The Gluten-free scam

Gluten-Free

Step into a super market and in the rack dedicated to ‘healthy products’ you will see a host of Gluten free products! And along with the gluten free, comes the extra premium that you need to pay for it…but hey! everything healthy has to be costlier, isn’t it!?

Well, how great are these food companies in selling you scams! And look at you!! Poor you! You fall for such crap over and over and over again. It is like you are a Guiana pig for all their marketing circus!

What is Gluten?

Gluten is a type of protein seen in wheat, oats, barley bread etc that gives it the gum kind of stickiness and also keeps the dough in shape and holds them together. 

Is Gluten bad?

If gluten free is scam, then why all this hue and cry about going gluten free, and why so many gluten free products in the recent times!?

Well, gluten can be really bad for people suffering from celiac disease (Coeliac disease). 

Celiac disease is a grave autoimmune disease, where gluten leads to damage of small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide has Celiac disease – i,e 1% of the population only!  When people with celiac disease eat food containing gluten, their body starts an immune response by attacking its own small intestine. This damages small fingerlike projections on small intestine called villi, that helps in absorbing nutrients there by inhibiting proper absorption of nutrients into the body..

Celiac disease is hereditary; people with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease.

The only treatment for celiac disease is lifelong adherence to a strict gluten-free diet!

Why is Gluten-free a scam?

Gluten is potent and harmful for those who has Celiac disease. However it is estimated that globally only less than ~1% people are affected by Celiac disorder. Those who do not have celiac disorder has absolutely no benefit of avoiding gluten in their diet, nor is gluten harmful.

The FMCG companies instil fear and has found yet another smart way to fool people in the name of ‘health’….after all, we are all proven to be gullible, aren’t we?

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