CanadianBiker32

Ok I know people go gluten free who have allergies to those types of food.

Now I ask for an active cyclist/athlete who is not allergic. Would going gluten free have benefits in everyday general health? Would performance be better for someone who is into racing at any level?

I am just confused on this after reading a few articles. thanks

Machka 

No.

bmontgomery87

I seriously doubt it. If you're off-season and looking to drop some pounds, I found it incredibly easy to lose weight while eating gluten free. But performance did anything but benefit.

Dudelsack 

Maybe less flatulence.

Wesley36

At least at one point in time, Allen Lim would have disagreed. FWIW:

https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fi...wheat-20120820

I cannot comment either for or against. Tried out gluten free for 3 months just to see, didn't make any difference one way or the other for me, other people have had a different experience.

A spurious reason that gluten free might be part of a better diet (in the absence of being celiac or having some sort of sensitivity to gluten) - it forces people to think about their food and make conscious choices.

bmontgomery87

Valid point.
I did find that I was forced to eat a lot more veggies and whole foods when avoiding gluten. Couldn't reach for some of the quick snacks I may have gone for otherwise.

MinnMan

I went gluten-free about a year ago to alleviate some rather severe gastrointestinal problems and it has helped a lot. So I'm gluten intolerant and the restriction has helped me considerably But man, if it weren't a big deal for my health, there's no way I'd give up beer, bread, pizza, pasta, pastries, etc. I miss them all greatly and the gluten-free alternatives generally suck.

So as one on the other side, I say that you'd have to have a really big reward in return. Unless you've got GI problems, count your blessings and have another beer.

sprince

+1

Jared.

Yes.
Reduced inflammation, improved digestion, no sluggishness or sleepiness after meals.
I can only comment on my personal experience.

GeorgeBMac

+2

pdlamb

+3

From what I've gathered (interested since Mom and brother are celiac), there's a slight risk that if you're borderline gluten intolerant and go gluten free, you might lose the ability to digest gluten and become really gluten intolerant. Keep your gut flora happy and have a piece of toast.

Jared.

No one can digest gluten, at least not in any useful fashion. From the Men's Health article:

Do you mean to say that if your have a slight gluten intolerance it can worsen if your eliminate gluten from your diet? Because I've found that to be absolutely true. Again, in my personal experience.

ftwelder

Isn't it a little interesting that there is nothing between "gluten-free" and "lots of gluten"? There is no "low gluten" diet.
I understand the intolerance thing and that gluten in not a nutritional requirement but really this is an elimination of wheat from the diet and finding another cheap complex carb? I have eaten bread made from many different beans/grains including teff and garbenzo beans and wheat is pretty darn good. Perhaps rice is the answer.

MinnMan

There is indeed something between the two. People who are truly celiac can be made miserable for a long time by just a trace of gluten. Think peanut-allergy, though the results are gut inflammation, not anaphylactic shock. I'm gluten-intolerant, but my daughter and wife aren't. They prepare glutenous food in our kitchen all the time, and as long as I don't eat it and we clean with a minimum of diligence, the residues (on the pots, cutlery, kitchen counter, etc.) don't bother me. A true celiac couldn't do that, I don't think.

ftwelder

I learned something today. What type of reaction do you get from coming in contact with it? I am very allergic to dried bamboo and have only come in contact with it twice in 56 years and ended up in the hospital. I would imagine if I lived in a region with a lot of bamboo, I would be in serious trouble.

Jared.

I get no reaction from mere contact, like what MinnMan said. When I ingest it I get minor to severe stomach pains (depending on what and how much I ate). There are other reactions as well, that really need not be delved into.

For example, I work in a restaurant. I check some of the pastas by taste. When I have one piece of penne pasta, nothing happens. If I ate a small side of say...pasta salad, I would have minor stomach pain for a few hours. If I ate a full entree, I'm doomed for 12 hours, roughly.

I try to avoid gluten all together. I get my carbohydrates from oatmeal, potatoes, and rice, sometimes quinoa.

Sixty Fiver

jared - We understand this completely.

My wife has celiac disease and has been gluten free for almost four years and it took several years for her body to recover from long term exposure and an undiagnosed condition... she also thought she was lactose intolerant but it was because her digestive system was so damaged she could not digest dairy and it puts your body into a state of constant starvation / deficiency.

I stopped eating anything with gluten and very few things in our house have it save for the girl's pasta... now if I eat glutenous foods like pasta I feel like I have eaten a brick and have a good deal of intestinal distress.

The problem is usually not the gluten which is insoluble, it is the gliadin protein that is soluble that triggers celiac disease and can cause issues with sensitivity in people without celiac disease.

We adopted a lower carb diet some years ago and pretty much eliminated most grains because of the carb content and because there just aren't that many good substitutes for wheat in baking, I still have a little oatmeal as my Scottish genes demand this and any trace gluten does not bother me but would make my wife very ill as her tolerance for gluten is essentially 0.

Lots of things that say they are gluten free can also be some of the most processed foods on the market so we avoid those too... they are also really expensive.

As such we don't eat out much due to contamination issues but this is okay, my wife loves my cooking and have done well to develop a diet that is pretty much free of grains and we don't miss it.

Sixty Fiver

If you saw how my wife reacts to exposure to gluten / gliadin you would understand the 0 tolerance.

A big issue is that wheat is used everywhere and can be found in most processed foods and contaminates many foods in restaurants as it easily spread through the air.

MinnMan

Yeah, Jared, I'm like you. Every once and a while I ingest a little and it's not a big deal - like I'm cooking noodles for my daughter and without thinking I taste one to see if it's cooked. woops, but no big deal. I eat in restaurants and I order carefully, and for the most part I'm OK, but every once and a while I make a mistake and I may pay for it about 8 hours later (details are not necessary here), but then I'm OK again.

I didn't mean to imply that Celiacs can get symptoms with contact that doesn't involve eating. Some think this happens, but I'm skeptical. But as seems to be the case for Sixty Fiver's wife, for real celiacs just a trace in the small intestines can be quite sickening.

Anyway, to return to the OP's original question, I repeat - being gluten-free is a PITA. Even if you slip up a little now and again, I can't imagine voluntarily giving up all those great foods if they didn't make me ill.

Gluten-free beer sucks and except for the cider (yuck) much of it isn't really truly gluten free, just below 20 ppm. Sadly, I just drink wine now.

Jared.

I'm very thankful that my intolerance is just that and not Celiac's disease. Sixty Fiver, I'm glad your wife got her problem sorted out. I too thought I was lactose intolerant because of the severity of the onset of the problem. It took me a lot of time and research to figure out what worked for me.

Another benefit of being gluten free, no more acid reflux. Doesn't really impact performance on the bike per se, unless you have acid reflux while on the bike.