don’t believe that the GF diet is advisable for anyone that doesn’t have to do it, if for no other reason than that it’s a major pain in the butt.

Kyle Eslick says:

August 21, 2008 at 9:16 pm

@ Kristi – I couldn’t agree more! I suppose if it is “healthier” that is just because they are using the diet as an excuse to avoid carbs or certain foods.

Being GF is certainly more expensive, more time consuming, and not fun at all. I suppose for those on the diet, though, they don’t have to worry about cross contamination if there isn’t a medical need to be GF.

August 21, 2008 at 9:28 pm

True. CC is a big worry for most of us (it’s the monster under the bed for me!), but I say we should make being gluten free MORE FUN!! I spend countless hours experimenting with strange and unusual foods that I would have *NEVER* considered before my dx.