| A gluten-free diet can be slightly counter-intuitive | | | | Looking at protein, it has this effect of boosting |
| in the sense that if you're overweight, it can help | | | | your metabolism and making you feel full than |
| you lose weight...and if you're underweight, it can | | | | when you eat carbohydrates or fats. Another |
| help you gain weight. Let's investigate these two | | | | great thing is that it helps create a hormone in |
| effects: | | | | the pancreas called glucagon. This chemical helps |
| Losing Weight | | | | raise blood sugar, while burning stored fat |
| The amount of overweight and obese people is | | | | between meals. Contrast this with high-glycemic, |
| quite staggering these days. A diet free of gluten | | | | carbohydrate meals that actually suppress |
| might be the first step to helping people lose this | | | | glucagon, which causes two things. One, fat |
| weight. Many people believe that the key to losing | | | | burning is no longer being encouraged by glucagon |
| weight is having a diet that is high in protein with a | | | | AND insulin is now promoting the storage of fat. |
| low glycemic load, while being nutrient-rich. | | | | So it's a "double-whammy" towards fat |
| However, just going gluten-free is not the | | | | accumulation. |
| complete answer. Many people simply indulge in | | | | Some people complain that eating too much |
| the gluten-free alternatives that are just as bad | | | | protein can cause a calcium deficiency. However |
| at signaling your body to store fat, such as | | | | eating many carbohydrates leads to tons of |
| gluten-free cookies, brownies and other snacks. | | | | nutritional deficiencies. Cutting back on |
| No improvement is made by doing this. | | | | carbohydrates and receiving calcium from an |
| The first step is keeping insulin levels in check. | | | | adequate source should keep things normal. |
| Whenever you eat foods that cause rapid rises in | | | | Gaining Weight |
| blood sugar, whether they have gluten or not, | | | | Well it's much rarer, but some people need to gain |
| insulin will be produced to deliver glucose to your | | | | weight and they are almost certainly not receiving |
| cells. The problem with high insulin levels is that it | | | | enough nutrients. A lot of these people simply get |
| inhibits your body's ability to burn fat and to signal | | | | the bare minimum of calories from carbohydrates. |
| when you should feel full. If your blood sugar | | | | If they were to go on a gluten-free diet and |
| levels are steady, your insulin levels are steady | | | | increase their protein and fat intake, their weight |
| and you will not suffer from these conditions. | | | | levels would quickly return to normal. |