Gluten-free diets for nonceliac athletes

-

Gluten-free products and diets have been a hot topics for quite some time now. In the fitness communities many athletes follow gluten-free diets, despite not suffering from celiac disease or other gluten related disorders. However, new research suggest that this may not have the benefits on the performance as first perceived.

The Celiac Disease Foundation (2016) explains that "gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat (durum, emmer, spelt, farina, farro, KAMUT® khorasan wheat and einkorn), rye, barley and triticale. Gluten helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a glue that holds food together."

In a study Lis et al (2015) found that there were no beneficial effects of a gluten-free diet for athletes who did not have a clinical reason to be gluten free. They did a study on 1000 athletes in Australia, where they found that 41% were on a gluten-free diet despite the fact that only 13% had received a formal medical diagnosis of Celiac disease, a serious autoimmune condition, or other gluten-related disorders. Rosenbloom (2014) also states there are no evidence that a gluten-free diet will improve performance, furthermore, she explains that many gluten-free products are higher in sugar and fat. Therefore, it is important to remember that gluten-free does not necessarily mean healthier.  

It's important to find a diet that works for you, and maybe if you don't suffer from a gluten-related disease, then having gluten in your diet isn't such a bad idea. 

References:
1. Celiac Disease Foundation https://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/glutenfreediet/what-is-gluten/

2. Lis, D., Stellingwerff T., Kitic CM, Ahuja KD, Fell J.; Exploring the Popularity, Experiences, and Beliefs Surrounding Gluten-Free Diets in Nonceliac Athletes, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 2015, 25

3. Rosenbloom, B., Popular Diets and Athletes, Sports Nutrition, 2014, 49/5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 in pictures

-
Image
Here is my 2018 in pictures, they pretty much sums up my year😊 The year included lots of bouldering Bouldering with Astrid at DTU Bouldering My first OCR race of the year, 19km Strong Viking in Germany Strong Viking is the first race where, I've done Flying Monkey The year included lots of trail races, this was my first ever 1st place finish Røsnæs Trail, 11km Nordic Race Hasle Bakker is one of my favourite OCR races in Denmark 3rd place at Nordic Race Hasle Bakker One of my favourite trail races was SkyTrail at Himmelbjerget 1st place SkyTrail 7km A fall from Reborn's Stairway to Heaven at OCR European Championship changed the year The fall that resulted in a broken wrist First race after I got my cast off, my hip flexor gave me so many problems, which continued the rest of the year Oddsherred GeoTrail, 2nd place Best running experience of 2018 is without a doubt Møns Klint, such as an amazing experience, love run
Read more

Julsø Ultra 60km

-
Image
Himmelbjerget at about 17km Julsø Ultra was my second ultra-race, my first race was Rosenhøj Trail 53km in September 2020. That race was 5 laps of +10k, so very different than Julsø, which was one long route of almost 60km. My training up to the race had be great, however, race day May 1 st was also going to be my first day of unemployment. My stress level was sky high, and my self-esteem from countless of job rejections was extremely low. Bottomline, I could not handle another failure and not living up to my own (or others’) expectations. I was very clear leading up to the race, that this race was not for the podium or placement, this was for ME and ME only. I did not need anyone else’s expectations, I had enough pressure from myself.     Game plan Thursday and Friday before the race, my back started giving me trouble. I’ve had it before, and knew that if I push my heart rate, then my ribcage would start hurting as my lungs cannot expand enough, and I won’t be able to run (tr
Read more

A status of 2018

-
Image
During 2018 I stood on the start line in 18 races, 2 races I did not finish, 2 races were road races to get a PR (15km and half marathon), and in 10 races I managed to finish top 3, so based on statistics, 2018 has been a pretty good year.    Finding my motivation In the beginning of the year, my running was great, I started the year with a PR on 15km and shortly after it was time for my first OCR race of the season. It's no secret that I finished off 2017 with no OCR motivation, therefore, I went on a road trip to Germany, to see if I could find it, and I did ! But I also found a joy for the longer OCR races, which turned in to a general joy for long trail races as well. My race calendar started being filled with trail races since that was what motivated me, this is also where I managed 8 of my 10 top 3 finishes. The year was off to a good start, and I had some awesome running experiences; including Røsnæs trail (where I found the love of running on rolling rocks an
Read more