The London Olympics sure have been exciting! First is was gluten-free Dana Vollmer that scored gold, now it is Jennifer Suhr! Suhr won gold in the pole vault on Monday. She was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2011. I find it fascinating that both of these athletes have found success with the gluten-free diet. Something as simple as a diet change made all of the difference in the world.
(source)
If it were up to me, everyone would be gluten-free, because then my life would be easier. The reality is that while the gluten-free diet can do wonders for those with Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity, it is not for everyone. There have been many articles about how the gluten-free diet is the newest “fad diet” along with the celebrities that are currently avoiding gluten. It has been said that the gluten-free diet isn’t a healthy one and if you don’t have to be on it, you may be missing out on vital nutrients. My opinion has always been that a diet is what you make it. I don’t even like the word “diet” – I prefer lifestyle. If you choose to eat wide variety of nutrient-rich, whole, unprocessed foods you will most likely be following a healthy “lifestyle”. If those foods are gluten-free or not only matters if you can’t digest gluten. If you choose to replace all of the processed foods you once ate with their gluten-free counterparts, your diet lifestyle may not be as healthy as it could be.
If you have a chance to read this article from Online Athens, please do so. It does a great job of covering all of the important parts.
What has been your favorite part of the Olympics so far?
My son and me, November 2000. This is before we were gluten-free/diagnosed Celiac.
This always drives me nuts. A gluten free diet lacks in essential nutrients? Do they mean from fortified breads and cereals? How about eating real food?!?!?! Like you said
Going gluten free helped me to realize how much nutrition my gluten FILLED diet was lacking!!!!
Jen,
Yes, I pay so much more attention to the foods that I put in my body now.
Kim
Thanks for sharing the article. It is something that I've been curious about (and expressed that on my site), why there seems to be so much more prevalence in gluten-intolerance/celiac. The article kind of goes along with my guess about processed foods and genetically-modified production. But I will say, I have NEVER understood when there are famous athletes who say they go gluten-free for the season and "feel so amazing" due to it, yet then go on a gluten-binge after. Honestly, if you feel that much better… why binge on all the stuff that makes you feel badly? I don't understand that!
Jill,
I totally agree with you! If something makes you feel bad, why would you eat it?
Kim
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