Is Gluten Free the Answer? Or is it Something Else?

In my experience as a Nutrition Coach it still ceases to amaze me what a dramatic effect cutting out gluten/wheat can have on someones waistline, weight and overall health. Even if you aren't sensitive, allergic or even believe in all the gluten hype, almost everyone can benefit from eliminating gluten from the diet. Or is the fact of the matter just eliminating processed foods?  As soon as you remove gluten from your diet you've clearly removed most breads, cookies, pastas, cereals, almost all processed food. Gluten is really only evident in grains and grains are one of the most processed foods on the planet. It doesn't matter if the loaf of bread you're eating claims to be gluten free or organic, chances are that bread went through some extensive series of processing in order to make those claims. Removing processed foods from your diet is one of the fastest and healthiest ways of losing weight! Period! The reason most people have trouble losing weight or continue to steadily gain weight is because they are regularly consuming processed foods which hold no nutritional value and unnecessarily large caloric density. Processed foods also convert into sugar quickly in your system signaling your insulin to kick in and your fat burning mechanisms to shut off. Combine this with a sedentary lifestyle and you have an excellent environment for weight gain and risk for chronic disease. If you are currently someone who lives off cereal, breads, crackers and pastas, then replacing wheat based products with whole real foods will transform your fitness and health. Steering away from processed foods and towards REAL, WHOLE FOODS will drastically increase energy, fat loss, improve hormone and organ function, improve body composition and so much more. Now don't be fooled, if you are switching from regular cookies to now , gluten free cookies, it will not improve your body composition or health in any way possible. Both are processed foods and fail to hold any real nutritional value. These alternatives are still loaded with added chemicals, sugars and preservatives which in turn, have a negative effect on your weight loss results. In fact most , gluten free baked goods can have a worse glycemic reaction(raise in blood sugar, spike in insulin, fat burning mechanisms shut off) than the foods you were replacing in the first place. They can still be high in sugar, calories and carbohydrates. So even though gluten has been eliminated, the food is still heavily processed and will not compliment your goals in terms of losing weight/fat and improved body composition. If you want to see real results, start eating REAL, WHOLE FOOD!