Did you see this episode of Nightline last week? It’s questioning if the gluten-free diet is really good for people that DO NOT have celiac disease. It brings up the fact that many of the gluten-free foods that are available often lack nutrients and that the gluten-free diet may be harmful to people without celiac disease.

Over and over again, these reports keep surfacing and spreading misinformation about the gluten-free diet. I’ve written about it numerous times and I’ll continue to write about it. If you’re a non-celiac and you’re buying gluten-free desserts and packaged food because you think they are a healthier option, then you are definitely wrong. But, if you are trying to eat a well-balanced diet with naturally gluten-free food, then you will benefit greatly. All of the hype (in terms of it being healthy), all of the celebrities, and all of the non-stop talk about the gluten-free diet in the blogosphere isn’t talking about getting healthy by eating gluten-free donuts, it’s talking about eating a diet rich in naturally gluten-free foods. A diet with meats, vegetables, some fruit and devoid of gluten will not hurt anyone and my bets are on that it will make them feel better. Packaged gluten-free food is there simply to replace “gluten-filled” packaged food. For a person with celiac disease, that means being able to enjoy the same guilty pleasures as everyone else. For a non-celiac following a gluten-free diet, that gluten-free donut is also just a guilty pleasure while they’re attempting to follow the lifestyle.

The fact is that most food that is considered good for you is naturally gluten-free. We don’t need wheat, rye, barley or oats in our diet to be healthy. There are plenty of other sources of fiber (and the many other nutrients that skeptics say we are missing) in naturally gluten-free foods.

If you are thinking of trying the gluten-free diet for the dozens of health benefits that you’ve been hearing about, do yourself a favor and do some research on the subject and then decide for yourself whether or not it is right for you. Better yet, give the diet a try and see how you feel. Also, remember that all of the gluten-free items that you’re bombarded with at your local supermarket are not necessarily healthy — in fact most of them are not.

I’d love to hear from some non-celiacs who have adopted the gluten-free diet as well as those who have not had success with it. I have a feeling that this is going to be a hot topic for some time to come.

I’ve been writing about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet in various ways since 2004. Mostly through the Celiac Handbook Website and more recently, this blog. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1999 and have seen a revolution in the amount of gluten-free products available, both online and in the supermarket. This is what I’ve spent the bulk of my time writing about.

It’s rather funny, every time I write about a new product (especially a mainstream company offering a gluten-free version of their already popular gluten-filled food), I get a flood of emails and comments lambasting me for promoting junk food. While I can appreciate people’s intentions and their belief in the power of food — I personally don’t like to stand on a soapbox and tell people what they should be eating. I like to present both naturally gluten-free items as well as the countless new gluten-free products that seem to come out on a near daily basis. I want to let people make up their own minds about what they are going to eat. Learning to eat in any particular fashion is a journey that every person makes (willing or unwilling) and it is something they must do on their own. As we all know, when someone is “telling us” what to do — we will quickly ignore them as just another bag of hot air.

I have personally tried many different ways of life; vegan, vegetarian, aquatarian, paleo and of course, gluten-free. My weight has been all over the map — as low as 145 lbs. (I’m 6’ 2”) at the height of my undiagnosed celiac disease and as high as 260 lbs. a couple of years ago (way too much eating and sitting at a desk). I now weigh in at a very comfortable 190 lbs. and do my best to eat a diet rich in whole food — my overall health is proof that this is working. Trust me, I do still eat the occasional gluten-free cupcake or brownie, but I try to think of it as a treat and not an everyday “must have”. I do get my fair share of samples to try and there are times when I find myself indulging just a little too much — but, that comes with the territory of what I do. Call it an occupational hazard. This is what I do — and it works for me. I’m not implying in any way that it should be what you do. It’s up to you and you alone to find your path to wellness. You will hear many different opinions from people (both solicited and not) and hopefully armed with good information,  you will go down the path that is right for you.

In the mean time, I’m going to keep on reporting what I find — some of it will be healthy (in my opinion) and some of it will no doubt be junk food — but the good news is that it will all be gluten-free.

One final thought: Always, always remember that just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  This is a mistake that is all too common.