Gluten free diet is becoming trendy

A gluten free diet is becoming popular with people who aren’t allergic to gluten nor have celiac disease.

As more and more people become aware of gluten products they are searching the internet to find articles about how it can cause inflammation, make you fat and a long list of other things. But a gluten free diet is not for everyone. One side effect from eating gluten free that people might not be aware of is gluten free foods are low in fiber and it is difficult for people on a gluten free diet to find alternatives to wheat based foods.

“There’s a lot of people who like the hype, there is a chunk of the population who are just avoiding it because they heard it could be bad,” said Chris Carpenter.

Carpenter is the general manager at Pure Nature Health & Nutrition Centre and said he sees some people come in who won’t even touch a nutrient pill if it contains gluten.

“There’s a little bit of an obsessive need for gluten free to be right on the label,” said Carpenter.

A local bakery owner has been baking gluten free for over 15 years since her son was diagnosed with celiac disease.

“There seems to be some sort of fad that people are jumping on and trying the gluten free diet,” said Chris Brecka Owner of Healthy Creations Specialty Bakery.

“If you’re someone who doesn’t have a sensitivity from gluten there is no reason why you have to remove gluten from your diet,” said Brecka.
Celiac Disease is an intestinal disorder where the person cannot tolerate gluten. Gluten is a protein found is wheat, barley and rye and when it is consumed the body attacks it and in the process of attacking this gluten protein it destroys the villus in the intestine. The Intestinal Villus are small, finger-looking projections that extend from the epithelial lining of the intestinal wall. This makes it almost impossible to absorb nutrients from their food.

“My oldest son was diagnosed with celiac disease back in 1994 after he had been sick for two and a half years,” said Brecka

Her son Derrick was diagnosed when he was three and at first all the foods she was buying were not attractive to him.

“It was really difficult to find back in those days and there were health food stores around and I would purchase a couple items from the stores and everything was really expensive,” said Brecka

Brecka experimented with making products in her kitchen at home and at first he wasn’t responding. After a couple of years she started to get a couple of products down that her son would enjoy. By then Brecka found out that her youngest daughter was also affected by celiac disease. Brecka eventually joined the Windsor Celiac Foundation and she would bring some of her products to their meetings. Everyone enjoyed them so much her business almost started itself.  She now had two locations-one in South Windsor and one in London, Ont.

Gluten free foods can now be found in most grocery stores and also in locally owned shops around the city. The smaller gluten free bakeries that have been opening are making it more convenient for affordable for people affected by celiac disease.