Why ditching gluten can make you fat

FOR ‘lifestyle’ coeliacs who give up gluten in an attempt to slim down, the transition to glutenfree comes with a stark warning: if you switch processed glutencontaining foods for processed gluten-free foods, you are highly unlikely to lose weight. In fact, you could gain pounds.

‘If you cut out all bread, pasta, cakes and snacks and don’t replace them with gluten-free, you may lose weight,’ says U.S. coeliac specialist Dr Peter Green. ‘But if you’re coeliac, you might gain weight, as going glutenfree should mean your intestine is healing and you’re now able to digest food properly.’

Non-coeliacs face weight gain, too, because manufactured gluten-free products very often contain a higher proportion of fat and sugar to compensate for the loss of taste and texture that can come as a result of using gluten-free flours.