Interesting Gluten-Free Article and Infographic

Thursday, 09 May 2019 Peter's Blog

There’s a lot of information online about what going gluten-free means. There’s also a lot of conflicting advice and some advice that is just plain incorrect. As a result, I decided that it was time to create a valuable resource that would clear up all the confusion.

I’ve done extensive research into the topic myself. Why? Because I wanted to find out what all the hype was about. The gluten-free diet has become very fashionable over the last few years but I wanted to know whether or not it was all it was cracked up to be. Furthermore, being a medical doctor, I was concerned about the idea that people were going to give up some dietary staples like wheat and oats. In the medical profession, we’re always a little skeptical about the latest fad diets that come out.

We’re all for our patients cutting back on highly processed, sugary, junk food, but we get concerned when people are talking about getting rid of whole grains that provide valuable fiber. It’s not something that we’d recommend for everyone, and, as it turns out, the gluten-free diet is not ideal for everyone.  Of course, when I’d completed my research, I decided that the information should be shared. Considering that I’d pored through pages and pages of research, I knew I could write and publish a lengthy research paper. That would have been great for my fellow doctors and me, but not much good for the layperson in the street. When people go looking for answers on the gluten-free diet, they’re not looking for a thesis on the subject, they want clear, simple answers as fast as possible.

That’s why my colleagues from MedAlertHelp and I decided to create a comprehensive infographic on the topic. There’s still a lot of information there, but it’s broken up into small factoids.

To be entirely honest, I was surprised by the amount of confusion about this diet out there. Some people think that wheat-free and gluten-free are the same thing. Others think it means cutting all carbs out. With the infographic, I’m aiming to set the record straight.

Another thing that really shocked me was that there is so much hidden gluten around. It’s a useful binding agent and is even used in cosmetics and shampoos. Crazy as it might seem, there’s a school of thought that banning gluten means avoiding it in all its forms. That could mean changing the shampoo you use, or even the lipstick.

      Now, to be fair, I did think that this was a little extreme at first. I really thought that gluten-free beauty products were nothing more than a sales gimmick. As it turns out, there might be some wisdom in cutting them out if you have full-blown celiac disease.

Overall, I enjoyed completing this research project. I learned a lot and I’m sure that you will too. Should you cut out gluten? Check out my research and decide for yourself.

Also, here is more info about the author & contact info: https://nikoladjordjevic.me/

About the author: Nikola Djordjevic, MD, Head of Content at MedAlertHelp.org. Coming from Serbia, Nikola is a doctor of medicine who started this project in 2018 out of his passion for helping others, particularly seniors. Apart from reviewing medical alert systems, he also writes a blog dedicated to health, aging, retirement, and other senior-related topics.