Benefits of a Wheat-Free Diet

Many people feel better by avoiding wheat products.

If you suffer from digestive problems, you could have a wheat allergy or celiac or nonceliac disease. According to Harvard Health, people with celiac disease must follow a wheat-free diet. It is estimated that up to 2 million people in the U.S. have celiac disease, even though only about 300,000 have been diagnosed with it.

People who eat a wheat-free diet feel better, even though they do not know that they have celiac disease. Gas, constipation, headache, trouble concentrating, fatigue, bloating, and diarrhea are some of the common symptoms of celiac disease.

A wheat-free diet can be beneficial even if you do not have a wheat allergy or celiac or nonceliac disease. People who have a wheat allergy need to avoid all products containing wheat.

Hidden Wheat

Wheat is used as a filler in many foods, but the wheat is hidden so that you would probably not know that it is there unless you read the food label. Eating in restaurants can be very problematic if you have this type of food allergy because wheat is in many different foods.

Dangers of Wheat

Wheat is believed to be the cause of numerous problems in humans. Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly, wrote in his book that wheat not only causes the belly that many people have, but it also stimulates the appetite. It can cause you to gain weight, and although it has not been studied enough yet, it is believed that wheat is addictive. This is because polypeptides from gluten go into the brain and bind to opiate receptors. This produces a type of good feeling after eating something made from wheat. Wheat is believed to be a contributing factor to the growing diabetes rates in the U.S. and around the world as well. There are many other problems that are believed to be caused by wheat.

One theory of why wheat has become unhealthy for many people after previous generations thrived on it is that today's diet contains far more wheat than previous generations ate. We eat many sandwiches, hamburgers on buns, pizza, and other foods containing wheat that previous generations did not eat as often. Also, wheat has changed over the years and hybrid varieties grown today may be responsible for problems that were not issues for previous generations. Today's wheat likely has a higher gluten content than wheat grown years ago. The only way to see if you feel better on a wheat free diet is to eliminate it from your diet. Make sure that you check all food labels to see if there is any wheat in them. If you feel more energetic, less bloated, and just better in general, then you may want to continue your wheat-free diet.

Source: Harvard Health Publications