Why You Should Avoid Gluten Free Food Companies
Gluten Free food companies should be focused on creating foods that help those with major health issues caused by gluten exposure. In order to do this successfully, one would expect that the food substitute options should at least be healthy. After all, people needing to go on a gluten free diet are typically extremely sick and the first priority should be the establishment of improved health. Fundamentally, one cannot achieve good health eating unhealthy foods.
Instead, the vast majority of these companies focus on creating poor quality options high in sugar, GMO grains, pesticides, and other unhealthy fillers. Many of these same companies align with hospitals and celiac treatment centers. These alignments serve to falsely spread the message that processed foods should be incorporated into the diet of very sick people as a means of restoring health. This, in my humble opinion is a terrible message to demonstrate. Processed grains have been linked to:
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- Chronic Inflammation…
and much, much more. The study below shows the link between processed grain and metabolic syndrome.
Processed “Gluten Free” Food Is Unhealthy
Processed “gluten free” food options containing cheap grain fillers like corn, rice, and sorghum are terrible for you. Most of the companies hawking these products as healthy alternatives are simply taking advantage of mass nutritional ignorance on the topic, and helping to dilute the important fundamental fact that you cannot overcome poor health by eating junk food. Because the term “gluten free” has been associated with “healthier”, many people gravitate to these horrible substitutes only to continue to have persistent health issues. Subsequently, when they don’t feel better after making the switch their thought process goes something like this –
“I tried the gluten free diet and it didn’t work for me. Guess I can eat gluten after all.”
The gluten free food industry is profiting to the tune of 3.4 billion annually and an expected growth to reach 24 billion by 2020. These profits are largely derived by using cheap ingredients with exaggerated mark ups. A loaf of bread made with inexpensive rice flour can cost as much as $8.00.
What do you think about the gluten free food industry? Chime in below…
26 Responses
As a Nutritional Health Coach over the last 10 years I have been telling people that just because it says “gluten free” does not mean it is healthy. (I was shocked at the number of people who do not realize this). Ask yourself, “Is this food going to help heal my body?” If the answer is no don’t eat it..
As a chiropractor, I was explaining to one of my patients I had given up gluten including oats etc, etc, and her response was that her friend had managed to obtain gluten free oats, and thought gluten oats were only site to cross contamination (and not due to the gluten inhetent in the oats themselves)! It is sad and frustrating how misled people are.
It’s so hard to get enough calories. I’m a coeliac in Scotland and I find all these gluten free products are expensive and many have too much sugar or taste awful. Some companies are trying to sell us codex wheat starch ie wheat minus the protein because it’s been bleached out. They don’t appreciate we react as coeliac because it’s an immune reaction.
These days I see too much “Gluten Free” on items that would never contain it. Water! I always look at the ingredients and find “Healthy” alternatives that are gluten free contain things like Canola oil and Carrageenan. The evil soy has been replaced by the more evil Canola. As soon as I read ingredients, I can tell if a company is honest, or simply in it for the money with little regard for the health of customers. Like parasites, they are killing their hosts. This would not be happening if people educated themselves on ingredients and stopped buying unhealthy food items. That’s one way to get rid of parasites. Cut off their food source. An immediate solution is to get Dr. Osborne’s book NO PAIN, NO GRAIN into the hands of family and friends. One can change things for the better. They just have to decide to and do it.
Eating gluten free oatmeal before exercise class, really helps a lot. Buy gluten free pasta in use with sauces. Unable to tolerate, meat, dairy, or oils. Always looking for recipes that don’t contain beans either.
I realised this a long time ago. Processed gluten free is absolute rubbish. Most of it contains Maize too. Never waste my money on this stuff anymore. Its wrong that it can be promoted as healthy a lot of the ingredients are poison
I have asthma and was taking Symbicort for almost 10 years. I hate medicating but Symbicort was good at keeping me symptom free. The side effects were unpleasant though, so I only took 1 puff every evening and that was enough in my case. Nevertheless, I wanted to get to the root of my problem instead of just treating the symptoms so I started following a gluten free diet recently. This has been excellent but I’m still in a learning curve. For instance, I stir fried some fresh vegetables in grapeseed oil and had a reaction to that. Why, I wonder? I used to drink wine, gave that up a long time ago, but thought to try sulfite free wine the other day and that was also no good. I would love to find a dietician out there who can help me. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, soy yoghurt, nuts, seeds and gluten free bread by Mestemacher has all been part of my recent diet. I use a gluten free salad dressing called ‘Briannas Home Style Poppy Seed Dressing’. It is extremely tasty (please don’t tell me it is on the ‘bad’ gluten free product list)! Salmon, preferably wild Alaskan Salmon, shrimp and occasionally some other fish is part of my diet also, but NO meat, chicken or any other flesh for many years. When I only eat the above I have an amazing night’s sleep, no elephants sitting on my chest!!! I hope this encorages other asthma sufferers to go medicine free. It is trial and error, we are all very different in what triggers our allergy and that is what asthma is, an allergic reaction. Find out WHAT you’re allergic to, and cut it out of your life. Good luck!
Joanna:
I can’t enjoy grape juice/wine either am allergic. If you can enjoy organic grapes and not the processed products it could be a case of cross contamination. Many products are bottled on shared lines or processed on shared equipment. Sometimes this information is NOT disclosed on the label (personal experience). I’ve learned (in the US) that many organic products are processed, bottled, packaged on a dedicated manufacturing line (therefore less chance of cross contamination). Best of luck
The problem is going gluten free limits your food choices so much already. I see know way more would be able to survive on a diet limiting all grains.. That would be impossible. What would I eat for lunch with no bread a salad ever single day. We need to be able to eat something. It s hard to enough finding something gluten free. It is way too difficult already. Cannot go to restaurants ants anymore they have no choices. It is very painful being so limited
The pain you perceive is in your attitude toward this situation. You can choose to look upon a grain free lifestyle as a fantastic, positive way to finally get well and feel better! My body forced me to stop all grain and dairy 5 years ago. If I ate any of that I got violently ill. I had been sick for decades. It is Not impossible to live 100% grain free. As soon as I stopped all grain and dairy, I began to heal-lost 50 pounds-allergies gone-joint pain 80% better-blood pressure now perfect-cholesterol down 80 points. Experience the wonderful benefits to your health and be Happy about this. Then you won’t feel so “limited.” A healthy body has limitless potential! It’s easy enough to adapt and carry food with you, if necessary. At a restaurant choose meat and extra vegetables. This means avoid fast food chains, of course. I find most restaurants are very attentive to my food intolerances, and more than happy to substitute, so that I have an enjoyable meal.
Not everyone is like you, though. When you tell people it’s only in their attitude, it sounds like the same cult like behavior that other dieters push on others, like vegans saying everyone can go vegan, they just don’t want to.
I personally could not sustain myself on a grain free diet, no matter how hard I tried. I just couldn’t eat enough sweet potato or other carbs which is my body’s preferred fuel for energy. My electrolytes kept dropping, I was loosing weight. Don’t forget not every country has other alternatives available such as tapioca, cassava, arrow root, etc. We don’t. We only had a taste of a sweet potato recently. But all continents and countries use some type of GRAIN. I think this should be a clue for anyone who is trying to invent a new diet fad or a diet cult. The majority of people need all of it: protein from some animal source, carbs from starchy veggs, grains & fruit & fats with fiber. It’s sad that many of us go wrong with the basics because of guru influence & mess with our health.
I basically added all the foods that I like to my diet and through every green out except oatmeal and gluten-free brown rice pasta.I discovered that if you fill up on enough of the healthy food you won’t have room for the not so healthy and a nighttime I have an almond milk banana shake or dark chocolate and I just recently started using cinnamon to lower my blood sugar because cinnamon also leads to not craving sweets as much. I hope this information is helpful to you!
I’m trying to go gluten-free, but not very successfully. I lack the motivation and the support to keep going all the time. The products are expensive and most of them taste gross. I have to travel out of town to even consider buying any of their products.
He’s saying not to buy those products. Buy real food.
I cautiously read all ingredients in any product that says “Gluten Free”. If I accidentally have something that has a rice or corn ingredient, I’m in pain within 1-3 hours – guaranteed. I went Grain Free 3 months ago and my Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain is GONE! No joke. It only took a week for the pain to vanish. I had been in chronic pain for the last 3 years, getting monthly infusions of Orencia, on Methotrexate (chemo pills) and Oral Steroids. Now, I don’t take any of these awful meds that were making me as sick as the illness itself. Now I eat: chicken, steak, beef, fish, bacon, sausage (with no fillers), lots of different fruits and vegetables, almond flour/coconut flour to make delicious pancakes, pizza crust, and grain free bread loaves at home. You just have to do your research about what foods are grain free, read No Grain No Pain, or go online for Grain Free and/or Paleo recipes. Great snacks are: nuts (except peanuts or cashews), Apple Pie or Carrot Cake Lara Bars, Coconut chips, Apple Chips! I found an AWESOME pizza at Vons too, brand is called Against the Grain, and it’s great!! Going Grain Free has also COMPLETELY Relieved my mother of her Fibromyalgia chronic pain/depression she’s had since age 16 (she’s now 70), helped my 14 yr old son with his Pre-diabetes, relieved my husband of depression and anxiety he had been battling for 5 yrs, and relieved my 10 yr old of chronic GERD since he was 1 yr old!! NO JOKE. I AM NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP. Being symptom free is Believing. Thank you Dr. Osborne!
Lucy,
Thanks for sharing your story!
So glad to hear you are feeling better!
All the best,
Dr. Osborne
Lucy, The toxic Methotrexate took, my hair, eye sight, teeth & lung function in just 7 months. I called the company in FL. & asked if they made the medication, they said No we buy it from China…haha I then researched manufactures in China over 8,500 company made Methotrexate, like what in their sheds. The symptoms I’ve experienced are the same as radiation poisoning, which wouldn’t surprise me at all from them. These toxins are sold to our Veteran’s & I’m livid about this.
How about a list of truly gluten-free products by reputable companies. What do you think of the products out there like gluten ease to help with things like eating out or hidden gluten?
Rachel,
It is hard to create a list, because companies are constantly changing their ingredients. Instead, we have created a list of hidden terms that food manufacturers will use as a hidden source of gluten. You can find it here <<<
As far as an enzyme to help with hidden gluten, I recommend Gluten Shield <<==
All the best,
Dr. Osborne
All rice flours are high in arsenic, especially brown rice, so do limit your intake of rice in any form. This study was done by Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.
The processed gluten free products were very helpful when I first went gluten free. They did bridge the gap for a time while I started my education journey on this huge learning curve. I have dropped many of those products after attempting to be gf for 2.5 years. Now, when I choose to use a processed product, I look for non GMO, certified gf, possibly organic. I recently made my personal food prep safer for me-stainless fry pan, storage containers clearly marked, stainless spatula, etc., in our shared kitchen. Just returned from beaches in Delaware. I found that I must discern EVERYTHING!!! Even a cafe owned/operated by a celiac family reported “it didn’t bother them” to cook gf crepes on the same part of grill they cook crepes with gluten!!! Next time we go, I know I must take EVERYTHING I eat!!! Now there’s a vacation-not.
I did not know about arsenic in rice flour. Thank you all.
I only eat whole foods the only flour is Tigernut flour. It would be nice if you would do a show on our gut, which should be treated first. Leaky gut or the SIBO and where does infections and Toxins fit in. If a person worked in the oil field and was poisoned by bad gas what toxin or chemical does he need to get rid of in order to get better.
I have been grain free for about six years now. While l do agree that it can be hard at times with busy life’s it’s worth the effort I was very ill with thyroid and adrenal problems. I was not responding to the medications. I needed high doses. It was only when l went complete grain free l started to get results. I still need medication but half the dose. I’m 60 but feel 16 again and have my life back. I recently discovered primal pantry bars that are grain free and great for on the go Susan x
As consumer of “gluten free” bread I now have challenged the producer of the bread with what you, Dr. Osborne have told “us” about “gluten free” food and I am now awaiting for the response from the producer.
I have coeliac gen hypothyroidism hushimoto gen diagnosed with coeliac after 55 years of my life time have had 0 iron most of my life time also have sibo finding it difficult to get rid off I’m grateful for finding your website been ready no grain no pain great book do you think that I can recover from this as it’s being long term thanks Gina
hello, i just want you all to know that as of Jan 1 of this year 2023 i went gluten free. with that said if i go grain free I will be rid of the small whiteheads as i am rid of the cystic acne with the gluten free. i am more conscious, but i won’t lie…it is hard to find other foods to fill you up.