You may be considering going on a gluten-free diet, either because of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Doing so can provide you with a number of health benefits, such as positive changes in weight, improvements in energy levels and boosts to your nutritional status.
That said, going gluten-free can also cause some undesirable side effects. This includes constipation since many gluten-free foods, such as packaged snacks, contain little fiber. You may also find yourself more susceptible to gluten cross-contamination.
If you’re thinking about starting a gluten-free diet, here are some side effects you should expect.
Your weight may change
If you’ve lost weight due to celiac disease, a review published in BMC Medicine found that going gluten-free can lead to weight gain. This is because many gluten-free foods tend to be higher in vegetable fats.
But going gluten-free doesn’t necessarily mean gaining weight. Another study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, noted that a gluten-free diet actually helped regulate to normal levels in volunteers who were both underweight and overweight.
This means that a gluten-free diet may help you normalize your weight.
Your lactose intolerance may improve
If you’ve just been diagnosed with celiac disease, you may find that you’ve suddenly become lactose intolerant – unable to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and milk products. This due to the intestinal damage caused by celiac disease. As such, you may find yourself having to go dairy-free on top of going gluten-free.
But as your intestinal damage begins to heal from going gluten-free, you may notice that you can start tolerating dairy products with lactose. Take note that this change is gradual – you should try small amounts of milk products at first to see how your body reacts.
You may react more strongly to trace gluten
Before going gluten-free, you may not have had reactions to individual instances of accidental gluten ingestion. But once you remove it from your diet, you may find that your body is now more sensitive to trace amounts of gluten that may cross-contaminate your food.
Sensitivity to trace gluten from cross-contamination is a common side effect of going on a gluten-free diet. The severity of this sensitivity can vary from person to person. You may find that your body reacts to gluten in food quickly, within an hour in some cases. In other cases, the symptoms may not appear until the next day or even later.
You may need more fiber in your diet
Going gluten-free means eating fewer whole grain products. But whole grains, including bread products, also provide a substantial amount of the fiber that you consume. As such, consuming too little fiber is a common side effect of going gluten-free, leading to slowed digestion and constipation.
The good news is more gluten-free brands are producing breads made with whole grains. That said, getting enough fiber on a gluten-free diet can still be quite a challenge. With this in mind, you may want to add more sources of fiber to your diet. This can include:
- Beans and legumes
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Nuts and seeds
You may be missing key nutrients
In addition to fiber, you may also miss out on a few other key nutrients when you go on a gluten-free diet. This is because some nutrients, such as iron and B vitamins, usually come from enriched wheat flour products. At the same time, most gluten-free baked products are not fortified with extra vitamins and minerals.
With this in mind, you should take note to load up on fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which contain high levels of B vitamins. In addition, you can also try taking supplements to make up for any nutrient shortfalls you may experience as a result of going gluten-free.
While some of the side effects of a gluten-free diet are welcome, others can be quite challenging to deal with. When you do decide to go on a gluten-free diet, take note that the diet does represent a major lifestyle change. Though the side effects can last for some time, you can likely expect them to subside eventually.
That said, be sure to talk to your health care professional if you ever find yourself still struggling with some of these side effects for more than six months.
For full references please use source link below.