Nutritionists unanimously repeat — gluten-free products are healthy and help not to gain weight. The world is engulfed in gluten phobia. Alan Levinowitz spent five years analyzing research on this plant-based protein, talking to those who forever gave up bread, pasta and cereals. What did he find out?
Psychologies: Alan, you are a professor of philosophy and religion, not a nutritionist. How did you decide to write a book about nutrition?
Alan Levinovic: A nutritionist (nutrition specialist. — Approx. ed.) would never write such a thing (laughs). After all, unlike nutritionists, I am familiar with many world religions and have a good idea of what, for example, kosher law is or what food restrictions the followers of Taoism resort to. Here’s a simple example for you. 2000 years ago, Taoist monks claimed that a grain-free diet, among other things, would help a person gain an immortal soul, the ability to fly and teleport, cleanse his body of toxins, and cleanse his skin of acne. Several hundred years passed, and the same Taoist monks began to talk about vegetarianism. «Clean» and «dirty», «bad» and «good» products are in any religion, in any nation and in any era. We now have the “bad” ones – gluten, fat, salt and sugar. Tomorrow, something else will surely take their place.
This company is most sorry for gluten. How did it go from a little-known plant protein to Enemy #1? Sometimes it seems that even trans fats are more harmless: after all, they are not written about on red labels!
A.L.: I don’t mind warning labels: gluten intolerance is a real disease, for people diagnosed with celiac disease (digestion caused by damage to the small intestine by certain foods containing certain proteins. — Approx. ed.), this vegetable protein is contraindicated. According to scientists, there is still a small percentage of people who are allergic to it. They, too, are forced to follow a gluten-free or low-carbohydrate diet. But before you make such a diagnosis, you must pass the appropriate tests and consult a doctor. Self-diagnosis and self-treatment are very dangerous. Excluding gluten from the diet — just for prevention — is extremely harmful, it can provoke other diseases, lead to a deficiency of iron, calcium and B vitamins.
Why then discredit gluten?
A.L.: A lot of things matched up. While scientists began to study celiac disease, in America at the peak of popularity was the Paleo diet (a low-carbohydrate diet, allegedly based on the diet of people of the Paleolithic era. — Approx. Ed.). Then Dr. Atkins threw firewood on the fire: he was able to convince the country — the country, desperately who dreamed of losing weight, that carbohydrates are evil.
“Just because a small group of allergy sufferers need to avoid gluten doesn’t mean everyone should do the same.”
He convinced the whole world of this.
A.L.: That’s it. And in the 1990s, there was a wave of letters and messages from autistic parents about the incredible results of a gluten-free diet. True, further studies have not shown its effectiveness in autism and other neurological diseases, but who knows about this? And everything was mixed up in the minds of people: a mythical story about a lost paradise — the Paleolithic era, when all people were healthy; a gluten-free diet that claims to help with autism and possibly even prevent it; and Atkins’ claims that a low-carbohydrate diet helps you lose weight. All of these stories featured gluten in one way or another. So he became «persona non grata».
Now it has become fashionable to refuse products containing gluten.
A.L.: And it’s monstrous! Because just because a small group of allergy sufferers needs to avoid it, that doesn’t mean everyone should do the same. Some people need to follow a salt-free diet because of high blood pressure, someone is allergic to peanuts or eggs. But we do not make these recommendations the norm for everyone else! Back in 2007, my wife’s bakery didn’t have gluten-free baked goods. Not a day goes by in 2015 that someone doesn’t ask for a taste of «gluten-free brownie.» Thanks to Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, almost a third of consumers are interested in gluten-free food, and the industry in America alone will exceed $2017 billion by 10. Even children’s play sand is now labeled «gluten-free»!
Do most people who think they have gluten intolerance really not?
A.L.: All right! However, when Hollywood stars and popular singers talk about how good they feel after giving up bread and side dishes, when pseudoscientists write about the crucial role of a gluten-free diet in the treatment of autism and Alzheimer’s, a community is formed convinced that such a diet will help them too. And then we are dealing with the placebo effect, when «dietists» feel a surge of energy, switching to a gluten-free diet. And the nocebo effect, when people start to feel bad after eating a muffin or oatmeal.
What do you say to those who went on a gluten-free diet and lost weight?
A.L.: I will say: “You are a little cunning. Because first of all, you had to give up not bread and cereals, but fast food — ham, sausages, sausages, all kinds of ready meals, pizza, lasagna, oversweetened yogurts, milkshakes, cakes, pastries, cookies, muesli. All of these products contain gluten. It is added to food to improve taste and appearance. It is thanks to gluten that the crust on nuggets is so crispy, breakfast cereals do not get damp, and yogurt has a pleasant uniform texture. But the effect would be the same if you simply gave up these products, leaving “ordinary” cereals, bread and cereal side dishes in the diet. What did they do wrong? By changing them to “gluten-free”, you risk gaining weight again soon.”
«Many gluten-free products contain more calories than their regular versions»
Alessio Fasano, an expert on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, warns that many gluten-free foods are higher in calories than their regular versions. For example, gluten-free baked goods have to add significantly more sugar and refined and modified fats in order for them to retain their flavor and shape and not fall apart. If you want to lose weight not for a couple of months, but forever, just start eating a balanced diet and moving more. And look no further for magic diets like gluten-free.
Do you follow these recommendations yourself?
A.L.: Certainly. I have no food taboos. I love to cook, and different dishes — both traditional American, and something from Chinese or Indian cuisine. And fatty, and sweet, and salty. It seems to me that all our problems now are because we have forgotten the taste of homemade food. We don’t have time to cook, we don’t have time to eat quietly, with pleasure. As a result, we don’t eat lovingly cooked food, but calories, fats and carbohydrates, and then work them out in the gym. From here, eating disorders up to bulimia and anorexia, weight problems, diseases of all stripes … The gluten-free movement destroys our relationship with food. People are starting to think of diet as the only way to improve their health. But after all, in the world of diets there are no mouth-watering steaks and tender cakes, no culinary discoveries, no pleasure from communicating at the festive table. By giving up all this, we lose a lot! Believe me, we are not what we eat, but how we eat. And if right now we forget about calories, salt, sugar, gluten and just start cooking deliciously and eating with pleasure, perhaps something else can be corrected.