Midweek morsel: The great big gluten debate – it’s not all a lot of hot air

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 7 years watching people change their eating and lifestyle habits to effect a change in how they look and feel.

The one thing I have learned that there isn’t a one size fits all solution to weight loss and weight management. We are unique beings and each of us come with our own personal packets of hormones, stress levels, metabolic response, immune activity, belief systems, values, attitudes and approaches to life that affect our results.

However, there is one area that I’ve noticed that gives people the biggest return on their efforts and makes them feel good quickly.They get visibly quick results and can feel the changes in their clothes and energy.

Removing wheat, wheat based foods and gluten containing foods from your diet has such a profound effect on people way beyond a bit of discomfort and bloating. However, losing 5 inches off your belly in 6 weeks is way more than exercise can do alone.

If you are obsessed by your belly and want to cover it up with baggy tee-shirts or hoodies then this may give you the quick kick start you need.

Removing wheat and gluten also gives people their energy back. Mid-afternoon slumps are a thing of the past when sarnies for lunch are swapped out.

Losing weight is easier when you ditch it. Your blood sugar is more stable, you eat less because you stay satisfied for longer. I don’t much care how much you weigh and whether you lose weight or not – but I know you care.

Your moods and memory improve. Wheat and gluten have been implicated in mood swings, depression, anxiety and memory fog. One of our campers said of her partner that he noticed his memory was much sharper once he shunned the wheat.

And yes for many you’ll feel less bloated, fart less, have improved digestion and irritable bowel syndrome. Which to my mind is reason enough to want to give it a try to feel better and feel less restricted in your waistband and less worried where the next toilet is.

To find out more about how to give up gluten, how it can improve your immediate and long term health and what to replace it with to feel liberated not deprived. Join me at my ‘Why should I go gluten free event’ on Sunday 3 July at 10:00 in the Sindlesham Room at Bearwood Recreation Ground, Winnersh RG41 5DU.