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"Gluten-free" products are not a universal panacea, based on the 60 Million Consumer off-the-shelf issue. More caloric, richer in additives or even lower in protein, gluten-free foods should replace their original version only in people with celiac disease, followed by a health professional.
CELIAC DISEASE . Also known as gluten intolerance, celiac disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the small intestine. It is an autoimmune disease, that is, it is caused by the immune system turning against the body. Involved: a fraction of gluten that causes a destruction of the villi of the small intestine (small excrescences essential for digestion), according to the French Association of Gluten Intolerants (Afdiag). This results in malabsorption of nutrients, especially iron, calcium and folic acid. Of the 600,000 patients estimated in France, only 10 to 20% would be diagnosed, because of the symptoms are not very characteristic and variable (diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, canker sores …) and appear gradually over the years.
A fashion effect at the origin of a strong growth of the gluten-free market
Some personalities of showbiz but also tennis players like Novak Djokovic or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have thus tried or adopted a gluten-free diet to lose weight, improve their performance or health. Thus, if 600,000 people in France are intolerant to gluten, more than five million French people prefer products that do not contain gluten. As a result, in Western countries, sales of gluten-free products have exploded. In France alone, they are growing rapidly in supermarkets: + 29% in 2012 and + 42% in 2014, according to market research company Iri France. For 2018, the latter forecasts an increase in sales of these products of 61% for the sweet section and 3.1% for the salted section. "The industrialists were in the tow of the consumers, who, first, wished to eat gluten-free, in the wake of the tendency to the healthy and natural food" explains to 60 Millions of consumers Patricia Gurviez, professor of marketing and consumer behavior at Agro-ParisTech. Indeed, gluten has been accused of many ills in previous years, blow books and speeches to success. The demonization of gluten is echoed considerably because it appears in a context of distrust of food in general ", explains to 60 Million Consumers Claude Fischler, sociologist and director of research emeritus of the CNRS, author of the book Alimentations particuliers (Odile Jacob editions, 2013)
Gluten-free: less protein, more sugars and fats
Although motivated by the desire to consume better, gluten-free diets may not be better for you. " Despite the health claims to eat gluten-free, no published experimental evidence supports a claim of weight loss for a gluten-free diet or suggests that the general population should avoid gluten ", summarizes a publication of 2015. On the contrary, these products" can have a high content of fat and calorie s and a lower protein content "
Based on research conducted in 2017 based on the badysis of the advertised nutritional content of products, gluten-free bread, flour, pasta and pizzas contributed up to at 3 times less protein than their conventional version. On the other hand, they contained significantly more sugars and, in the case of bread, fat. The gluten-free diet is indeed " very restrictive ", according to a comment published in 2017 in the British Journal of Nursing which " unnecessarily affects the nutritional balance ] "when it is not accompanied by a follow-up by a health professional. " Non-celiac individuals who initiate (a gluten-free diet) may not have the nutritional knowledge to compensate for potentially damaging nutritional imbalances ," explain the authors. Thus, a gluten-free diet can lead to deficiencies in fiber, iron, zinc or vitamin B. Professional supervision is therefore necessary. At present, if this diet is beneficial to the intolerant when properly followed to avoid deficiencies, it may be harmful for those who follow it by choice or lifestyle without further information.
CHILDREN . In children too, eliminating gluten without medical monitoring " can lead to nutritional deficits, constipation, a missed diagnosis of celiac disease and undesirable weight gain ", it is explained in ] British Journal fo Nursing .
ADDITIVES . Without gluten, the food loses elasticity and becomes drier. To maintain good paleness, that is to say, a pleasant texture, gluten-free recipes incorporate additives and thickeners that do not contain their conventional versions.
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